A History of Booksellers, the Old and the New

A line credited to Thomas Carlyle says that in these days, ten ordinary histories of kings and courtiers were well exchanged against the tenth part of one good History of Booksellers. The preface says history has been aptly termed the essence of innumerable biographies. The preface says that in a volume issued in a cheap and popular form it was manifestly impossible to trace the careers of all the eminent members, ancient and modern, of a Trade so widely extended.

The text gives figures for the seven years previous to 1815: Bibles printed at Oxford numbered 460,500, Testaments 386,000 and prayer-books 400,000. For the same period at Cambridge, the text gives Bibles at 392,000, Testaments at 423,000 and Prayer-books at 194,000. A description of a man says he is looking directly foreright as passers-by would imagine, but observing all that stirs on either side of him without moving his short neck. The text says the "New Biographical Dictionary" was intended to assume proportions beyond anything of the kind hitherto attempted, but when the letter A was completed seven half volumes had been filled, and a loss of £5000 had been incurred.