SOME ASPECTS OF BOOK PUBLISHING IN NEW YORK CITY, 1865-1914

282 Pages·014.664 MB·English

by  SHEEHAN, DONALD HENRY

COPYRIGHTED
by
DONALD SHEEHAN
1951
Some Aspects of Book Publishing
In New York City, 1865-1914
Submitted, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the Faculty of Political
Science, Columbia University*
by
Donald Sheehan
CONTENTS
Introduction
Preface
Acknowledgment a
Chapter 1 The Philosophy of Publishing
Chapter 2 The Business of Publishing
Chapter 3 The Antagonisms and Friendships of Publishing
Chapter 4 Contracts between Publishers and Authors
Chapter 5 Private Publishing and Public Speech
Chapter 6 The Creativeness of Publishing
Chapter 7 The Mechanism of Wholesale Distribution
Chapter 8 The Assault on the Consumer
Chapter 9 The Problems of Competition and the Self-
Kegulation of the Book Trade
Chapter 10 Conclusions
Bibliography
Preface
In 1930, 0. H. Cheney conducted an exhaustive study of
the economic structure of the book business* With the
authority of the National Association of Book Publishers
behind him, he had an opportunity to become Intimately ac­
quainted with the records of the entire industry. His com­
ment on those records reveals the essential obstacle'to the
1
present study;
The school of publishing which believes that
figures are poisonous to good publishing does
not include everybody in the industry, but
there are only a handful who believe In the
value of proper records and who act on that
belief. There has, however, been some Improve­
ment in recent years in same houses, but com­
parable figures going back any extensive period
are practically non-existent. For that reason,
no economic history of the Industry has been
attempted and work was concentrated on a true
picture of the last few years.
Since this analysis is concerned exclusively with the
years between the Civil War and the outbreak of fighting in
1914, It attempts to penetrate the statistical "dark era”
against which Cheney turned his back. This observation is
not offered as an excuse, but it does indicate the necessary
modesty with which the following pages are offered.
The justification for entering where a wiser and better
equipped investigator has feared to tread arises from nar­
rower objectives and the availability of the sizeable archives
1. 0. H. Cheney, Economic Survey of the Book IndustryJ_JLasa-
1951. New York, National Association of Book Publishers,p.
of four important companies active throughout the "Glided.
Age". Thanks to the cooperation of the officials of Harper
and Brothers, Dodd, Mead and Company, Charles Scribner's Sons,
and Henry Holt and Company, this study has at least the merit
of being based upon a collection of materials not previously
used as a whole. Indeed, the contents of a large percentage
of the documents have never been revealed to the public in
any form. However, no one company has less than a fraction of
the records which would be necessary for a detailed history.
Fortunately, the historical archives of these four houses
supplement each other; Charles Scribner's Sons and Henry Holt
and Company have retained a considerable portion of their out­
going correspondence, while Dodd, Mead and Company and Harper
and Brothers have more extensive files of business statistics
and authors' contracts#
These companies had several characteristics in common
which define the limits of this survey. They were all firms
which had their headquarters in New York, and their experiences
cannot be offered with any confidence as definitive evidence
of the development of companies in other centers of the trade.
This study, therefore, Is concerned with book publishing as
it was practiced in the restricted area of New York. However,
It should not be inferred that research has brought to light
any vital differences between New York houses and those in
Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago. The chief source for this
analysis, more Important even than the records of any Indivi-
dual company, was Publishers* Weekly, a journal which spoke
for the national rather than the local trade. No discre­
pancies or startling dissimilarities could be noted between
the economic trends revealed by the trade organ and those
reflected in the manuscripts. New York was distinctive in the
publishing world chiefly because it was the center. But this
dominance did not imply, it would appear, anything more than
a quantitative distinction. Neither did it indicate that the
New York firms were larger than their out-of-town competitors.
The diffuseness of the industry made publishing remarkably
similar wherever it was undertaken.
Both the firms whose records have been used and Publishers'
Weekly~represented the viewpoint of the publisher of regular
trade books, whose interests might also include educational
books and literary magazines. There were other kinds of book
publishers in existence during the half-century before the
World War, but they are not included except incidentally.
Since the materials concern a limited part of the total indus­
try, it is more than possible that the prejudices and philo­
sophy of the regular trade publisher have entered into this
writing. For example, the ’’pirate” firms who used foreign
works before the passage of an international copyright law
without remunerating their authors or their original publish­
ers would probably be dealt .with more sympathetically if their
records had been available to state their case. Although some
members of the regular trade published cheap editions, there
were others who published nothing else, and whose needs were
correspondingly different.
it
The availability of certain materials has determined
also the heroes of the story* The names of Charles Scribner
and Henry Holt appear most often because their letters form
an important part of the narrative* But probably the trade
would not regret being represented by men to whom they so
often turned for leadership during their own lifetimes* When
these two commented on the conditions of the industry, they
spoke for many like them - for George Haven Putnam and
Joseph Harper, for Prank Dodd, George Brett, John Macrae and
an equally distinguished group of executives in Philadelphia
and Boston*
Neither should it be forgotten that publishing is only
one aspect of the book trade. The publishers1 approach to
its problems does not necessarily reflect that of the retail
booksellers or any one of the many industries concerned with
book manufacture. It may be said, parenthetically, that
book production is in Itself an enormous subject into which
this study does not presume to enter*
To the limitations imposed by the nature of the materials
smd the objectives of the study should be added the predilec­
tions of the author, whose further acquaintance with the
publishers of trade books has served to increase a long-stand­
ing respect and admiration for them* If the results of this
study have been thereby tinctured, the reader is forewarned.
But it should be said also that the reading of tens of thou­
sands of letters written by their predecessors provides small
reason for thinking that that affection is misplaced*
Chapter One
The Philosophy of Publishing
Throughout the years of publishing between the close of
the Civil War and the outbreak of fighting In 1914, there
ran a constant under-current of complaint* In each decade
the national economy floundered for at least a little while
in the mire of a depression, causing a chorus of wails in
which the publishers' voices were easily distinguishable.
The years between were beset with special problems, solvable
the trade thought, but persistent enough to disturb the
pleasures of prosperity. But even beyond the difficulties
posed by business cycles and the strain of adjusting to a new
industrial age, publishers worried about an inherent quality
of their business which would prevent Its becoming prosperous
under any circumstances.
When a leading publisher at the turn of the century wrote
an article describing publishing as the "worst business in
the worldrt, the authoritative Publlshers' Weekly blandly
recommended the article to the trade, "however well accepted
1
the conclusions" It contained. This sentiment was scarcely
a novelty to a trade organ which had previously printed
editorials with such titles as: "is the Book Trade 'A Doomed
2 3
Calling'?" and "Is Bookselling Dead?". The latest survey
1* The Publishers' Weekly (hereafter referred to as P.W.)
October 7, 1911, Vol. 80 No. 2070, p. 1403.
2. P^W., August 29, 1896, Vol. 50, No. 1283, p. 278.
3. P.W., October 2, 1897, Vol. 52, No. 1340, p. 582.
of publishing, Drought out in 1949, testifies to the persis­
tence of this sentiment by devoting its opening paragraphs to
denying that the book industry "is chronically sicker than
4
other industries."
Basic to this pessimism, which has survived too long to
be ignored, is the belief that whatever its other compensations,
publishing is among the least profitable of business enter­
prises. Walter Page expressed the views of most of the trade
5
when he said:
Every successful publisher - really successful
mind you - could make more money going into
some other business. I think that there is not
a man of them who could not greatly increase
his income by giving the same energy and ability
to the management of a bank, or of some sort of
industrial enterprise. Such men as Mr. Charles
Scribner, Mr. George Brett, Mr. George H. Mifflin,
could earn very much larger returns by their
ability in banks, railroads or manufacturing,
than any one of them earns as a publisher; for
they are all men of conspicuous ability. ....
Not one of them has made a colossal fortune.
Among the many adding their assent to Page’s diagnosis was
William Ellsworth, who retired from the presidency of the
Century Company in 1915: "If one wants to make money, let
him go into the steel business or into something in which
6
there is money to be made."
Although there is little point in lingering over the
failure of successful publishers to gather personal fortunes
of tens of millions rather than tens of thousands, it is
4. William Miller, The Book Industry, 1949, New York
Columbia University Press, p. 3.
5. Walter H. Page, A Publisher’s Confession (1905,1912)
1923, Garden City, Doubleday, Page and Company, pp. 13-14.
6. William W. Ellsworth, A Golden Age of Authors, 1919,
Boston, Houghton, Mifflin Company7 pV 13. ""
significant that a sense of monetary sacrifice conditioned
the outlook of trade leaders. Pew were content to regard
themselves as "mere business men". More often than not, they
liked to believe they were members of a profession requiring
special scholarly training and a sense of dedication which
rose above material gains. "Publishing, as publishing,"
wrote Page, "is the least profitable of all the professions,
except preaching and teaching, to each of which it is a sort
7
of cousin." What gave publishing its special quality was,
of course, its connection with literature, and those who did
not truly love books were admonished to stay clear of it.
There is something appropriately rhapsodic about Page*s descrip­
tion of this devotion, although most of the older publishers
would have exercised more restraint in expressing their
agreements "A good book is a Big Thing, a thing to be thank­
ful to heaven for. It is a great day for any of us when we
can put our imprint on it. Here is a chance for reverence,
8
for semething like consecration."
Since there was no certainty that a particular manuscript
would become a profitable investment, this sentiment was
available both as an incentive to its publication and as a
canfort in the event of its failure. Although most unsuccess­
ful books were not published with the anticipation of certain
loss, a substantial number of them owed their presence to the
literary enthusiasm of the publisher rather than to his busl-
7. Walter Page, oj>. clt., p. 13.
8. Ibid, p. 170.