LORD  BYRON  and  his  TIMES
Byron
Documents Biography Criticism
Passages of a Working Life during Half a Century
Note to Chapter IX
INTRODUCTION & INDEXES
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Preface
Contents Vol. I
Prelude 1
Prelude 2
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Contents Vol. II
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Note to Chapter XV
Contents Vol. III
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Note to Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
‣ Note to Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Note to Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Index of Persons
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194 PASSAGES OF A WORKING LIFE: [Ch. IX.
NOTE TO CHAPTER IX.

[Extract from “The Modern Press,” 1854.]

“The London Catalogue of Books published in Great Britain, 1816 to 1851,” furnishes, in its alphabetical list, with “sizes, prices, and publishers’ names,” that insight into the character and extent of the literature of a generation which we cannot derive from any other source.

Every book in this “London Catalogue” occupies a single line. There are 72 lines in a page; there are 626 pages. It follows that the Catalogue contains the titles of 45,072 books. In these 36 years, then, there was an average annual publication of 1252 books. This number is more than double the average of the period from 1800 to 1827. There is also published, by the proprietor of “The London Catalogue,” an Annual Catalogue of New Books. From two of these catalogues we derive the following comparative results for the beginning and the end of a quarter of a century:—

1828. New publications   842
1853. „   2530
1828. Total number of volumes   1105
1853. „   2984
1828. Total cost of one set of the new publications   £668 10 0 
1853. „ „ „   1058 17 9 
1828. Average price of each new work   0 16 0 
1853. „ „ „   0 8 4½
1828. Average price per volume of the new publications   0 12 1 
1853. „ „ „   0 7 2½

Such calculations are not arrived at without the labour of many hours; but the labour is not ill-bestowed by us, for they afford better data for opinion than loose talk about the
Ch. IX.] THE THIRD EPOCH. 195
number, quality, and price of books. Hence we learn, that, in 1853, there were three times as many books published as in 1828; that the comparative increase in the number of volumes was not so great, showing that of the new books more single volumes were published; that the total cost of one set of the new publications had increased by more than one-half of the former cost; that the average price of each new work had been reduced nearly one-half; and that the average price per volume had fallen about 5s. below the price of 1828. A further analysis of this Annual List shows that, of the 2530 books published in 1853, only 287 were published at a guinea and upwards; and that of these only 206 were books of general information; while 28 were law-books, and 53 of the well-accustomed dear class of guinea-and-a-half novels. Decidedly the Quarto Dynasty had died out.

As a supplement to the “London Catalogue, 1816-1851,” there is published a “Classified Index.” Through this we are enabled to estimate in round numbers the sort of books which the people were buying, or reading, or neglecting, in these 36 years. We find that they were invited to purchase in the following proportion of classes:—

Works on divinity   10,300
History and geography   4,900
Fiction   3,500
Foreign languages and school-books   4,000
Drama and poetry   3,400
Juvenile books   2,900
Medical   2,500
Biography   1,850
Law   1,850
Science.—Zoology   500  
„ Botany   700  
„ Chemistry   170  
„ Geology   280  
„ Mathematics   350  
„ Astronomy   150  
„ Natural philosophy   300  
    ——  2,450
Carried forward   37,650
196 PASSAGES OF A WORKING LIFE: [Ch. IX.
Brought forward   37,650
Arts, &c.—Antiquities   350  
„ Architecture   500  
„ Fine arts   450  
„ Games and sports   300  
„ Illustrated works   500  
„ Music   220  
„ Genealogy and heraldry   140  
    ——  2,460
Industry.—Mechanics, &c.   500  
„ Agriculture   250  
„ Trade and commerce   600  
„ Political economy, statistics   700  
„ Military   300  
    ——  2,350
Moral Sciences.—Philology, &c.   350  
„ Education   300  
„ Moral philosophy   300  
„ Morals   250  
„ Domestic economy   200  
    ——  1,400
Miscellaneous (so classed)   1,400
    ———
    45,260

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