The responsibility for the selection of the books to be printed, with the exception of the controversial writings of the Reformation period, rested with the publishers of the time, and the direction of the literary interests of the book-reading public (still, of course, a very small fraction of the community) must have been not a little influenced by the decisions arrived at by these publishers. I conclude, therefore, that the publishers of this period must have exerted a larger measure of influence over the direction of scholarly investigation and in the shaping of the literary opinions of their age, than has been possible for publishers in the subsequent centuries after the production of books had been enormously increased, and when all classes of the community had become readers. In these later times the direction of the literary interests of the diverse circles of the reading public came naturally into the hands of the contemporary writers. While the reissue of the accepted classics of previous generations remained (and must always remain) an important division of the business of publishing, an ever increasing proportion of the work of the publishers came to be given to the comparatively routine work of distributing among readers the literature of the day, in the production of which literature the authors have, in part, led and directed, and, in part, simply followed and supplied the tastes and the demands of their readers. The fact that the position and the personal influence of the earlier publishers were so exceptional in their character and importance is my excuse for presenting with some detail the record of the work of a few individuals and families selected as fairly representative of the class. It seemed to me necessary in so doing, even at the risk of adding to the dryness of the narrative, to include in the record lists of titles (selected from the catalogues) of the more important of the books issued by such representative publishers. These titles give in convenient form for reference, material from which can be secured not only an interesting indication of the personal interests and capacities of the publishers themselves but an impression of the literary tastes, requirements, and possibilities of the times and of the several communities in which the work of these publishers was done. I judge that a work of this special character will be utilised rather for reference than for consecutive reading, and with this understanding, it has seemed to me desirable to make as complete as possible the record, presented in each section, of the subject matter considered in such section, even although such a method has rendered necessary an occasional repetition of statements of fact or of conclusions. G. H. P. NEW YORK, _September, 1896_. [Illustration] [Illustration] CONTENTS. PAGE