It Also Appears To Me To Be A Good
Fashion, Which Prevails Here, And Here Only, That The Books Which
Are most read, are always to be had already well and neatly bound.
At stalls, and in the streets, you
Every now and then meet with a
sort of antiquarians, who sell single or odd volumes; sometimes
perhaps of Shakespeare, etc., so low as a penny; nay, even sometimes
for a halfpenny a piece. Of one of these itinerant antiquarians I
bought the two volumes of the Vicar of Wakefield for sixpence, i.e.
for the half of an English shilling. In what estimation our German
literature is held in England, I was enabled to judge, in some
degree, by the printed proposals of a book which I saw. The title
was, "The Entertaining Museum, or Complete Circulating Library,"
which is to contain a list of all the English classical authors, as
well as translations of the best French, Spanish, Italian, and even
German novels.
The moderate price of this book deserves also to be noticed; as by
such means books in England come more within the reach of the
people; and of course are more generally distributed among them.
The advertisement mentions that in order that everyone may have it
in his power to buy this work, and at once to furnish himself with a
very valuable library, without perceiving the expense, a number will
be sent out weekly, which, stitched, costs sixpence, and bound with
the title on the back, ninepence.
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