Volume 1 - Electric Scotland

500 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD.
in all sort of connections. " His advertisements are
exceedingly profitable. I wish you would devote a
portion of your cover to this object, as, besides the im-
mediate profit, the circulation of a work is materially
assisted by its advertisements." The Magazine had
been very careless of all these aids, being in its begin-
ning a romantic adventure altogether, and not founded
upon the principles which the smaller fry of trade
literary enterprises in London were laboriously work-
ing out. Here is a curious illustration of popular
taste, which I have no doubt we should find on in-
quiry to be still the same in our own day :
There is at this time, you must know, a bit of a schism be-
tween the Divan [Messrs Longman & Co.] and the Emperor of
the West [Murray] about Dame Rundell and her Cookery
Book. The Chancellor has referred the dispute between the
old woman and M. to the lower courts : meanwhile she is pre-
paring an improved edition of the book, which Longmans have
agreed to publish. At his late sale Murray offered the old
book to the trade, and was so elated by the preference given
to his edition, that, after the numbers subscribed for were
fixed, he informed the purchasers that they should pay 3s. 6d.
instead of Ss. lOd. By this well-timed piece of generosity
the subscriptions were immediately doubled. Murray's plan
is by far the best as respects his publishing arrangements.
He charges a good price to the public on his commodity, in
order that he may be enabled to afford the Trade a larger
profit ; and it is quite natural that the retail booksellers should
interest themselves most in the sale of those works which
bring them the greatest profit.
You will perhaps smile to leani that with us, next to the
Scotch novels and Byron, the best selling books are Dr
Kitchener's. Another impression of 2000 copies of the Cook's
Oracle is now at press. I often meet the old gentleman : he
is half cracked, yet there is wherewithal to be amused at
in him. He was sorely smitten with your clever notice of
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