University of Virginia Library

OF THE CHARACTER OF BOOKS OF THE
STREET-SALE.

There has been a change, and in some re-
spects a considerable change, in the character
or class of books sold at the street-stalls, within
the last 40 or 50 years, as I have ascertained
from the most experienced men in the trade.
Now sermons, or rather the works of the old
divines, are rarely seen at these stalls, or if
seen, are rarely purchased. Black-letter edi-
tions are very unfrequent at street book-stalls,
and it is twenty times more difficult, I am
assured, for street-sellers to pick up anything
really rare and curious, than it was in the early
part of the century.

One reason assigned for this change by an
intelligent street-seller was, that black-letter or
any ancient works, were almost all purchased
by the second-hand booksellers, who have shops
and issue catalogues, as they had a prompt sale
for them whenever they could pick them up
at book-auctions or elsewhere. "Ay, indeed,"
said another book-stall keeper, "anything scarce
or curious, when it's an old book, is kept out of
the streets; if it's not particular decent, sir,"
(with a grin), "why it's reckoned all the more
curious, — that's the word, sir, I know, —
`curious.' I can tell how many beans make
five as well as you or anybody. Why, now,
there's a second-hand bookseller not a hun-
dred miles from Holborn — and a pleasant, nice
man he is, and does a respectable business —
and he puts to the end of his catalogue — they
all have catalogues that's in a good way — two
pages that he calls `Facetiæ.' They're titles
and prices of queer old books in all languages —
indecent books, indeed. He sends his catalogues
to a many clergymen and learned people; and
to any that he thinks wouldn't much admire
seeing his `Facetiæ,' he pulls the last leaf out,
and sends his catalogue, looking finished without
it. Those last two pages aren't at all the worst
part of his trade among buyers that's worth
money."

In one respect a characteristic of this trade
is unaltered; I allude to the prevalence of
"odd volumes" at the cheaper stalls, — not the
odd volumes of a novel, but more frequently of
one of the essayists — the "Spectator" especially.
One stall-keeper told me, that if he purchased
an old edition of the "Spectator," in eight vols.,
he could more readily sell it in single volumes,
at 4d. each, than sell the eight vols. altogether
for 2s., or even 1s. 4d., though this was but 2d. a volume.

"There's nothing in my trade," said one
street-bookseller with whom I conversed on the
subject, "that sells better, or indeed so well, as
English classics. I can't offer to draw fine
distinctions, and I'm just speaking of my own
plain way of trade; but I call English clas-
sics such works as the `Spectator,' `Tatler,'
`Guardian,' `Adventurer,' `Rambler,' `Ra-
sellas,' `The Vicar of Wakefield,' `Pere.
grine Pickle,' `Tom Jones, `Goldsmith's His-

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tories of Greece, Rome, and England' (they
all sell quick), `Enfield's Speaker,' `mixed
plays,' the `Sentimental Journey,' no, sir,
`Tristram Shandy,' rather hangs on hand, the
`Pilgrim's Progress' (but it must be sold very low), `Robinson Crusoe,' `Philip Quarles,'
`Telemachus,' `Gil Blas,' and `Junius's Letters.'
I don't remember more at this moment, such
as are of good sale. I haven't included poetry,
because I'm speaking of English classics, and
of course they must be oldish works to be
classics."

Concerning the street sale of poetical works
I learned from street book-sellers, that their
readiest sale was of volumes of Shakespeare,
Pope, Thomson, Goldsmith, Cowper, Burns,
Byron, and Scott. "You must recollect, sir,"
said one dealer, "that in nearly all those poets
there's a double chance for sale at book-stalls.
For what with old editions, and new and cheap
editions, there's always plenty in the market,
and very low. No, I can't say I could sell
Milton as quickly as any of those mentioned,
nor `Hudibras,' nor `Young's Night Thoughts,'
nor Prior, nor Dryden, nor `Gay's Fables.'
It's seldom that we have any works of Hood,
or Shelley, or Coleridge, or Wordsworth, or
Moore at street stalls — you don't often see them,
I think, at booksellers' stalls — for they're soon
picked up. Poetry sells very fair, take it
altogether."

Another dealer told me that from twenty to
thirty years ago there were at the street-stalls
a class of works rarely seen now. He had
known them in all parts and had disposed of
them in his own way of business. He specified
the "Messiah" (Klopstock's) as of this class,
the "Death of Abel," the "Castle of Otranto"
("but that's seen occasionally still," he ob-
served), the "Old English Baron" ("and that's
seen still too, but nothing to what it were once"),
the "Young Man's Best Companion" "Zim-
merman on Solitude," and "Burke on the Sub-
lime and Beautiful" ("but I have that yet
sometimes.") These works were of heavy sale
in the streets, and my informant thought they
had been thrown into the street-trade because
the publishers had not found them saleable in
the regular way. "I was dead sick of the
`Death of Abel,' " observed the man, "before
I could get out of him." Occasionally are to
be seen at most of the stalls, works of which
the majority of readers have heard, but may not
have met with. Among such I saw "Laura,"
by Capel Lloftt, 4 vols. 1s. 6d. "Darwin's
Botanic Garden," 2s. "Alfred, an Epic Poem,"
by H. J. Pye, Poet Laureate, 10d. "Cœlebs
in search of a Wife," 2 vols. in one, 1s.

The same informant told me that he had
lived near an old man who died twenty-five
years ago, or it might be more, with whom he
was somewhat intimate. This old man had
been all his life familiar with the street trade
in books, which he had often hawked — a trade
now almost unknown; his neighbour had heard
him say that fifty to seventy years ago, he
made his two guineas a week "without dis-
tressing hisself," meaning, I was told, that he
was drinking every Monday at least. This
old man used to tell that in his day, the
"Whole Duty of Man," and the "Tale of a
Tub," and "Pomfret's Poems," and "Pamela,"
and "Sir Charles Grandison" went off well, but
"Pamela" the best. "And I've heard the old
man say, sir," I was further told, "how he
had to tread his shoes straight about what books
he showed publicly. He sold `Tom Paine' on
the sly. If anybody bought a book and would
pay a good price for it, three times as much as
was marked, he'd give the `Age of Reason' in.
I never see it now, but I don't suppose any-
body would interfere if it was offered. A sly
trade's always the best for paying, and for
selling too. The old fellow used to laugh and
say his stall was quite a godly stall, and he
wasn't often without a copy or two of the
`Anti-Jacobin Review,' which was all forChurch
and State and all that, though he had `Tom
Paine' in a drawer."

The books sold at the street-stalls are pur-
chased by the retailers either at the auctions
of the regular trade, or at "chance," or general
auctions, or of the Jews or others who may
have bought books cheap under such cir-
cumstances. Often, however, the stall-keeper
has a market peculiarly his own. It is not
uncommon for working men or tradesmen, if
they become "beaten-down and poor" to carry
a basket-full of books to a stall-keeper, and
say, "Here, give me half-a-crown for these."
One man had forty parts, each issued at 1s., of a Bible, offered to him at 1d. a part, by a
mechanic who could not any longer afford to
"take them in," and was at last obliged to
sell off what he had. Of course such things
are nearly valueless when imperfect. Very few
works are bought for street-stall sale of the
regular booksellers.