/ p.39 /

      All that was required was to draw upon the zinc with a greasy pigment, or one containing a resisting varnish, and then to etch the plate with acid. The whites of the design were thus bitten away, and the lines, having been protected by the varnish from the action of the acid, were untouched and remained in relief. When mounted upon a wooden or metal support of sufficient thickness, the plate could be imposed with type and printed in the ordinary way.
      We have already seen that the aid of photography was invoked by the wood engraver; it was destined to render still more important service to the process engraver. Instead of drawing directly upon the metal, the zincographer makes a reversed negative from his drawing, and having sensitized the surface of his plate proceeds to print the negative upon it. This is effected by covering the zinc plate with a thin coating of albumen, in which potassium bichromate has been dissolved. When dry the negative is exposed in contact to the action of light, and it is found that the physical condition of the sensitized albumen undergoes an important change. Where the light has penetrated the negative, the albumen has been rendered insoluble in water; where, on the contrary, the dense film of the negative prevents the passage of light, there is no alteration in the condition of the albumen. After rolling up with a lithographic ink the plate can be washed and the unprinted albumen dissolved away, the remaining portion, acted upon by light corresponding with the lines of the design, being / p.40 / undisturbed. The plate is then etched, and when sufficient relief is obtained mounted and printed from in the manner already described. Modified in various particulars and improved in detail this is the ordinary line process now in common use. Where a drawing is prepared with due regard to photographic requirements it is an excellent method of obtaining at very small cost an efficient and faithful reproduction. A subject that would have formerly cost several pounds if engraved on wood, can be reproduced by line process for a few shillings, the rate for the finest work of this class not exceeding sixpence per square inch, while in a great many instances it is much lower.
      It must not be imagined, however, that line process will satisfactorily reproduce any drawing, although such a belief is commonly but erroneously entertained. The drawing must be made in a suitable manner; it must express everything the artist intends to convey, and, as a good photograph is an essential preliminary, it must be made in clear, firm, definite black lines. There must be no question as to colour, otherwise over-exposure in the negative cannot be avoided, and this results in thickened and distorted lines, or, on the other hand, in their becoming broken and rotten in the reproduction. The drawing should be rather hard; all the tone is to be obtained by cross-hatching or by tints made up of line; no wash or pencil work is admissible. Sometimes it is advantageous to make it somewhat larger in / p.41 / proportion than the resulting block, but when this is done the artist must not be tempted, because he has a larger surface to cover, to put more work upon his design than would be required for a reproduction to scale. Simplicity is desirable, and the most effective pen drawings are generally those which are made with the least effort.
      The zincographic line process is very rapid in operation. Using artificial light and labour-saving contrivances in the various stages of its manufacture, a block can be completed in a very few hours; so quickly, indeed, that this process is extensively employed for daily newspaper purposes, where the entire preparation of the paper has to be completed between sunset and sunrise.
      Another process in which the block is produced by swelling a photographic print made upon a gelatine film, so as to enable a cast of the lines to be obtained in relief, was for some time extensively used in America as well as in this country. Except in the case of originals where the colour is imperfect, or for reproductions from old and stained prints of existing engravings, it possesses no advantage over the ordinary zinc method, and being more complicated in working its use has almost entirely died out.
      Artists accustomed to draw upon wood were unfettered as to technique. Sometimes they chose to indicate the precise treatment the engraver was to adopt when interpreting a design, but very fre- / p.42 / quently they were content to make a wash drawing on the wood-block, and left the engraver to use his own discretion in translating the monochrome into a line engraving, for it must be remembered that for letterpress printing a definite texture of lines or dots must exist. There is a level surface exposed to pressure, and, except as modified by the making-ready, the amount and distribution of colour in the design can only be expressed by means of lines and dots of different sizes, shapes, and directions. Men familiar with line drawing were quite at home when called upon to produce drawings for photographic reproduction, but a larger and equally capable class of illustrators were at a disadvantage inasmuch as they lacked the ability to express tone properly by means of line. So the photographers turned their attention to perfecting some arrangement whereby wash or monochrome drawing should be made available for printing at letterpress, and the solution of the problem resulted in what is known as the half-tone process, the most extensively used of any existing method of illustration.
      The half-tone engraver does for the drawing in flat tint what the draughtsman in line does for himself, and his function is somewhat akin to that of the wood engraver engaged in cutting tints. In point of fact the half-tone operator converts an indefinite tint, whether in wash or pencil, or the tone of an ordinary photographic print, incapable as it stands of direct expression at the letterpress / p.43 / machine, into a texture of dots and points which can be readily printed from.
      This is accomplished by very similar methods to those of the ordinary line process. There is, indeed, a close analogy between them, the only radical difference being found in the negative. A negative from an outline drawing will obviously represent that drawing exactly, the lines will appear as transparent replicas of those in the drawing, and the colour of the paper will be represented by the opaque film of the negative. In the case of a monochrome it has to be replaced by one made with a screen interposed between the drawing and the sensitive plate. The screen is a very fine piece of optical apparatus. It is composed of two sheets of plate glass absolutely free from flaws or defects of any description whatever. These are ruled by means of delicate machinery fitted with movements capable of exact mathematical adjustment so as to insure uniformity in the width both of the line itself and the spaces between the lines. The ruling on each generally follows the direction of the diagonal, and the two sheets are secured face to face and hermetically sealed. The sealing material is opaquely coloured, and when viewed against a luminous background the screen is seen to be composed of minute squares. The number of lines to the inch and the ratio between the width of line and intervening space vary. Originally screens of eighty or one hundred lines to the inch were employed, now screens of one / p.44 / hundred and fifty up to two hundred lines to the inch are common, and even finer screens are used where the conditions will permit of the most careful printing. When inserted in the camera in front of the sensitive plate the action of the screen is to intercept very much of the transmitted light from the copy, and to break up the image into that mass of dots and points, which, whether conspicuous or almost imperceptible, is always present in a half-tone engraving. Having secured the negative, the later stages of the production of a half-tone block are similar to those already described in connection with line blocks. Copper has largely replaced zinc as the material used, and the various stages of re-biting require greater deftness on the part of the operator than the corresponding steps in making a line block.
      Before entirely leaving the subject of photography as applied to either letterpress or lithographic printing, a few words are necessary on the subject of colour printing, and also as to those photo-mechanical methods of printing which are sometimes used in connection with book illustration.
      Colour printing involves a number of separate blocks or stones for one subject, the number varying with the number of colours to be used. The lithographer selects from his design the appropriate colours, and, having drawn the key or general outline, he lays down a number of transfers on to separate stones. On one he will draw in so much of the tint as is necessary to obtain, say, the yellow, / p.45 / and on another what is required to give the blue, and on another the violet, and so on. Each one of course is treated with sufficient inflection to convey the different strengths of colour, and again separate stones are provided for such intermediate tints as cannot very well be secured by a combination of any other colours used. All these transfers being laid down from one key they can be printed in succession in perfect register, and so the colour print is gradually built up.
      Where a long run is required, some economy is found in employing relief blocks instead of lithographic stones, or again it is sometimes advantageous to combine the two methods, and print part of the work from stone and the rest from relief blocks. The increasing tendency to produce colour work by letterpress has lately contributed to an important development of the photographic half-tone process, which is generally known as "three-coloured work." The researches of Ives and others in the field of photographic optics have demonstrated that it is possible to construct photographic positives which will discriminate natural colours.
      The photographer does this by making negatives in register on specially prepared sensitive plates so arranged that each one shall automatically select only a sympathetic colour and reject any other. In this way a negative may be obtained from any object which shall reproduce only so much of it as is coloured yellow, another shall reproduce / p.46 / the blue, and another the purple. If half-tone blocks are made from these, and are printed in pigments corresponding as closely as possible with the colours selected by the respective negative filters, a fairly satisfactory result may be obtained. It is clear, however, that any such result is an approximation only, and its success depends largely upon the character of the subject to be reproduced. Natural objects as a rule present fewer difficulties than paintings or drawings in colour.
      A very brief reference to the photo-mechanical processes will suffice. They are numerous, and for fidelity of reproduction are valuable, but they involve separate printing, and in some cases this is a costly matter. The most important are the group of collotype processes, which are known by a variety of names. A collotype may be described as a mechanical print from a chemically prepared surface, and is in effect a lithograph printed from a gelatine film. In this country climatic changes are so frequent and sudden that it is difficult to rely upon the behaviour of gelatine, which is largely affected by variations of temperature, and by the amount of moisture present in the atmosphere. Very fine granulation can be employed, and therefore a collotype print is capable of expressing the most delicate textures and the lightest tints.
      It only remains now to mention the group of illustrative methods known as intaglio or incised / p.47 / processes. Line engraving upon copper has been already referred to. A later development introduced the use of steel instead of copper plates, and a more delicate style of engraving became popular. During the earlier part of the last century, line and stipple engravings were used for book illustration in the case of sumptuous editions, but have now almost entirely died out. The revival of copper etching dates from the decline of line engraving. For the artist who is expert in the control of his treatment of line, no method can be simpler or more effective. Having covered a polished copperplate with a resist varnish, he draws in reverse with a sharp point the lines of his design, revealing the metal: he then proceeds to etch the plate, generally using a retarding mordant such as perchloride of iron. Not only can the width of line be varied, but its depth can also be regulated by re-covering the plate and re-biting those portions of the design which need strengthening.
      Much more restricted in its application to book illustration is the mezzotinter's art. It is a complicated process to produce a mezzotint plate, and when done the number of perfect impressions that can be relied upon is not great. A copperplate is worked upon by a tool known as a "rocker," which raises a burr like velvet-pile. The engraving is made with a scraper, the burr is reduced in height for the middle tones, and is altogether removed for the high lights of the subject, which are represented by the smooth metal. / p.48 / The plate is inked and printed in the same manner as a line copperplate, but the tint obtained by the rocking is so full and deep, and of such a varied character, that a print from a mezzotint plate always presents a rich appearance, and possesses a quality unobtainable in any other way.
      The fact that every print from a copperplate involves a large amount of manual manipulation insures variety, and the introduction among the illustrations of a book of at least one printed from a plate enables it to claim a higher place among the season's editions than is allotted to others. Hence the need for a cheap and speedy method of making copperplate illustrations, which has been satisfied by the introduction of photogravure.
      In connection with relief work gelatine surfaces for electrotyping purposes have already been mentioned. The use of undulating gelatine films in conjunction with resin for granulating the plate gives the process of photogravure.
      A negative of the subject is made in the usual manner, and from this a reversed glass positive is printed. A carbon print is then made, which is laid down on a copperplate already covered with finely powdered resin. The undulations in the carbon film corresponding with the gradations of light and shade in the subject regulate the time required for a mordant to penetrate to the surface of the copperplate beneath, and permit of the more immediate action of the acid upon those parts where the carbon film is thinnest. These corre- / p.49 / spond with the shadows, while the denser film indicating the lights of the subject does not permit of much, if any, chemical action. The printing texture is secured by the powdered resin, the separate grains of which prevent the uninterrupted action of the mordant and granulate the bitten area.
      Although not a particularly cheap process photogravure is an efficient and comprehensive method of securing artistic results in the way of book illustration, and for the reproduction of paintings it is unsurpassed by any of the mechanical processes. It is not unusual for us to be told that these may be dismissed as unworthy of consideration from that point of view which insists upon the individuality of the craftsman as the only criterion of artistic excellence, and photogravure has consequently received less attention than it deserves, the circumstance that much of the beauty of the finished product depends upon the skill of the retoucher being conveniently ignored. In practice the plate which requires little or no retouching is the one which soonest fails in printing.
      This closes our review of the processes available for purposes of illustration. The sketch is necessarily incomplete—it cannot pretend to be more. It aims only at giving information which will aid an inquiring reader in his search for more.

/ p.50 /

AVING selected an appropriate type, and considered the illustrations, if a picture-book, the next thing is the question of Paper, of which there is an almost infinite variety.
      In its selection the nature of the work must be constantly borne in mind. To put an old-faced type on machine paper, or a modern-faced on one made by hand, is not generally appropriate. To be consistent, it is best to print old-faced type on hand-made paper, or paper of an antique character; and most certainly modern-faced type on machine paper. The intermediate series of type faces—the revived old style—may, however, without offence to the most critical, be employed on either kind of paper.
      All papers are primarily divided into two classes: the "hand-made" and the "machine-made." And each of these may be either "laid" or "wove." The hand-made may generally be recognized in the full size of sheet by having all round a raw, ragged, or rough edge—called the "deckle"—and usually by the right side being darker than the wrong. The machine-made papers have smooth, cut, or even edges, except imitation antiques, / p.51 / when they may have one, or two, or even four rough edges. In the last case they are machine-made in a mould, and are apt to deceive most persons. These papers as a rule are darker on the wrong side than on the right. The laid papers are also easily identified by the wire marks or water lines, which are rendered more visible when a sheet, or part of a sheet, is held up to the light. The wove papers lack such lines. Both kinds may, however, be found water-marked with some design or trade emblem.
      Machine-made papers are made in a very great number of varieties: not only in shade of colour, but in style and quality; this latter being largely dependent upon the amount of rag. Hand-made paper is desirable where durability and quality are sought, its texture being stronger, and its properties more lasting. Hand-made papers stand an equal strain in any direction, machine-made papers in one direction only. This can be tested by tearing a small square piece of paper and floating it on water. The hand-made will turn up on all four sides, and the machine-made only on two.
      The substance of paper is regulated to a given weight per ream. For instance, the paper on which this book is printed is 32lb. demy, 516 sheets to the ream, and is a paper of the machine-made antique laid character. In selecting a paper that is of a thin substance, care should be taken to see that it is fairly opaque.

/ p.52 /

      The principal sizes of machine-made printing papers measure in inches:

Foolscap . . . . . . . . . Crown . . . . . . . . . . . Post . . . . . .. .. . .. .. . Demy . . . . . . . . . . . . Medium . . . . . . . . . . Double Pott . . . . . . . Royal . . . . . . . . . . . . . Double Foolscap . . . Super Royal . . . . . . . Double Crown . . . . . Imperial . . . . . . . . . . . Double Post . . . . . . . Columbia . . . . . . . . . . Atlas . . . . . . . .. . . . . .

17 20 20 22½ 24 25 25 27 27½   30 30 32 34½ 36

x  13½ x  15 x  16 x  17½ x  19 x  15½ x  20 x  17 x  20½ x  20 x  22 x  20 x  23½ x  26

      Hand-made printing papers may vary slightly.
      Most of these papers are made in the double or quadruple sizes, because the modern fashion is to print on machines of larger capacity, for the twofold object of expedition and cheapness.
      Very smooth or highly calendered papers are only recommended where the illustrations in the text absolutely require them, especially if these illustrations are of the half-tone nature; hand-made, or papers with a medium surface, being only adapted for printing illustrations of a purely outline character.
      If possible, it is better to make separate plates of all illustrations, so that a good printing paper of ordinary finish may be employed for the / p.53 / letterpress portion of the work, these separate plates being afterwards inserted in their proper places by the binder.
      A word may be said here about the so-called "art papers," which are but coated with a material that contains a very large proportion of clay. These papers certainly give the best results for half-tone cuts, but they are not recommended generally if a suitable super-calendered paper can be used instead. The loading of these papers adds considerably to the weight of the volume, and the dazzling glare of such papers renders them most uncomfortable and trying to the eyes in reading.
      Other papers to be on the guard against are some of those of an advertised light-weight character. In all these there is an entire absence of strength or substance, and there is a great tendency in some of the cheaper kinds of these papers to disintegrate in the mere handling of the sheets in printing.
      As regards the cost of papers, the average quality of hand-made is approximately about three times the value of machine-made—Whatman paper being a little dearer : say four times the value of a good quality of machine-made. That used by the late William Morris for his Kelmscott Press productions was even dearer. In limited editions of a work the total amount of paper used is so small that the price is not worth much consideration. For this reason it is advisable to use the best.

/ p.54 /

      A ream of writing or hand-made paper usually consists of twenty quires, containing twenty-four sheets, or 480 in all; but machine-made paper generally contains 516 sheets (twenty-one and a half quires), termed "printers' reams." As long numbers are mostly printed on these papers, each ream, allowing for waste and spoilage, thus gives something more than 500 perfect copies.
      Vellum is occasionally used for very special copies of a choice work, but its first cost and the subsequent trouble and expense in printing render it truly an édition de luxe. Nowadays it is somewhat difficult to obtain that material uniform in colour, thickness, and flexibility.
      A substitute for vellum which has come into use during the past few years is the Japanese hand-made vellum paper. It is almost untearable, and its beautifully even and smooth surface is capable of receiving the finest impression. So much so, that it is largely used for printing engravings and etchings. Its cost as compared with real vellum is small, and not very much more than the best English hand-made rag paper. This paper is admirably adapted for children's toy-books, and also for sheet music, which has, as a rule, a bad habit of soon parting at the folds.
      One objection, however, to the Japanese paper is that it is not easily cleaned should it become fingered, as its surface becomes rough in the process of cleaning.

/ p.55 /

CHAPTER  VI

THE  SIZES OF BOOKS

T is a difficult matter sometimes, even for the bibliophile, to discriminate between the various sizes of Books, but the rules here laid down will be found useful and generally correct. The present day custom of making books of various odd or irregular sizes, however, is apt to increase the difficulty.
      Books are defined respectively as folio (2°), quarto (4to), octavo (8vo), duodecimo (12mo), sextodecimo (16mo), octodecimo (18mo), vigesimo-quarto (24mo), trigesimo-secundo (32mo), etc. These terms are founded upon the number of times a sheet is folded; for instance, a folio sheet would form two leaves, a quarto four, and so on. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish, say, an octavo from a quarto; but if it is printed on a hand-made laid paper, the water-lines that run at intervals of one to two inches through the sheet (not to be confused with the wire-marks of the sheet, numbering usually eight or more to the inch) will mostly determine this. This rule should also apply to machine-made papers if the paper-maker knows his business. The signatures or letters placed at / p.56 / the foot of the first, and sometimes also the third page, serve as another guide to identification.

	Abbreviated to	Pages to one sheet.		Waterlines in hand-made
Folio Quarto Octavo Duodecimo Sextodecimo Octodecimo Vigesimo-quarto Trigesimo-secundo	Fo. 4to 8vo 12mo 16mo 18mo 24mo 32mo	4 8 16 24 32 36 48 64		vertical horizontal vertical horizontal horizontal vertical vertical vertical

      Books with uncut or merely trimmed edges should measure in inches:

	Octavo.				Quarto.
Pott . . . . . . . . Foolscap . . . . . Crown . . . . . . Post . . . . . . . . Demy . . . . . . . Medium . . . . . Royal . . . . . . . Super Royal . . Imperial . . . . .	6¼    6¾    7½    8     8¾    9½  10  10¼  11	x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x	3 7/8    4½ 5 5 5 5/8 6 6¼ 6 7/8 7½	.  .  .   .  .  .   .  .  .   .  .  .   .  .  .   .  .  .   .  .  .   .  .  .   .  .  .	7¾   8½ 10  10  11¼ 12 12½ 13¾ 15	x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x     x	6¼   6¾   7½   8   8¾   9½ 10 10¼ 11

      For books with cut edges, deduct a quarter of an inch in height, and rather less in width. If the book has been bound more than once, a greater deduction must of course be made.
      There is not always a clear understanding as to the terms used in connection with the treatment of edges.
      "Uncut edges" does not necessarily mean that they have not been opened with the ordinary / p.57 / hand paper-knife, but simply that the book has not been cut down by machine, a method which sometimes sadly mars the appearance of a book. When the edges are absolutely untouched, it is perhaps better to say "unopened".
      "Trimmed edges" means that the heads have been left untouched and the fore-edge and tail merely trimmed sufficiently to make them tidy.
      "Cut edges" are those cut perfectly smooth with a machine on three sides, and possibly—even probably—with a total disregard to the margins, perhaps facilitated by the bad margins of the printer in the first instance.
      The principal use of signatures at the foot of the first page of a sheet is to guide the binder in folding; they also save the printer the trouble of referring to the pagination.
      The letters of the alphabet are used as signatures, rarely figures, omitting J, V, W (evidently a survival of the days when Latin was the general language used in printing), and reserving A for the "preliminary" matter. If this preliminary matter exceeds a sheet, the signatures are continued with the small letters b, c, d, e, and so forth, technically called "lower case" letters, which may be either in roman or italic, as distinct from capitals or small capitals. Supposing the text of a volume exhausts the alphabet, the letters are duplicated as AA, BB, CC, or 2A, 2B, 2C, and so on.
      Occasionally the third page of a sheet bears a subsidiary signature, marked B 2, C 2, D 2, etc.,

/ p.58 /

according to the signature on the first page. This is only requisite in such sizes of books as duodecimo or octodecimo, where a sheet cannot be properly folded without first cutting off and insetting a small section within the larger: this second signature indicating its position and acting as a check on its proper sheet.

/ p.59 /

CHAPTER  VII

BINDING

INDING is the last stage in the production of a Book, and the question arises—should the book have a temporary, or a permanent, binding? Paper or cloth suffices for the former, but leather is necessary for the latter.
      Taking the temporary binding first: it is important, if this is merely a tentative binding, that the edges should not be cut, but the binder or the owner should open it carefully with a knife, otherwise its size will be too small for the final and permanent covering.
      There are many ways of doing up books temporarily. They may be in loose paper wrappers, or in cloth, which is generally called publisher's binding, or "case work," the sheets being simply encased in boards. If a book is of an ephemeral character the edges may be cut at once; otherwise they should be left untouched, or merely trimmed on the fore-edge and foot.
      The proper and full title should be lettered on the back of the volume, together with the author's name, and the date at foot. This rule saves unnecessary handling when a particular book is / p.60 / sought. This should be done even in a thin volume, because the lettering may be along the back. The better way is to have it lettered from top to foot, so that if the volume is placed face upwards on the shelf this back lettering is still readable. On the other hand, some prefer it to read from foot to head.
      Wire sewing should never be allowed: it tears the paper, and, frequently rusting, stains the leaves. These faults, and the excessive reduction of margins, are never forgiven by a book-lover. Cotton or silk thread should only be used.
      Where a large number of copies has been printed off, a portion only should be bound—the publishers should be consulted as to this—for there may not be a demand at first for the whole.
      The term "bound" is more strictly applied to leather work, or at least when there is some leather used in the binding—each copy being separately bound together "in-boarded" and not simply cased. There are several degrees of binding in this form: "Quarter bound," having a leather back with cloth or paper sides: this, with gilt top and cloth sides, is called "Roxburghe." "Half bound" has leather back and corners, and cloth or paper sides. "Full bound," when wholly encased in leather.
      If the volume has been printed on hand-made paper, the heads only should be cut and gilt, to prevent dirt getting between the leaves. If the fore-edge or tails are very uneven they should be very lightly trimmed, just sufficient to make them / p.61 / tidy. It is a good rule, when taking such a book from its shelf, and before opening it, to blow the dust gently off the top. This accumulation of dust can only be avoided by the use of air-tight bookcases.
      Vellum and parchment are both largely used in the binding of books. They are durable, but quickly soiled.
      Expensive plates should only be stitched or pasted on to guards of strong paper or linen, as used in atlases, and then sewn in with the different sections of the work.
      Rules have been laid down for the binding of works on certain subjects, to form a library, so that each subject may be in a different and appropriate colour; but this must be left to the taste of the owner. However, some thought should be given to the nature of the work. Historical books should bear a distinct shade from those, say, on theology; dictionaries and other works of reference a different hue from poetry, and so forth.
      If the reader of this volume is interested in full bindings, he is referred to the different reports of the Committee on leather for bookbindings, formed by the Society of Arts, and issued by that society in 1901. He will there find much useful information and valuable hints as to the care of bound books.

/ p.62 /

CHAPTER  VIII

PUBLISHING

HE Book being now printed and bound—how can it be issued to the public?
      The first step is to find a suitable publisher. Many authors, even those experienced in the ways of books, employ a literary agent for this work, as they not only are able to suggest the most appropriate publisher for a book dealing with any particular subject—for some publishers make a speciality of certain subjects—but also are able afterwards to help the author in technical matters with which he may not be fully conversant. The Incorporated Society of Authors also helps with advice and offers assistance in suggesting a publisher.
      As every publisher deals with his clients in a slightly different way, it would be useless to go into details. The best advice that can be given is to approach only those who are well known.
      The author, or his agent, having decided upon a publisher, the first thing is to submit the MS. to him.
      Never call on a publisher with a MS., for no verbal explanation is ever necessary. If it cannot / p.63 / and does not explain itself to him, much less will it explain itself to the public.
      When sending the copy, make it up into a flat parcel, so that there may be no folds in the paper, which are a great hindrance to reading, and never roll it into a cylindrical form, for this is even more inconvenient than folding.
      After the MS. has been sent, the author must not expect a reply by return, for although in large firms competent and special readers are retained to report on proposed works, the number of these submitted is so large that time must necessarily be taken when dealing with them. In some firms from twelve to twenty different manuscripts are received for consideration per day! and it is currently said that only ten per cent. of all the books written are ever published.
      All arrangements should be in writing, and any agreement entered into should be thoroughly understood.
      Books are by no means always commercial successes, and a publisher often runs a risk in taking a work by an unknown writer; his terms are therefore adjusted with a view to protecting himself; and the author too, if he shares the cost of production.
      A rough rule for settling the price at which most books may be sold is to treble the cost. Supposing the entire cost—printing, binding, etc.—of an edition of 1,000 to be £100, treble it equals £300, and this sum divided by 1,000=6s. / p.64 / the price at which each copy may be sold; the second third being absorbed by trade discounts; and the final third profits to author and publisher respectively. This calculation is based on ordinary books, and not those sold at net prices.
      All methods of agreement between author and publisher come under one of the following five heads:

(1)    (2) (3) (4) (5)

Sale outright. Limited sale. Profit-sharing. Royalty. Commission.

      (1)  Sale outright to the publisher is sometimes the best for the author, as he gets one cheque for all his work; saves trouble as far as possible; and avoids all dispute.
      The only difficulty of course here is to decide upon a "fair price."
      Under (2), limited sale, the author may sell his rights for a limited time, or a limited number of copies. This is not a common form of agreement.
      (3)  Profit-sharing, including in this term not only half, but all other proportions of profit, such as a quarter and three-quarters, is very simple, and should be satisfactory to the author. It has, however, almost died out, as the author is not in a position to know what the whole real profits amount to; still less therefore the amount of his own fraction. Should this system be adopted, cost / p.65 / of production should not be included without investigation; American, colonial, serial, or translation rights should not be relinquished without a consideration; future work must not be promised.
      The royalty system (4) is perhaps the most popular. In this method the publisher produces the book at his own cost and pays the author a fixed royalty on the published price of every copy:
      A.   From the beginning;
      B.   After a certain number have been sold;
      C.   After the sales have covered the cost of production.
      The first (A) is to be preferred. If the ordinary 6s. novel is published on these terms with a 12½ or 15 per cent. royalty on the published price (6s.), by the time an edition of a thousand or more has been disposed of, the profits of author and publisher will be practically the same. They will, in fact, each have "half-profits."
      In publishing on commission (5), the author pays the whole cost of production, and a percentage—usually ten—to the publisher for his services as agent. This is a very large branch of the trade: many works can indeed only be published on these terms, such as some on philosophy, science, technology, poetry, and at least three-quarters of modern fiction!
      If the author be a business man and does not object to the trouble this system involves—for he should superintend all the printing and binding, / p.66 / and merely send the finished copies to the publisher for sale—he will probably make more by his book if it is successful than by any other system. But then so many authors will not systematically, and twice a year, work at what they call "accounts," which must here be done to obtain satisfactory results. Care should be taken to obtain a fair cost of production, and to keep control of the advertisements, and also the sale price of the book.
      A variation of the commission system is publishing by "subscription." Subscribers are those who promise to take a copy at a certain price, and when a sufficient number have agreed, and thus practically guaranteed the author against loss, the book is put in hand and published. Expensive works—county histories and art volumes—are thus frequently produced when otherwise there would be no chance of their publication.
      Before any prospectus is issued it is very necessary that the author or editor should obtain from a responsible printer a complete estimate of the approximate cost of the volume in all respects—not forgetting to allow some margin for the inevitable extras, in the nature of small type and corrections, that spring up in the course of seeing the work through the press.
      To secure the subscription price in advance, a smaller one may be asked for at first, which will be raised on issue. If the printer is accustomed to this class of work, he can frequently impart useful information and advice.

/ p.67 /

      Some such form as the accompanying is generally used for soliciting subscriptions:

M .....................................................
           Please enter my name as a subscriber for ...........
cop........ of the work entitled ......................................
by ............................................ for which I undertake
to pay ...................................... on delivery [or enclose].
                                Name ..............................................
                                Address ...........................................
                                         ...............................................
Date ............................................

      This scheme may be modified if necessary. Should there be two editions, large and small paper, this should be stated, and room for choice allowed in the order-form.
      In all editions limited to a certain number of copies, a certificate should be printed in each volume stating:

*** This is to certify that only        copies of this edition have been printed, all of which are numbered [and signed].
      No.
                  Signed ..................................

      If there are two editions to be printed, they may both be expressed in the certificate, but the numbers of the two sizes can either be distinct and each start at No. I, or, if preferred, be continuous. / p.68 / The large paper or special copies should come first.
      Ordinary books are frequently issued having a limited large paper edition struck off at the same time. These are generally subscribed for in the manner just mentioned.
      Directly a work is ready to be issued by the publisher, it is customary to send certain copies for review to various newspapers and journals. The character of the work must be considered before sending them out broadcast, or perhaps they may be sent where no notice will be taken of them. The publisher generally knows where to place these copies, but the author should mention any particular papers to which he desires them to be sent. Good notices of a work materially add to its success.
      Advertising a work is another very important matter. In arranging for this with a publisher, supposing it is a commission book, the author should name some limit. If the advertisement can be included with other books in a general way, the expense is not so great; but the announcement of a work singly is expensive.
      Insurance, too, must not be overlooked if the book is a commission one, and the author may either insure the stock himself, or give instructions that it should be covered.
      Presentation or gratis copies are frequently sent out in order to give the book a fillip, the copies generally allotted to the writer as "author's copies" / p.69 / probably being distributed amongst his more immediate friends.
      All criticisms on the book are filed by the publisher, and use may be made of the best of them should it be necessary to send out a prospectus. Some extracts from these opinions of the press may be included in any future advertisement of the volume.
      Most publishers, and sometimes authors too, subscribe to some press-cutting agency, but it is very advisable to see that a competent firm is employed.

/ p.70 /

CHAPTER  IX

COPYRIGHT

OW long does a Book belong to the author? This may seem a strange question to ask, but is really not s