Musings without method : 'The Times' and the publisher, the real object of 'The Times'.

Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Musings without method : 'The Times' and the publisher, the real object of 'The Times'. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Reprinted from ‘ Blackwood’s Magazine,’ November 1906, by permission of Messrs William Blackwood & Sons. A MUSINGS WITHOUT METHOD. ‘the times’ and the publisher—THE BEAL OBJECT OP ‘THE TIMES.’ The dispute which during the last few weeks has raged between the publishers and ‘ The Times ’ is at once narrow and technical, and had not one of the combatants been a news- paper, with equal facility and desire for advertisement, it might have been settled with speed and in silence. Only one question demanded an answer : Shall a private firm be per- mitted to offer a net book at a second-hand price immedi- ately after publication ? Said ‘The Times,’ in one of those outbursts of philanthropic elo- quence with which it delights to obfuscate the world: “We habitually sell copies of net books, which have been in circulation among our sub- scribers, only a few weeks after publication, at a material reduction from the published price.” To this boast the publishers replied with a re- solution “ that second - hand copies of net books shall not be offered for sale or sold at less than the published price within six months of publica- tion.” ‘ The Times,’ in the determined attitude of one about to lead a forlorn hope, announced that it would supply its readers with the books they want at all costs or none. The members of our Book Club, it declared, “ find the privilege of purchasing in Class B very welcome.” The members would find the privilege still more welcome if they got the books for nothing. So the burglar takes comfort in his swag, but that comfort does not give housebreaking a place among the moral professions. And ‘ The Times,’ in its ruthless attempt to out prices, cannot take shelter behind the shame- ful greed of its subscribers. However, the Publishers Asso- ciation, brushing aside all ir- relevanoies, made the only counter-stroke possible. It re- solved that its members should withdraw their advertisements from ‘The Times,’ and refuse to supply such net books as they published to ‘ The Times ’ Book Club. ‘ The Times ’ pro- fesses to be perfectly satisfied with the arrangement. Its satisfaction may not be so great when it has been de- prived of the publishers’ ad- vertisements for a year. The Association could not have done otherwise than it did. Its members owe a cer- tain allegiance to the authors on the one hand, and to the booksellers on the other. The author’s chance of selling a serious work is small enough as it is. It would be smaller still if his market were spoilt by the appearance of second- hand copies “ only a few weeks after publication.” And as for the bookseller, the triumph of ‘ The Times ’ would mean his ruin. How the booksellers’ profits are none too large. By the fierce warfare of discounts they have already dealt a heavy blow at their own trade. And if ‘ The Times ’ were permitted to sell new books, after a brief sojourn in the lending library.