THE BooK "RAMP"

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 85, 4 January 1919, Page 9

THE BooK "RAMP"

< : . ':;.-,.■ . ~H»- ■ ••■■.■ • ':• •AN'-ENCOUNTER' WITH A ;,-' -•.;■■•.! ,-.-i •--. PEOFITIiER. - ••■;■ . • ?..;' r=am':'ono of., those people-who buy ' books. (Loud cheers.:fi'om authors!)'.My , 7 ■ average is -three or-four a'weok all the • y.e'arr. round. '•_■; ..•.."' :.-■ •'.•'. ■ 'v , :-But)-'.'lf--liavo.'a:, grievance against the ' booksellers. -gr; , rather, "it , :is. -perhaps the . publishers,-Who; should bo saddled with .tho-burden of- my grievance.-. It'is iu . the-matter-.of price.-.-'-- , , •■•■ ; Lefc-.me explain.'l only purchase cheap ■ editions.-:-. That is,.'l .try .to do so.. My s difficulty, hqwover;-'is-that there are no • cheap editions nowadays. . Anyway, 1 i' can't find- them.;-. • - *. V ■■■•.■' 8 -I-haT.e before, mo. iii.thm volume, 111-1 1 printed'on bad-:paper,and flimsily bound . ? in imitation'cloth'boards'. ; The 'format 3 is that of. the familiar "Sevenpenny" of f a few yean-ago. The in'ico unulushingly ( demanded was'ls. 9d;.-,.-. - : ." . ■ .•'■. • ■. "Vfhy?" ■ h -inquired. '■' , .- • ' ' i -"It's the war. ■ .-:> » : '.'■' . . ""What-.has that got.to do;with it? a • The.-Bhopniim regarded me:pityingly 3 ■.-. "The xost 'of -book.production lias- gone. " up,.like everything else," was the glib J response.- "Paper, printing,'binding, and " distribution; and—er—all' the rest of it, '■ Paper's-300".per cent: .what it used to "i be. Same", with' printing, and ——"' ■ ' ■' "Quite 80," T interrupted, turning , , aa ; '; is : my habit, from' title pnge.-'to'-colo- "'■ plidn. "I could understand the increase if: the paper for this ' "book hnd' been j bought:-last month,'and If'.it had been 1 printed dasd -week-: But'this' book wns 3 printed in . 1903—that is, ten years ago. It coat'7d.'then.' Why do you-want Is. '■ 9d.-no\v?" ■■' •■ • v-.'-' ',: . . • 3 : . "Well; that's the price," snapped the , 3 assistant, who was clearly getting peev- :; ish; -"Take'it, or leave it." •■ _ .. j ■ -:-.lfwas weak of-me, but'l > took it. 1 . When I returned honie I examined my '. purchase. On the back was a . label r marked "VVur.Erico, Is. «d." Out of I. curiosity T removed tins" label and dis covered another beneath it; 'Beneath this . »; again" wew ' four others, tlie' sequence 1 reading .reiipe(stlve:yi'"'7il.',""'"9(l.,". "Is.-." ; "1e....3d.K( "Is. Sd.,". and."15..9d."..... a - It : is: jiist the-same, with tho old pre- '• war..paper-covered- reprints of popular • ?• novejs; Npmiiially'. published nt Cd.. no J: bookseller ever dreamed'of asking more. than 4jd., a copy, Now,, however, a ?■ threatening, label, '"Revised" price, 9d.,"- :■ unblushingly appears on'all of them, ? while'their bigger Is. brothers are Is. 6d. ' I'- P.wflteeringi , :''; •.. , . Fsearched my dictionary.for.a-defini- ' tiqn.pf.this term'. There was none. Odd "this,!'because'.'my copy,- which was. pub- ? lished. at 3.9...Cd.''and is dated 1883, cost : me'Gsr'net'ohly,yesterday. ' In the circumstarieee; I '.think that the. publishers "' must 'Sorely know what the word means. • I :.:lf,.not;':r:can ,toll.them!.-."i1.W:," in '< the. "Daily; afail'." ''. ' ■ •' : ■ . •