383. It is usual for the publisher, when he is employed as agent between the author and printer, to charge a commission of ten per cent on all payments he makes. If the author is informed of this custom previously to his commencing the work, as was the case in the present instance, he can have no just cause of complaint; for it is optional whether he himself employs the printer, or communicates with him through the intervention of his publisher. The services rendered for this payment are, the making arrangements with the printer, the wood-cutter, and the engraver, if required. There is a convenience in having some intermediate person between the author and printer, in case the former should consider any of the charges made by the latter as too high. When the author himself is quite unacquainted with the details of the art of printing, he may object to charges which, on a better acquaintance with the subject, he might be convinced were very moderate; and in such cases he ought to depend on the judgement of his publisher, who is generally conversant with the art. This is particularly the case in the charge for alterations and corrections, some of which, although apparently trivial, occupy the compositors much time in making. It should also be observed that the publisher, in this case, becomes responsible for the payments to those persons. 384. It is not necessary that the author should avail himself of this intervention, although it is the interest of the publisher that he should; and booksellers usually maintain that the author cannot procure his paper or printing at a cheaper rate if he go at once to the producers. This appears from the evidence given before the Committee of the House of Commons in the Copyright Acts, 8 May, 1818. Mr O. Rees, bookseller, of the house of Longman and Co., Paternoster Row, examined: Q. Suppose a gentleman to publish a work on his own account, and to incur all the various expenses; could he get the paper at 30s. a ream? A. I presume not; I presume a stationer would not sell the paper at the same price to an indifferent gentleman as to the trade. Q. The Committee asked you if a private gentleman was to publish a work on his own account, if he would not pay more for the paper than persons in the trade; the Committee wish to be informed whether a printer does not charge a gentleman a higher rate than to a publisher. A. I conceive they generally charge a profit on the paper. Q. Do not the printers charge a higher price also for printing, than they do to the trade? A. I always understood that they do.