It is still sometimes said that ‘the Press does not advertise’. It is believed that Oxford books, in an exceptional degree, advertise themselves and each other—‘the Oxford book’, says an American advertisement, ‘is half sold already’; but the magnitude and variety of its business enable the Press to maintain an elaborate organization of ‘publicity’, which directs its efforts both to the booksellers and to the public at large. It relies largely upon the distribution, in many thousands of copies annually, of its catalogues and bulletins, on the direct dispatch of prospectuses to a large yet carefully selected constituency of buyers in various fields, and on the incalculable factor of public and private discussion. The value of judicious newspaper advertisement is not overlooked, as readers of the _Times Literary Supplement_ well know. [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration] § 10. _Bibles and Prayer Books_ Some account has already been given of the exercise by the University of its privilege of printing ‘the King’s books’ in early times. The modern history of the printing and publishing of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer is a large subject. The University of Oxford, like the other privileged printers, has appreciated the obligations attached to the privilege as well as the opportunities which it affords. Every attention has been paid to accuracy and excellence of printing and binding, to the provision of editions suited to every purpose and every eyesight, and to the efficient and economical distribution of the books all over the world at low prices. In all these respects a standard has been reached which is unknown in any other kind of printing and publishing, and which is only made possible by long experience, continuous production, and intensive specialization. The modern Bible is so convenient to read and to handle that its bulk is not always realized; it is actually more than four times as long as _David Copperfield_. A reference Bible is, also, a highly complicated piece of printing. Accuracy is secured by the employment of highly-skilled compositors and readers—a new Bible is ‘read’ from beginning to end many times—and by the use of the best material processes; for all Bibles are printed from copper plates on the most modern machines, and the sheets are carefully scrutinized as they come from the press. The Oxford Press offers a guinea for the discovery of a misprint; but very few guineas have been earned. The bulk and weight of Bibles are kept down by the use of very thin and opaque paper, specially made at the Press Mill at Wolvercote. The use of such paper, and especially of the Oxford India paper, the combination in which of thinness with opacity has never been equalled, may be said to have revolutionized the printing of Bibles, by making possible the use of large clear type in a book of moderate size and weight.