"The words' please send out,' or 'post up,' or other similar directions or requests not part of the address nor necessary to delivery, cannot be written or printed upon the wrapper of a package of third-class matter without subjecting it to firstclass rates. The words 'personal,' or 'to be called for,' and return requests and other directions as to delivery or return, are deemed part of the address, and permissible." The above supersedes the information given in previous circulars issued by this office on the subject, and practically removes the restrictions therein mentioned as to printing on the wrappers of mailable matter of the third class. The business or occupations of senders, the names of contents of packages, and any other printing not in the nature of an actual and personal correspondence," may now be placed on the outer face or surface of packages of third-class matter without subjecting them to additional postal charge. Respectfully, HENRY G. PEARSON, Postmaster. MUTATIONS OF THE BOOK-TRADE IN GERMANY. From the Evening Post. THE decadence of the book-trade, outside of our largest cities, has been much discussed by those immediately interested, but it is to be feared that the reading public fails to perceive that the disappearance of the country book-shop implies a corresponding narrowing of the area of literary culture. In this connection it is interesting to learn (from an article in the Preussische Jahrbücher for November) that the same result is threatened in Germany, though the German trade suffers from only one of the evils which afflict the American. These are three in number: first, the dying out of the habit of buying books as part of the furniture, as it were, of the homes of all families of even moderate wealth and cultivation. This is chiefly owing to the enormously increased taste for bric-à-brac, engravings, artistic furnishings, and the like, the gratification of which absorbs the margin of income formerly spent in providing well-bound sets of the Waverley Novels, Littell's Living Age, the Atlantic Monthly, and the newest volumes of Huxley and Lowell. Want of space forbids our discussing this point in detail, and we therefore refer those interested to Mr. Henry Holt's New Haven address of last year. Another evil is the revolution in values-that is, in the instinctive consciousness of what one ought to pay for a book, caused by the existence of the twenty-cent libraries. The literary democracy which these have established has destroyed the aristocracy of good editions and authors' monopoly, which, apparently, had nothing to support it except custom and tradition. lishers sell quantities of their most salable books, at the same or greater discount, to the miscellaneous shops modelled on the Bonne Marché or the "Universal Provider," one, at least, of which is now to be found in every considerable town, and which use books, along with dentifrices and soaps, as decoys to entice buyers of their own wares. Nor is the influence of these shops confined to their immediate neighborhood, for some of them do a large business by post. Two The same thing, it appears, is going on in Germany, and is ruining that particular feature of the German book-trade which, according to our Jahrbücher friend, is the envy of foreigners, and which has undoubtedly, as he says, largely helped to make Germany the country in which learning is geographically most widely distributed. By means of it, the scholar who lives in the remotest country town enjoys the same advantages as regards current literature as the dweller in the largest city. He has only to give his local bookseller the name of any book which he possibly may find valuable, and by return of post it is on his table. He may keep it several months, and, after making any useful extract, return it without compensation for the loan. thirds of the books he receives are thus, at the end of a year, returned to the publisher, and the bookseller makes his living out of the profit on the third book, which is bought. The rural scholar is thus never obliged to buy a pig in a poke-he has ample opportunity to learn, by examination, whether a work is indispensable, and to have the use of the larger number, which, though not of permanent value to him, are of great temporary use. Another advantage of the system is that it implies the presence in every little town of a bookseller who is obliged to anticipate to a large extent the wants of his circle of customers, and hence to be a man of considerable intelligence, if not a scholar himself, and whose shop, in a small way, is a "literary centre." But some clever Berlin dealers, a few years since, conceived the idea of offering publishers to take at one time a large quantity of each book on which they were sure of a large sale, the publishers, in consideration of the large number sold, to give a discount of 40 or 50 instead of the usual 25 or 33 per cent., at which rate they were able to sell the book at about the same price which it cost the small bookseller. By this arrrangement publishers and dealers alike profited, but the oldfashioned retailer, of course, came to grief. Two years ago the publishers discovered that this was a short-sighted policy-that their sales through the large dealers in the end were smaller than they had been under the old plan, and 600 of them agreed to have no dealings with firms which dealt on this principle. On September 25, 1887, this boycott was strengthened by a resolution of the Bookdealers' Union hereafter to regard every dealer who gave a discount of more than 5 per cent. as coming under the ban. But though the local bookseller in Germany-thanks to these sharp measures-will die a more lingering death than his American brother, his doom seems to be just as certain. These two causes would probably have been sufficient to limit the bookseller's stock to "libraries" and a few gift-books for the holidays, and this limitation is fatal to his prosperity, because the margin of profit on the libraries" and on school-books is very small, while the gift-book season is short, and the danger of being left with The resolution of the Union, which we mendamaged or passé stock is great. But that which, tioned, has been unfavorably commented upon by in the opinion of the trade, is the greatest evil, the press, and the Jahrbücher article is largely a and the one from which, in a different form, the reply to these criticisms. The writer maintains Germans also suffer, is the underselling, by which that the prices of serious works are low enough, a few dealers are able to profit at the expense, but admits that those asked for school-books and and eventual ruin, of the majority. This is the belles-lettres are too high. In defending these po"bazaar" nuisance, the system under which pub-sitions, the (anonymous) writer gives some inter LITERARY AND TRADE NOTES. LEE & SHEPARD have just ready a new edition of "The Hidden Way Across the Threshold, or, the mystery which hath been hidden for ages and generations," by Dr. J. C. Street, which has proved one of the best-selling books upon the occult sciences. tle story from Tolstof, "Where Love is There God is Also." It has been a great favorite for Christmas gifts in that it appeals strongly to the popular heart. None of Tolstof's single pieces will do so much as this to show the real purpose of the author's teachings and their essential Christian spirit. esting statistics, which, as the Jahrbücher is issued by a highly respectable firm of printers and publishers, are, we suppose, trustworthy. Incidentally the exports and imports of Germany are compared with those of France, the result of which, in view of their political relations, is highly surprising. In 1885 France imported books, engravings, etc., to the value of $6,400,000 and exported $9,000,000 worth. But taking the trade with Germany by T. Y. CROWELL & Co. have issued in a whiteitself, the proportion was reversed, the importa-and-gold volume, tied with white ribbon, the littion being $3,600,000, the exportation only $765,000. The total German trade for 1886 was -imports $6,000,000, exports $15,530,000. We get, too, some light on the pecuniary profits of authorship in Germany, though the writer apologizes to his brethren for telling tales out of school. It seems, then, that the cost of putting on the market a strictly scholarly work, of which the number that may be sold will not exceed 500, and assuming the author to be neither unknown nor famous, is: Composition and presswork for an Svo volume of 320 pages, 500 copies, $175, paper $41.25, author's compensation, $125, incidental expenses $33.75; total $375. Moreover, the author of a work of more popular character, which may be expected to sell 1000 copies, or of a novel which sells 1500 copies, gets no more for his labor; but the compiler of a school-book which is likely to sell 5000 copies, gets the fabulous sum of $150! The insignificance of the sums paid the authors of works of scholarship and fic-rial supervision of Prof. G. S. Morris. tion might be accounted for on the ground that so many works of these classes are published with a view to benefit the author's reputation rather than his pocket; but compilers of school-books do not usually work for "glory." JOURNALISTIC NOTES. THE publishers of The Congregationalist have issued a little "Manual," which contains in small space (forty pages, pocket size), much valuable information regarding the Congregational denomination, also a list of prayer-meeting topics for 1888, a new story by Rose Terry Cooke, called "The Parson's Prayer-Meeting," and the creed adopted by the Creed Commission of 1883. A multum in parvo, and a wonder of cheapness. W. L. Greene & Co., I Somerset Street, Boston. The Stationer and Printer, published by J. Sawtelle Ford, at Chicago, opens the New Year with a splendid summary number. In addition to a review of the past year it contains a number of sketches of Western manufacturing firms illustrated by portraits and views. Its advertising pages are full of" insets," etc., that help to make an interesting and readable number. The Stationer and Printer started out to take the lead in its line in the West, and from the looks of things it "got there." We congratulate it on its success. THE unpublished letters from Mendelssohn to Moscheles, which will appear in Scribner's Magazine for February, have been in the possession of Felix Moscheles, the artist son of the composer, for many years. They began when Mendelssohn was a boy of 20, who wrote to his master, Moscheles, for advice. As Mendelssohn's fame increased their attitudes gradually changed, until Moscheles generously acknowledges the superiority of his pupil. These letters have been translated from the German by Felix Moscheles, and are connected with a commentary by William F. Apthorp, the musical critic. ANDREWS & Co., Ann Arbor, Mich., will publish during 1888, for the University of Michigan, their second series of Philosophical Papers. The series will consist of the following monographs: "The Ethics of Democracy," by Prof. John Dewey; "Evolution and its Speculative and Religious Consequences," by Prof. Alexander Winchell; "Lessing on the Boundaries of Poetry and Painting," by Prof. E. L. Walter; and "The Ethics of Bishop Butler and Immanuel Kant” (a thesis for the degree of Ph.D.), by Webster Cook. The series will again be under the edito MACMILLAN & Co. have begun the publication of a library edition of the works of Lord Tennyson, which is described as containing everything that the author has published. There will be twelve volumes in all, to be issued monthly. They also announce a new edition of J. R. Green's "Short History of the English People," of which it is reported that more than 126,000 copies have been sold since its first publication in 1874. This edition has been carefully revised throughout by Mrs. Green, so as to bring its details into harmony with the latest views held by the author, being chiefly those shown in his larger history. BUSINESS NOTES. NEMAHA CITY, NEB.-Noe & Son, booksellers and stationers, have been succeeded by Noe & Early. NEW ORLEANS, LA.-Edward B. Wharton has retired from the firm of Geo. F. Wharton & Bro. His brother, Mr. George F. Wharton, will continue the business under his own name at the old stand, No. 5 Carondelet Street. NEW YORK CITY.-Mr. W. H. Bell has retired from the firm of Benjamin & Bell. Mr. W. E. Benjamin will continue publishing in connection with his business in rare books, prints, etc., at 744 Broadway. AUCTION SALES. [We shall be pleased to insert under this heading, without charge, advance notices of auction sales to be held anywhere in the United States. Word must reach us before Wednesday evening, to be in time for issue of same week.] JANUARY 16-18, P.M.-Three thousand volumes of books, mostly British printed.-Bangs. JANUARY 19 and 20, 3 P.M.-English and French literature, etc., also the medical library of Dr. H. L. Horton. -Bangs. Our Society, 4to, cl., $5.00. Harper. H. A. BROOKS, 2261⁄2 ESSEX ST., SALEM, MASS. Any of the books by the author of Josiah Allen's Wife. State of the binding no object. BROWN, EAGER & HULL, TOLEDO, O. First 6 v. of Century Magazine, unbound for binding. V. 15 up Britannica, hf. mor., Scribner ed. T. O. H. P. BURNHAM, BOSTON, MASS, Moore, Diary of American Revolution, Hartford ed.; cheap. Artemus Ward, Complete Comic Writing. Hall, Health and Disease. Stevens, Const. Hist. of the War, v. 2. Kane, Arcuc Explorations; Grinnel Exped., v. 2. S. H. CHADBOURNE, ROXBURY, MASS. Boston Law Reporter, v. 27, no. 7. ROBERT CLARKE & Co., CINCINNATI, O. Maline, Catalogue of Books on the History of the United Brethren. Phil., 1881. Rush's German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, with notes by Rupp. Phil., 1875. Memoirs of Jason Terry, of Bethany, Pa. Wardlaw's, Southern Literature. Macon, Ga. Woodward's Old Families of Burlington and Bordentown, N. J. Memorials of Samuel Gilman Brown, 1813-85 Carus, Memorials of Bishop Mclivaine. Edsall, History of Kingsbridge (24th Ward, New York). Sutro, Mineral Resources of U. S. Baltimore, 1868. Woodward, Reminiscences of Creek Indians. Montgomery, 1859. CRAMER'S BOOK-STORE, 1319 GRAND AVE., KANSAS CITY, Baltimore Council, pub. Murphy. United Netherlands and John the B. American Cyclopædia, last ed., and odd vols. Annuals. Civil War Official Records, V. 3, 4, 5, series 1. Harper's Geographies. White's Arithmetics, two-book series. DODD, MEAD & Co., N. Y. Palfrey's New England, large 8° ed. Kossuth in New England, with his speeches. Boston, 1852. Moore's Utopia, reprint Roberts, England. Tom Brown at Oxford and Rugby, 1st American eds. Graphic Pictures. Marcus Aurelius, Camelot Classics. A. J. CRAWFORD & Co., 7TH & OLIVE Sts., ST. Louis, Mo. E. P. DUTTON & Co., 31 WEST 23D ST., N. Y. Harper's Young People, any volume from beginning to 1886 inclusive. Vinton's Manual. Faggot of French Sticks. Head. A. E. FOOTE, 1223 BELMONT AVE., PHILA, Berichte d. Deutsche chemische Gesellschaft. Douglass and Prescott, Qual. Chemical Anal. GREGORY'S BOOK-STORE, PROVIDENCE, R. I. Christ the Spirit. Jas. Miller pub. Jesus and Religion, by Commos. Sam Slick in Search of a Wife; or, Wise Saws and Modern Seebohm's Oxford Reformers. Quarterly Journal Miscroscopical Science, July, Oct., 1883; all of 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887. J. M. Wilson's Addresses and Lectures. W. C. HOLT, MONTGOMERY, ALA, V. 2 of Benton's 30 Years in Senate. G. W. HUMPHREY, CARE ROBERTS BROS., Boston. Prince's Handbook of Pottery and Porcelain. Arthur Young's Travels in France. H. S. HUTCHINSON & Co., New Bedford, Mass. JOHN IRELAND, 1197 BROADWAY, N. Y. Prince Bismarck, an Historical Biography, by Charles Low, 2 v., pub. by Cassell, Trees of America, by D. J. Browne, 8°. Harper. Life of the Earl of Shaftesbury, by Hodder, 2 v., 8°. Cassell. Holidays in France, by Edwards. U. P. JAMES, 177 RACE ST., CINCINNATI, O. Lepers of Molokai," Ewbank's Hydraulics; good copy. JOHN F. JOHNSON, AMESBURY, MASS Beecher's Life Thoughts. KANSAS CITY BOOK AND NEWs Co., KANSASCITY, MO. Sir Philip Sidney's Works. Boston, 1860. Gautier's Spirite. D. A. & Co. Hardy's Under Greenwood Tree, cl. Encyclopædia Britannica, leath., Scribner's ed. Lord's Beacon-Lights of History. LAUGHTON, MACDONALD & Co., BOSTON. The Spirit World and its Inhabitants, by Eugene Crowell. Alcestis. Leisure Hour Series. D. LOTHROP & Co., BOSTON, MASS. Lesson in Story on the Old Testament, by Pansy (Mrs. G. R. Alden). Boston, D. Lothrop & Co., 1878. W. H. LOWDERMILK & Co., WASHINGTON, D. C. Hamilton, Alexander, Works, v. 2, ed. by Hamilton. Shea, Miss. Valley. Weld, Travels in N. A. Sparks, Ethan Allen. Miner, History of Wyoming. Appletons' Annual Encyclopædias, 1861 to 1875, shp. Emily Chester. Lanman, Dictionary of Congress. Biographical Annals of Civil Government. Tuttle, Centennial History of Kansas. Ward, Wm., Record of Members of G. A. R. Moore, American Eloquence. Sumner, Crime Against Kansas. Revised U. S. Army Regulations, 1861. Arthur, Derivation of Christian Names, Munsell. Wurtele, Standard Measures of the U. S., Great Britain, and France. BOOKS WANTED.—Continued. A. L. LUYSTER, 98 NASSAU St., N. Y. Cooper's Red Rover, Prairie, Sea Lions, Water Witch, Satanstoe, and Deer Slayer. Hurd & Houghton's red cloth ed., 1872. JOHN MACFARLANE, 153 WOODWARD AV., Detroit. Set Matthew Arnold, 10 v., hf. cf. or hf. mor. H. C. MAERCKER, 346 12TH ST., MILWAUKEE, Wis. Chemical News, no. 1252. Nature, all of Nov. and Dec., '87. Nation, Jan. 6, '87; Index to v. 44. Knickerbocker, Jan., May, Oct., Dec., '35; June, '36; Sept., 37: July, Oct., Nov., Dec., '50; also v. 1. 2, 3, 4, 23, 24, 28, 29, 31, 32. Democratic Review, all after v. 31. North Am. Rev., May, 1817, or v. 5. Art Amateur, Dec., '86; Jan. and May, '87. METHODIST PROTESTANT BD. OF PUB., PITTSBURG, PA. 2 copies Peloubet's notes for 1887. C. A. MONTGOMERY & Co., 7 MURRAY ST., N. Y. Literary World (Boston), v. 1; will pay good price for this. Fortnightly Review, complete, bound Contemporary Review, complete, bound. Amer. ed. A. H. SMYTH, 41 SOUTH HIGH ST., COLUMBUS, O. Brown's, Government of Ohio. GEO. ESTEVENS, 39 W. 4TH ST., CINCINNATI, O. Englishmans Greek Concordance. Thayer's Lexicon of the Greek New Test. Scenes in the Lives of the Patriarchs and Prophets. THOS, J. TAYLOR, TAUNTON, MASS. Harper's Montly, Jun., Oct.. '61: Dec., '62; Feb., April, May, June, July, Sept., Oct., '63: March, '64: Jan., Feb., March, May, '67 July, '68; Jan., Feb., March, 69: Jan., April, May, 70: Aug., Sept., Oct., '71,; May, July, Oct., Dec., 73. Good condition and reasonable prices. VAN EPPS & Co., 259 SUPERIOR ST., CLEVELAND, O. Leslie's Popular Mo., September, 1882, and January, 1887. WILLIAM WATKINS, CAZENOVIA, N. Y. Set Appletons' American Cyclopædia, chp., second-hand. B. WESTERMANN & Co., 838 B'WAY, N. Y. Flint, The American Farmer. Rae, Contempor. Socialism. Gayarré, History of La. Simms, History of S. C. Geography of S. C. SITUATION WANTED by young man who knows Classics, speaks French, Spanish, and German. Address J. H. B., care of THE PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY. A YOUNG MAN, 10 years' experience in new and second-hand miscellaneous and school-books, wants situation as a shipping clerk, entry clerk, or salesman. Wages not an object. Best references. ZEAL, care of office of PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY. WANTED. A responsible position by a capable and energetic young man. Has had nine years' experience in the book, stationery, and school supply busThorough experience with inside and outside work. Best of reasons for desiring a change and references from past employer. Address CHARACTER, 47 Concord Sq., Boston, Mass. iness. PUBLISHERS, EDITORS, AUTHORS. - A stenog rapher and type-writer, owning machine, wishes work as private secretary, or in publishing-house or library. Revision of MSS., cataloguing, indexing, proof-reading, and translation from four languages. Neatness and accuracy guaranteed. Harvard references; also from well-known New York authors and editors. Chemical and scientific work and copying authors' MSS. a specialty. Address E. T., Box 789, New York P. O. BUSINESS FOR SALE. FOR SALE-Book and Stationery Store. Terms easy Ill health of proprietor the reason. Address L. B. F.' Sterling, Ill. GASS, HOTT & STURGES, of Mansfield, O., offer for sale the stock, fixtures, and good-will of their entire business, either all together or book and stationery department separately if desired. Stock clean and business prosperous; will stand closest investigation. SPECIAL NOTICES. COMPLETE SETS, odd volumes, and single numbers of the leading American and Foreign Magazines, Reviews and Periodicals for sale. Special prices to the trade. H. WILLIAMS, 142 MacDougal St., N. Y. OMPLETE sets of all the leading Magazines and Reviews, and back numbers of some three thousand different periodicals, for sale, cheap, at the AMERICAN AND FOREIGN MAGAZINE DEPOT, 47 Dey St., New York. NOTICE TO THE TRADE.-If you require wants to complete serial publications, foreign or domestic, magazines, reviews, or periodicals of any description, the largest stock in the United States is to be found at JOHN BEACHAM'S, 7 Barclay Street, New York. RARE BOOKS WALTER B. SAUNDERS, Nos. 33 and 35 S. Tenth Street, Fine Art, Illustrated, Rare and BEST EDITIONS. Priced Catalogues Issued and Sent upon Application. A. L. LUYSTER, IMPORTER OF London Books, OLD AND NEW. CATALOGUES issued regularly, and sent gratis to any address W. J. WEEDON, Dealer in Remainder of Editions and Job Lots. books at special discounts, and the Standard School-Books 88 and 90 CENTRE ST., NEW YORK. PRINTER, General Steam Printer, 100 and 102 Reade Street, New York. Special Facilities for Catalogue, Color, and Book Work. 123 CHAMBERS STREET, |