SIXTY YEARS A BOOKMAN _WITH OTHER RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS_ _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ THE FASCINATION OF BOOKS AND OTHER ESSAYS THE PLEASURES OF BOOKLAND IN FRIENDSHIP'S GARDEN LIBERTY AND BROTHERHOOD, ETC., ETC. [Illustration: J. Shaylor] SIXTY YEARS A BOOKMAN _WITH OTHER RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS_ BY JOSEPH SHAYLOR LONDON SELWYN & BLOUNT, LTD. 21 YORK BUILDINGS, ADELPHI, W.C. _First Printed 1923_ _Made and Printed in Great Britain by_ Butler & Tanner Ltd., _Frome and London_ to MY CHILDREN and also to MY MANY FRIENDS IN THE BOOK-SELLING TRADE with the sincere wish that their lives may be crowned with as much success and happiness as that which has blessed my career CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I My Early Life in the Country 11 II My Early London Experiences 30 III Some Recollections of Stationers' Hall Court 52 IV Some Further Recollections and Reflections 82 V Some Personal Associations 112 VI The Bookselling Trade and Underselling 138 VII Term and Sale Catalogues 169 VIII Limited Editions and the Pleasures of Collecting 188 IX The Whitefriars Club 198 PREFACE At the request of numerous friends, but with some hesitation, I have decided to issue a short account of certain of my experiences and impressions during a long and delightful association with the bookselling trade. In doing so, I hope that it may find a welcome with those members of the trade with whom I have been in happy association for over sixty years, and that my experience may be a stimulus to those who are still plodding their way among the many details of what I consider one of the most interesting and fascinating trades, a trade of which all the details are never learned. The bookselling trade has its pleasurable associations as well as its drawbacks, and, although my early experiences had not great attractions for me, yet, owing to industry and attention to business, I have much pleasure in looking back upon what from many points of view may be considered as a prosperous career. Personally, I love the making and selling of books, and sincerely hope that these callings may still have a future far and away greater than the period through which I have passed. In addition to "Recollections" of a personal character, I have included portions of a few articles which I think may interest my readers and friends. These have appeared at various times, and I hope that they will now meet with as kindly a reception as they did when they were first published.