The English Rogue: Continued in the Life of Meriton Latroon, and Other Extravagants: The Second PartHead, Richard
General
The English Rogue: Continued in the Life of Meriton Latroon, and Other Extravagants: The Second Part
Head, Richard
Rogues and vagabonds -- England -- Fiction
thereupon bestirs himself, and gets acquainted with most of the factious
Priests about Town, by often hearing them and frequenting their
Companies, and having learned to write short-hand, took notes of their
Sermons, which he collected together, and now and then he would get them
to revise one of them, and print it; by this means spending much time
and mony amongst them, he grew very intimate, and was become the general
publisher of most of their Sermons and Controversies. This was that
which brought him great gain, in a short time he could vie with the
best, what he sold not for mony, he exchanged for books: and now he
could command any book in all the Company without mony, upon account, as
is the Custome. His Shop being well furnished, he gets a Ware-house,
where he bestowed his books in quires; and being thus furnished, he was
first spoken to by some Country booksellers, and then writ to by them
and other, for severall books, so that any thing that he printed he
could sell off well enough; for having good hap to print some very good
selling books, they helped away the other that were not so good, and
still were thrust into the parcel among the rest: and now having some
good Authors, he would not accept of every one; and as he formerly had
sought for, and courted Authors to write books for him, now they
(knowing his way of preferring and selling of books) followed, and
courted him to print their books. If a stranger came with a Copy to him,
though never so good, he would tell them he had books enough already;
but however, if they would give him so much money, he would do it, and
they should have two, or three, or six books for themselves and friends:
many a one did he thus perswade out of their mony, being desirous to be
in print. If he had a desire to have any thing writ in History, Poetry,
or any other Science or Faculty, he had his several Authors, who for a
glass of Wine, and now and then a meals Meat and half a Crown, were his
humble servants; having no other hire but that, and six or twelve of
their books, which they presented to friends or persons of Quality; nay,
and when they have had success, if they wanted any more books, they must
pay for them: further I have known some of our Trade, that when a poor
Author hath written a book, and being acquainted with some Person or
persons of Quality whereto he Dedicates and presents it, the Book-seller
will go snips and have half shares of what is so given him. My Master
being now gotten to the height of his Trade, was soon called on to be
one of the Livery of his Company, which though it be somewhat chargeable
at first, yet it soon brings in profit, there being many conveniences
therein; for they have liberty to put in a sum of money into the publike
Stock, and so great is their profit, that they have seldome less then
twenty _per cent_, and then when, they come to be Stock-keepers or
Warden they have the disposing of the Stock-books, such as are
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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