University of Virginia Library

OF THE STREET-SELLERS OF GUIDE-BOOKS,
&c.

This trade, as regards a street-sale, has only
been known for nine or ten years, and had its
origination in the exertions of Mr. Hume, M.P.,
to secure to persons visiting the national exhi-
bitions the advantage of a cheap catalogue.
The guide-books were only sold, prior to this
time, within any public exhibition; and the pro-
fits — as is the case at present — were the perqui-
site of some official. When the sale was a
monopoly, the profit must have been consider-
able, as the price was seldom less than 6d., and
frequently 1s. The guide-books, or, as they are
more frequently called, catalogues, are now
sold by men who stand at the entrance, the ap-
proaches, at a little distance on the line, or at
the corners of the adjacent streets, at the fol-
lowing places: — the National Gallery, the
Vernon Gallery, the British Museum, West-
minster Abbey, the House of Lords, the
Society of Arts (occasionally), the Art-Union
(when open "free"), Greenwich Hospital, the
Dulwich Gallery, Hampton Court, Windsor
Castle, and Kew Gardens.

At any temporary exhibition, also, the same
trade is carried on — as it was largely when the
"designs," &c., for the decoration of the New
Houses of Parliament were exhibited in West-
minster Hall. There are, of course, very many
other catalogues, or explanatory guides, sold to
the visitors of other exhibitions, but I speak
only of the street-sale.

There are now, at the National Gallery,
three guidebook-sellers plying their trade in
the streets; eight at the British Museum; two
at Westminster Abbey; one at the House of
Lords, but only on Saturdays, when the House
is shown, by orders obtained gratuitously at the
Lord Chamberlain's office, or "when appeals
are on;" one at the Vernon Gallery; two at
Dulwich (but not regularly, as there are none
at present), two at Hampton Court, "one near
each gate;" and one, and sometimes three, at
Windsor (generally sent out by a shopkeeper
there). There used to be one at the Thames
Tunnel, but "it grew so bad at last," I was
told, "that a rat couldn't have picked up his
grub at it — let alone a man."

Among all these sellers I heard statements
of earning a most wretched pittance, and all
attributed it to the same cause. By the
National Gallery is a board, on which is an
announcement that the only authorized cata-
logue of the works of art can be obtained
in the hall. There are similar announcements
at other public places. One man who had been
in this street trade, but had abandoned it, spoke
of these "boards," as he called them, with
intense bitterness. "They're the ruin of any
trade in the streets," he said. "You needn't
think because I'm out of it now, that I have a
pleasure in abusing the regulations; no, sir, I
look at it this way. Mr. Hume had trouble
enough, I know, to get the public a cheap
catalogue, and poor men were allowed to earn
honest bread by selling them in the streets, and
honest bread they would earn still, if it weren't
for the board. I declare solemnly a man can't

[Description: 915EAF. Page 300.]

get a living at the trade. The publishers can't
prepare their catalogues without leave, and when
they've got leave, and do prepare and print
them, why isn't a man allowed to sell them in
the streets, as I've sold second editions of the
Globe without ever the office putting out a
notice that the only authorized copy was to be
had within? God bless your soul, sir, it's
shocking, shocking, poor men being hindered
every way. Anybody that looks on the board
looks on us as cheats and humbugs, and thinks
that our catalogues are all takes-in. But I've
heard gentlemen, that I'm sure knew what they
were talking about, say, in case they'd bought
in the street first, and then seen the board and
bought within after, so as to be sure of the real
thing — I've heard gentlemen, say, sir, — `Why
what we got in the street is the best after all.'
Free trade! There's plenty said about free
trade, but that board, sir, or call it what you
please, gives a monopoly against us. What I
have said, when I was starving on catalogues,
is this: Kick us out of the streets, commit us
for selling catalogues, as rogues and vagabonds;
or give us a fair chance. If we may sell, why
is the only authorised catalogue sold only
within? I wish Mr. Hume, or Mr. Cobden,
either, only understood the rights of the matter
— it's of no account to me myself now — and I
think they'd soon set it to rights. Free trade!
Over the left, and with more hooks than one."

I have no doubt that this representation and
this opinion would have been echoed by the
street catalogue-sellers, but they were evidently
unwilling to converse freely on this branch of
the subject, knowing the object for which I
questioned them, and that publicity would fol-
low. I attribute this reluctance chiefly to the
fact that, all these poor men look forward to the
opening of the Great Exhibition with earnest
hope and anxiety that the influx of visiters will
add greatly to their sale and profits; and they
are unwilling to jeopardise their privilege of
sale.

One man told me that he believed, from his
own knowledge, for he had not always "sold
outside," that the largest buyers of these publi-
cations were country people, sight-seeing in
London, for they bought the book not only as
an explanatory guide, but to preserve as a
memento of their visit. Such customers, how-
ever, I heard from several quarters, the moment
they saw a "notice" as to the only authorised
copy, looked upon the street-sellers as a sys-
tematised portion of the London sharpers, seek-
ing whom they might devour, and so bought
their catalogues "within."

The best customers in the streets for the cata-
logues are, I am assured, the working-classes,
who visit the national exhibitions on a holiday.
"I've oft enough heard them say," one man
stated, " `I'd rather pay a poor man 2d. any day,
when I can spare it, than rich people 1d. I
know what it is to fight for a crust.' "

At the National Gallery, the street-sold cata-
logues are 1d., 3d., and 6d., in the hall, the
authorised copy is sold at 4d. and 1s. At the
British Museum, the street-charges are 3d. and
6d.; there were 1d. catalogues of this institu-
tion, but they have been discontinued for the
last half-year, being found too meagre. At the
Vernon Gallery, the charge is 1d.; but the 6d. guide-book to the National Gallery contains also
an account of the pictures in the Vernon Gal-
lery. At Westminster Abbey the price is 6d., and the same at the House of Lords. At
Hampton-court it is 2d., 4d., and 6d., and at
the same rate as regards the other places men-
tioned. At Hampton-court, I was told, the
street-sellers were not allowed to approach the
palace nearer than a certain space. One man
told me that he was threatened with being
"had in for trespassing, and Mr. G — would
make him wheel a roller. Of course," the man
continued, "there's an authorised catalogue
there."

The best sale of catalogues in the streets was
at the exhibition of the works of art for the
Houses of Parliament. The sellers, then —
about 20 in number, among whom were four
women — cleared 2s. and 2s. 6d. each daily. At
present, I am assured, that a good week is
considered one in which 5s. is made, but that 3s. is more frequently the weekly earning. It must
be borne in mind, that at the two places most
resorted to — the National Gallery and the Bri-
tish Museum — the street sale is only for four
days in the week at the first mentioned, and
three days at the second. "You may think
that more is made," said one man, "but it
isn't. Sweeping a good crossing is far better,
far. Bless your soul, only stand a few minutes
looking on, any day, and see what numbers and
numbers of people pass in and out of a free
admission place without ever laying out 1d. Why, only last Monday and Wednesday (March
17 and 19, both very rainy days) I took only 5d. I didn't take more than 5d., and I leave you to
judge the living I shall clear out of that; and I
know that the man with the catalogue at ano-
ther place, didn't take 1d. It's sad work, sir,
as you stand in the wet and cold, with no dinner
for yourself, and no great hope of taking one
home to your family."

These street-sellers contrive, whenever they
can, to mix up other avocations with catalogue
selling, as the public institutions close early.
One, on every occasion, sells second editions of
the newspapers; another has "odd turns at
portering;" a third sells old umbrellas in the
streets; some sold exhibition cards in the Park,
on Sundays, until the sale was stopped; another
sells a little stationery; and nearly the whole of
them resort, on favourable opportunities, to the
sale of "books of the play," or of "the
opera."

Reckoning that there are regularly sixteen
street-sellers of guide-books — they do not inter-
fere with each other's stations — and that each
clears 4s. weekly, we find £832 expended in
this street traffic. I have calculated only on the
usual bookseller's allowance of 25 per cent.,

[Description: 915EAF. Page 301.]

though, in some instances, these sellers are
supplied on lower terms — besides having, in
some of the catalogues, thirteen to the dozen;
but the amount specified does not exceed the
mark.

The greatest number of these guide-books
which I heard of as having been sold, in any
one day, was four dozen, disposed of on a fine
Whit-Monday, and for these the street-seller
only took 6s. 8d. There are, I was informed,
half as many more "threepennies" as "six-
pennies" sold, and three times as many "pen-
nies" as the other two together.

The capital required to start is what may
suffice to "lay in" a stock of books — 5s. gene-
rally.