Free Copy

August 18

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

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

Pennsylvania Ledger (August 17, 1776).

“Gentlemen who rent out farms will find their advantage in distributing them among their tenants.”

In the summer of 1776, James Humphreys, Jr., announced his intention to publish a Philadelphia edition of Arthur Young’s Rural Œconomy: Or Essays on the Practical Parts of Husbandry, originally published in London.  He claimed that he had not set about this venture on his own bit instead pursued the project “At the Request of a Number of GENTLEMEN, and particularly some reputable FARMERS.”  Mentioning those unnamed gentlemen and farmers served as an implicit endorsement of the work, a strategy for stimulating demand for it.

The subtitle of the book, which Humphreys deployed as copy in his advertisement, provided further justification for purchasing and consulting Rural Œconomy: it was “Designed to explain several of the most important Methods of conducting FARMS of various Kinds; including many useful Hints to GENTLEMEN FARMERS, relative to the œconomical Management of their Business.”  In addition, Humphreys composed original copy intended to encourage sales in the city as well as in the country.  “As this work if properly circulated must prove of general utility to this country,” the printer declared, “it is hoped it will not want for proper encouragement.  It it will worthy the perusal and particular attention of every inhabitant on the continent, citizens as well as countrymen.”  Hoping to increase sales, Humphreys even suggested that landlords should purchase copies to give to farmers who rented their land: “Gentlemen who rent out farms will find their advantage in distributing them among their tenants.”

When Humphreys ran his advertisement in the August 17, 1776, edition of the Pennsylvania Ledger, he had not yet taken Rural Œconomy to press.  His advertisement took the form of a subscription notice that called on readers to reserve copies in advance by subscribing for them.  Subscription notices helped printers incite demand, determine how many copies to print, and decide whether a proposed publication had a sufficient market to make it viable.  Not all subscription notices resulted in the publication of the advertised work, though Humphreys did publish his Philadelphia edition of Rural Œconomy in 1776.

The subscription notice indicated that “SPECIMENS” or samples “may be had of the Printer.”  Those short excerpts allowed prospective subscribers to examine the paper, type, and overall quality of the printing.  Subscribers received discounts compared to what Humphreys would charge for any surplus copies he printed.  They had a choice between an unbound copy “in blue boards” for one dollar or a bound copy for ten shillings.  Those who did not subscribe in advance, however, could expect to pay “not less than Twelve Shillings” for an unbound copy “in blue boards.”  Humphreys designed the pricing structure to create anxiety around missing out on the bargain rate.  For those landlords that he encouraged to give copies to their tenants as well as booksellers and shopkeepers who might stock the book, he offered a free thirteenth copy to those who subscribed for twelve books.

Humphreys hoped that these various appeals, separately or in combination, would convince readers to subscribe for copies of Rural Œconomy.  That he published the book does not necessarily testify to the effectiveness of any of those appeals, but their inclusion in his subscription notice indicates what kinds of marketing strategies the printer believed had some chance of working.

April 23

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

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

Providence Gazette (April 23, 1774).

“Subscribers Names may be annexed to the Work.”

When John Carter, the printer of the Providence Gazette, set about publishing a new edition of English Liberties, Or the Free-Born Subject’s Inheritance: Containing Magna Charta, Charta de Foresta, the Statute de Tallagio non Concedendo, the Habeas Corpus Act, and Several Other Statutes, with Comments on Each of Them, he started with subscription proposals.  Early American printers often did not take books directly to press.  Instead, they disseminated proposals that described their intended projects, simultaneously seeking to gauge the market and to incite demand.  In requesting that subscribers reserve their copies in advance, sometimes asking them to pay a deposit, printers determined whether publishing proposed books would be viable ventures and, if so, how many copies to print to avoid producing surplus copies that cut into profits.  Subscription proposals ran as advertisements in newspapers and, for some proposed works, “Subscription-Papers” circulated separately as handbills, broadsides, and pamphlets.

Many printers recruited local agents to assist them in collecting the names of subscribers and how many copies each wished to reserve.  Carter did so with English Liberties.  In an update in the April 23, 1774, edition of the Providence Gazette, he advised that the book “is now in great Forwardness.”  Most likely much of the type had been set and supplies, such as paper, acquired by the printing office.  Carter instructed the “Gentlemen who have favoured the Printer hereof in promoting Subscriptions … to return [their subscription papers] by the last of May.”  He needed to receive them by that time so “the Subscribers Names may be annexed to the Work.”  That was a popular strategy for inciting demand among prospective customers, promising that their names would appear along with others who also subscribed.  They became part of a community of readers, even if they never met, and, in this instance, a community of citizens committed to those “ENGLISH LIBERTIES” that had been “The free-born Subject’s Inheritance” for generations.  Printers suggested to those who had not yet subscribed that they needed to do so if they wished to be recognized alongside their friends and acquaintances and the most prominent members of their communities who already made a statement about the causes that they supported by subscribing for one or more copies.

Carter deployed other marketing strategies to encourage subscriptions for English Liberties.  He warned that “very few will be printed more than are subscribed for,” so anyone who even had an inkling that they might want a copy should not depend on waiting to purchase the book after it went to press.  In addition, Carter offered a premium: “Those who subscribe for six, to have a seventh gratis.”  Subscribers who purchased multiple copies would receive a free one as a reward.

Carter did indeed insert a list of “SUBSCRIBERS NAMES” at the end of the book.  They appeared in somewhat alphabetical order, with last names starting with “A” coming first, followed by “B,” and so on.  Carter indicated the town for subscribers who did not reside in Providence and, within each letter, clustered subscribers from the same town together.  That made it easier for subscribers to determine which of their neighbors had joined them in supporting the enterprise.  Most were from towns in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, but some subscribed from greater distances, including Robert Johnston of Chester County in Pennsylvania and Thomas Tillyer in Philadelphia.  The roster of subscribers included nearly five hundred names, mostly men, but also Mrs. Elizabeth Belvher of Wrentham, Massachusetts, several lawyers and ministers, and even Darius Sessions, the deputy governor of Rhode Island.  For those who subscribed for multiple copies, Carter listed how many.  A few purchased two or three copies, but more commonly subscribers purchased six, a sign of the effectiveness of the printer’s marketing strategy.

Not all subscription proposals resulted in publishing books.  Printers sometimes learned that they could not generate sufficient demand.  In this case, however, the combination of the subject matter’s relationship to the political climate, widespread distribution of subscription papers to local agents, publishing the names of subscribers, and free copies for those who purchased at least six contributed to the success of the venture, though it had taken more than a year.