(Bent's List, No. 681.) THE BOOKSELLER A HANDBOOK OF British and Foreign Literature, With which is incorporated BENT'S LITERARY ADVERTISER, established in the Year 1802. PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE, 5, WARWICK SQUARE, PATERNOSTER ROW. Subscription, 5s. per annum, delivered post-free.-Single No, 6d., by post 7d. REGISTERED FOR TRANSMISSION ABROAD. 57 Ward & Co. 77 -73 Wertheim, Macintosh, & Hunt 35,53,79 ...80 Wesley, J. & Co -35 ...............40 Whitfield, Edw. T. 77 .41, 77 Whittaker & Co. 69 Williams & Norgate 78 THE BOOKSELLER. The Subscription to the BOOKSELLER for 1861 is now due, and Subscribers are requested to transmit the amount, 5s., by post-office order, payable to the Publisher, Mr. EDWARD TUCKER, 5, Warwick Square, E.C. The BOOKSELLER is supplied, post free, to Subscribers of Five Shillings a year, which amount should be remitted by Post-Office Order, payable to the Publisher, EDWARD TUCKER, 5, Warwick Square, E. C. Subscribers are reminded that the sum charged is too small to admit of repeated applications being sent by post; they will therefore readily see how necessary it is that their subscriptions should be paid promptly, and without putting the Publisher to any needless trouble or expense. Advertisements inserted in the BOOKSELLER are charged at the following rate:Four lines in column, 3s., per line beyond, 6d.; six lines across the page, 10s. Cd., per line beyond, 1s. 6d.; page, 37. 3s; half-page, 17. 15s.; quarter-page, 18s. Displayed Advertisements are charged according to the space occupied. The Annual Catalogue of Books published during the Year 1860 is in course. of preparation, and will be published early in February. The size of the paper will be such, that it will range or bind with either the BOOKSELLER or the "Publishers' Circular." Bankrupts THE GAZETTE. John Wiseman, Luton, bookseller and stationer ; solicitors, Linklaters, Walbrook. Alexander Morrison Stephen, Dundee, bookseller and stationer. Alfred Bowles, Ipswich, music-seller; solicitors, Linklaters, Walbrook. Thomas Henry P. Larmuth, Tunbridge Wells, bookseller and stationer; solicitors, Harrison and Lewis, Old Jewry. Stephen Dodd and John Charles Peeling, Woburn, booksellers and stationers; solicitors, Blake & Son, College Hill. Michael Killeen, Galway, stationer; agent, Mr. John Henderson, Birmingham, bookseller and stationer; trustees, Froderick Miles, Stationer's Court, bookseller; and Henry Howell, Birmingham, accountant. George James Johnson, Reading, trading under the name of Rusher and Johnson, bookseller and stationer: trustees, John King, Upper Thames Street, stationer; and B. E. Green, Paternoster Row, publisher. Dividend: E. Smith, printer, first, 5s. 6d; Kinnear, Birmingham. Jabez Doidge, Hull, bookseller. Edward Jones Jarratt, Brierly Hill, stationer. Henry Driscoll, Clement's Lane, bookbinder. George Astle, Ropemaker Street. bookbinder. Edward Allen, Southampton, printer. Dissolutions of Partnership : Moses and Robert Greenhalgh, Manchester, papermakers. Edmund and William Morrice Shaw, Fenchurch Street, stationers; debts paid by E. Shaw. Henry and Maria Glover, Bradford, wholesale stationers. Geo. Fred. Clark, and Chas. Clark, Bath, printers and publishers. Ann Hinchliffe and Henry Epworth, Rotherham, printers and newspaper proprietors. William Comber Hooper Hood, Walter James Hood, and Robert Gilbert, Ave Maria Lane, wholesale booksellers and publishers, as regards Walter J. Hood. Robert Muir and Robert Brown, Glasgow, printers. James Semple and Alexander Hutcheson, Glasgow, booksellers and publishers. Charles Pratt and Edward Ralph Cousans, newspaper proprietors; debts paid by Cousans. John Edward Taylor, Jeremiah Garnett, John Harland, Robert Dowman, and Peter Allen, Manchester, proprietors of Manchester Guardian, so far as regards J. Harland and P. Dowman; debts paid by remaining partners. George Henderson Smyth, Joseph Miles Smyth, and William Daw, Liverpool, booksellers and sta tioners, so far as regards William Daw, TRADE CHANGES AND LITERARY GOSSIP. THE MANCHESTER SWINDLERS.-Mr. Beck, of Manchester, is at his old tricks again. We hoped that the frequency with which his proceedings had been exposed had rendered his trade unprofitable, but fear that even now he occasionally finds some The address repersons who will give him credit. cently given was 22, Moss Lane, Chester Road. In consequence of the death of Mr. Jno. W. Parker, junr., Mr. William Butler Bourn, for nearly thirty years Mr. Parker's principal assistant, has been taken into partnership, and the business will in 2 future be carried on under the firm of Parker, Son, and Bourn. Mr. Wells Gardner has disposed of his bound book business, at No. 10, Paternoster Row, to Mr. John Morgan. Mr. Emerson Charnley, of Newcastle, has retired from business, and is succeeded by Mr. Wm. Dodd. Mr. Matthews, from Messrs. Cornish, Birmingham, has commenced business in Bennett's Hill, in this city. LORD BROUGHAM, We understand that this veteran statesman is about giving to the world a work which will be read with the most intense interest, his own autobiography, in which, like his friends Guizot, and Lord Cochrane, he can give details of events in which he has taken part, especially of 1832, when this country was more nearly on the eve of a revolution than it had been for above a century. When we shall know the extent of his lordship's versatility of talent it is quite impossible to say; we are afraid that it may not be till he is laid in Westminster Abbey, for we are continually finding fresh proofs of his activity in past years. One has just come to light; in 1855 appeared an anonymous "History of England and France under the House of Lancaster," which, in spite of the strictly anonymous character of the author, attracted considerable attention. This turns out to have been Lord Brougham's composition, and is, at some future time, we understand, to form a volume of the collected edition of his works. THE BOOKSELLERS' PROVIDENT INSTITUTION.-In glancing over the list of members belonging to this valuable institution, we cannot help being impressed with the feeling, that a number of persons who ought to have joined it are not members. We could mention the names of scores of assistants who are well known as being most exemplary in every relation of a business or social character, and who have attained that period of life when it behoves every pradent man to see whether, in the event of his being removed by death he would be able to make any provision for his family, or, if laid up by illness from following his avocation, find any support for himself. But they are not members of the institution; if spoken to on the subject, they would probably endeavour to evade the question as of too delicate a nature for discussion. If the veil could be removed, it would perhaps be seen that they had year after year been hoping to find the means of conveniently paying the entrance fee or fine until it had become so hopelessly heavy, that to pay it out of the meagre salary of an assistant was an impossibility. It may be urged that this could be got over by the annual payment instead; but those who argue thus should remember, that an annual payment of from 12s. to 35s., in addition to the subscription, renders the amount so heavy that it can scarcely be paid out of their income; and besides this, to one holding a superior situation, there is in this mode of payment something like an acknowledgment of poverty, so hurtful to the feelings, and that many persons would rather evade the benefit altogether than make this disclosure of their means. Now it appears to us that there is a solution of this difficulty, which we would recommend to the attention of all employers; it is, that they should look through the list of members and see whether the names of all their old and valued assistants are included therein, and if not, that they should urge upon them the advantages held out by the institution, and make the means of entry easy, by themselves paying the fine. To the employer this will generally be no heavy matter, but to the employed, although apparently trifling, the amount is too frequently an insuperable difficulty. There is another omission in the list of members, and this we beg especially to draw the attention of publishers to, and that is, that many names of unquestionably wealthy persons are conspicuous by their absence. It is probable that this is, in some cases, owing to the fact of the claims of the institution not having been brought under their notice, or to that spirit of delay too frequently perceived amongst men of business when no immediate profit is to be derived from the transaction. 66 MR. HULLAH.-We are glad to see that the recommendation, which first made its appearance in the pages of the Bookseller, is being partially carried out by a subscription being opened for the purpose of reimbursing this gentleman a portion of the money he has lost; but we still hope that some member of the Legislature will bring his claims upon the public before the House of Commons, in order that there may be a public recognition of his services, we do not say claims, for we believe that on no occasion has Mr. Hullah, or any of his friends, put forward any claim, yet, as a public benefactor, no one better than he deserves to be rewarded. He has been the means of diffusing a love and a sound knowledge of music throughout the land, and as both book and music-sellers have benefited largely by his exertions, we hope that the trade will respond to the appeal which they will find in our advertising pages. A QUESTIONABLE CASE OF COPYRIGHT.-The proprietor of one of the minor theatres lately announced a dramatic representation of one of Mr. Dickens's charming stories, and that gentleman immediately threatened him with an action if he produced it, and succeeded in frightening the theatrical manager, so that he at once desisted. This is a new rendering of the Copyright Act, and we are disposed to think an incorrect one, but most certainly it is unwise; the frequenters of the Britannia Theatre are many of them of that class that are not readers of Mr. Dickens's works, but who would very probably become such if they were made acquainted with their merits, as far as they could be judged of from a theatrical version. A greater writer than Mr. Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, owed much of his popularity to the fact of all his novels being dramatised, and we cannot think that the pecuniary value of his writings was in any way decreased thereby. It would be different, and perhaps detrimental, if before the completion of a serial any attempt were made on the stage or elsewhere to forestall the reader's interest by placing before him a conclusion different to the author's design; in such a case the law should perhaps interfere, but in the transaction which recently took place we think Mr. Dickens mistook both his legal power and his real interest. COSTLY EDUCATION.-According to the Daily Telegraph, Downing College, Cambridge, has an income of about 7,000l. a year, and for this sum, undertakes the education of certain undergraduates whose average number is three. 66 THE LONDON STEAM PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, which was to have made such great profits under the management of Mr. Sala, Mr. St. John, and other eminent men whose names appeared on the prospectus, does not appear to have realised the at least 25 per cent.' originally expected, as at the Court of Bankruptcy, on the 13th instant, a petition was presented on behalf of Alfred Doubble, of Serjeant's-inn, law-stationer, praying that this company might be wound up. From the allegations in the petition, it appears the company was formed to carry on the business of a printer, named Maddick, and the purchase money was to be 4,500l. The registered offices were at No. 6, Cannon Street, and the capital was to be 50,000l. divided into 10,000 shares, of 5. each. Only 1127 10s. had been raised, being the deposits of three shareholders, on 75 shares. BOOK-HAWKING.-We are indebted to the Secretary of the Tract and Book Society of Scotland for some interesting particulars connected with colportage in Scotland, which we hope to bring before our readers next month, together with a letter on bookhawking in Scotland from a Scottish bookseller. VALENTINES. Messrs. Dean and Son, of Ludgate Hill, as usual, take the lead in the production of the missives dedicated to St. Valentine. Every February |