Book Trade

March 9

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

GUEST CURATOR:  Grace Crowley

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Pennsylvania Journal (March 9, 1774).

“A LIBRARIAN IS wanted by the LIBRARY COMPANY of Philadelphia.”

What caught my eye about this advertisement was the need for a librarian at the Library Company of Philadelphia, as I have been working with Laura Wasowicz, the curator of children’s literature at the American Antiquarian Society, for my independent research project for my capstone history seminar. I was interested in what the Library Company of Philadelphia was in the eighteenth century and I was excited to find out the Library Company, sometimes known as the LCP, is still alive and well today! According to their website, the LCP is America’s “first successful lending library and oldest cultural institution,” founded by Benjamin Franklin and the members of the Junto in 1731. The Junto Club was a collection of friends, including Benjamin Franklin, who met on Friday evenings to discuss different issues regarding morals, politics, or philosophy. These men were a collection of tradesmen and artisans who were interested in the common good for themselves and their society and were dedicated to finding ways to bring improvements to both. Members of the Junto were devoted readers and believed that if more people in their community had access to books they were reading, it would motivate those people to think and learn on their own, which could improve society.

Franklin wanted the public to have easy access to books since, at this time, books were not readily available and if available were extremely expensive. The members of the Junto themselves, most of them artisans, were not able to afford these books on their own either. Franklin and fifty other shareholders decided to collaborate and contribute forty shillings to buy the original collection of books and ten shillings every year to grow the library’s collection. The Junto was a catalyst for many public projects including this first lending library, the Library Company of Philadelphia.

The collection has grown throughout many different eras of American society and remains open to a variety of readers, from high school students to senior scholars. The Library Company of Philadelphia serves as a library full of resources that focus on American society and culture from the seventeenth century through the nineteenth century. Their mission is to increase the public understanding of American history by preserving and sharing the materials in their collection.

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY:  Carl Robert Keyes

The edition of the Pennsylvania Journal that first carried the Library Company of Philadelphia’s advertisement seeking a librarian also carried several advertisements for books, some of them available from printers and booksellers, others in the press, and some proposed for publication if enough subscribers reserved copies.  Throughout the colonies, printers and other members of the book trade sometimes placed a disproportionate amount of advertising in newspapers.

Subscription proposals outnumbered other advertisements for books in that issue of the Pennsylvania Journal.  One presented to the “GENTLEMEN and LADIES of America. PROPOALS For PRINTING by SUBSCRIPTION, THE History of the Life and Adventures OF Mr. DUNCAN CAMPBELL, (Born DEAF and DUMB).”  It would go to press “as soon as a sufficient number of SUBSCRIBERS offer.”  To entice them, the proposals promised “a curious well engraven PLATE, shewing the method how the deaf and dumb may obtain the knowledge, and be taught to read and write any language.”  For booksellers and shopkeepers who might be inclined to purchase by volume for retail, “Those who subscribe for twelve Books [would] have a thirteenth gratis.”  Another subscription proposal offered “THE CELEBRATED American EDITION OF THE WORKS OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS.”  Those who chose to have their volumes bound “shall have their names at large on the inside of the cover, done in Gold Letters.”  In addition, James Rivington promoted his edition of “NEW VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD,” detailing Captain James Cook’s voyage on the Endeavour from 1768 through 1771.

By way of updating subscribers, James Humhreys, Jr., informed them that “STERNE’s WORKS” had been delayed due to “an unlucky accident, by which he has been confined and disabled from work for some weeks past.”  He pledged that the first volume was “now almost finished, and will be published in a few weeks, embellished with an elegant copper-plate Frontispiece.”  The printer also hawked a “New Edition of Whittenhall’s Latin Grammar” and “several other School Books.”  Elsewhere in that issue of Pennsylvania Journal, Robert Bell announced an “EXHIBITION of NEW and OLD BOOKS BY AUCTION.”  He anticipated the sale would last “eight or ten evenings.”  Readers could bid and acquire books from various genres, including “Arts, Sciences, History, Divinity, Biography, … Poetry, Classics, Voyages, Travels, [and] Novels.”  One advertisement even discouraged readers from purchasing a book.  Thomas Say once again ran his notice pleading with the public to refrain from buying William Mentz’s unauthorized edition of “The Vision of Thomas Say.”

Perhaps some of these books eventually found their way into the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia, either in the eighteenth century when printers originally published and sold them or in subsequent years as the Library Company collected early American imprints and became a major research library.  Advertisements placed by printers, the Library Company, and even the aggrieved Thomas Say all testified to the contours of print culture in the largest city in the colonies on the eve of the American Revolution.

May 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

May 10 - 5:9:1768 South Carolina Gazette
South-Carolina Gazette (May 9, 1768).

“PROPOSALS For Publishing by SUBSCRIPTION, ALL THE ACTS and ORDINANCES.”

John Rutledge placed a particular sort of advertisement in the May 9, 1768, edition of the South-Carolina Gazette: a subscription notice for a proposed book that had not yet been printed. This was a common practice among printers and publishers in eighteenth-century America. It allowed them to promote a book in advance, yet also gauge interest to determine if publication would yield profits. Buyers made commitments in advance to purchase proposed books, becoming “subscribers” to the enterprise. Not all subscription notices yielded publications.

Rutledge proposed publishing the acts and ordinances passed by the “GENERAL ASSEMBLY of this Province.” In a separate subscription notice in the same issue, he also proposed publishing a related work consisting of statutes passed in Great Britain “Which are expressly made of Force in this Province, by ACTS of the GENERAL ASSEMBLY.” Publication of one, however, was not contingent on publication of the other.

To encourage as many subscribers as possible, Rutledge described several attractive aspects of the proposed book. In addition to the acts and ordinances, it would also include an index, marginal notes, and references to aid readers in navigating and understanding the contents. Rutledge also commented on the material aspects of the text, noting that it would be “printed on good Paper, with a fair new Type.”

The publisher also warned that interested readers needed to reserve their copy in advance rather than assume that they could purchase a surplus copy after the book went to press. “No more Copies will be printed,” he declared, “than shall be subscribed for by the first Day of November next, when the Subscriptions will be closed.” Furthermore, “if a sufficient Number be not then obtained, the Work will not be put to the Press.” Rutledge allowed six months for subscribers to commit to paying “Thirty Pounds Currency” for the proposed work, but it was an all-or-nothing proposition. He would not move forward unless he had enough subscribers and he would not print additional copies. Rutledge cultivated a sense of urgency by suggesting that prospective customers would miss out if they lacked the necessary resolution to subscribe promptly.

Rutledge advertised a product that did not yet exist. Doing so allowed him to assess the market as well as incite demand. The minimal cost for inserting subscription notices in the South-Carolina Gazette presented an alternative to publishing a book that ended up being a poor investment.

June 26

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Jun 26 - 6:26:1767 New-London Gazette
New-London Gazette (June 26, 1767).

“The Subscribers are desired speedily to send for their Books.”

It took some time for Timothy Green to publish Joseph Fish’s book of nine sermons inspired by Matthew 26:18, but much of the responsibility for the delay belonged to the author. Fish continued to write, revise, and add material to the manuscript “After the Proposals for Printing these Sermons by Subscription, were sent abroad.” Six months before announcing that the book had been “JUST PUBLISH’D,” Green issued an advertisement requesting that those who accepted subscriptions forward their lists to him so he could determine how many copies to print.

In the interim, the book expanded. That, in turn, raised the cost of production and, ultimately, the retail price, even for subscribers. Earlier subscription notices marketed the book for 1 shilling and 10 pence, but the additional material made it necessary to increase the price by 4 pence to a total of 2 shillings and 2 pence if “stitch’d in blue Paper.” Reader who desired a volume “bound in Leather” rather than the basic wrapper could pay an additional shilling. Green catered to different tastes and price points.

He also realized that it was problematic to raise the price of Fish’s Sermons by nearly 20% after customers subscribed at a lower cost. To counter objections, he argued that “even with that Addition they will be uncommonly Cheap, as the Book contains upwards of 200 Pages.” (The reverend Fish might have been dismayed that the printer made an appeal to quantity over the quality of the contents.) In addition, Green reported that many others who had not previously subscribed were so keen on acquiring the book that they stood ready to purchase it at the higher price. The printer gave subscribers an opportunity to opt out by requesting that they send for their books soon. Any not claimed, he warned, would be sold to others who eagerly stood ready to purchase any surplus copies. Rather than apologize for raising the price and breaking the conditions set forth in the subscription notices, Green instead lectured subscribers. Even considering the higher price, they could hardly argue with the value, he admonished. After all, other prospective customers certainly acknowledged that this was a good deal. The original subscribers needed to obtain their copies as quickly possible or else risk losing out as others swooped in and claimed their books.

June 30

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial newspaper 250 years ago today?

Jun 30 - 6:30:1766 New-York Mercury
New-York Mercury (June 30, 1766).

“BOOKS & STATIONARY, Just imported, and to be sold by HUGH GAINE.”

Hugh Gaine printed the New-York Mercury, though it is clear from the masthead that he considered himself more than just a printer. He listed his occupations as “Printer, Bookseller, and Stationer.” In that regard, Gaine was not much different from other printers who published newspapers in colonial America. They often supplemented the income from operating the newspaper by selling a variety of other products and services associated broadly with the book trades.

Gaine devised a headline for his advertisement, which was not a standard practice but also not unknown. He announced that he sold “BOOKS & STATIONARY,” merchandise associated with the book trades. Upon closer examination of his advertisement, however, potential customers would have discovered that in addition to books, stationery, and writing supplies (including “Leather Ink-pots,” “most excellent Sealing-Wax,” and “Office Quils and Pens”), he also sold “a great Variety of other Articles,” including musical instruments, telescopes, and paper hangings (what we would today call wallpaper). Gaine stocked a good deal of merchandise beyond the newspaper he printed.

Setting aside those items, half of his lengthy advertisement promoted a patent medicine, the pectoral balsam of honey, and concluded with a “BEAUTIFYING LOTION.” (One of the benefits of printing the newspaper must have been inserting his own advertisements of whatever length he wished.) Gaine may or may not have written the copy for this portion of the advertisement; he may have copied it directly from other promotional materials sent to him by the suppliers of this remedy. It may seem strange today that a “Printer, Bookseller, and Stationer” peddled patent medicines in the eighteenth century, but Gaine was certainly not the only one who did so. A variety of printers and booksellers included a few lines devoted to patent medicines in their book catalogues, demonstrating that they really diversified the merchandise they offered to customers.

Jun 30 - 6:30:1766 Masthead New-York Mercury
Masthead for the New-York Mercury (June 30, 1766).

January 1

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Jan 1 - 12:30:1765 New-York Gazette
New-York Gazette (December 30, 1765)

“GARRAT NOEL, BOOKSELLER and STATIONER; According to his annual Custom, begs Leave to offer to the Public, the following List of Books, as proper for Christmas Presents and New-Year’s Gifts.”

At this time of the year we often hear laments that Christmas has become too secularized, evidenced in particular by the commercialization of the holiday.  The appropriately-named Noel, however, demonstrates that some advertisers developed a marketing strategy that linked consumption and Christmas in the eighteenth century.

And, since everyone loves a bargain at Christmas and New Year, Noel promised “extraordinray low Prices” to “those who are willing to be generous on the Occasion.”  For those who may not have considered giving gifts during the season, Noel planted the idea that they could confirm their benevolence and thoughtfulness by presenting books and stationery wares to family and friends.