Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Net Book Agreement 1899 and the Book War 1906-1908: Two Chapters in the History of the Book Trade, Including a Narrative of the Dispute Between the Times Book Club and the Publishers' Association by Edward Bell, M.A., President of the Association 1906-1908
The evils of underselling and the possibility of countering them were and for many years had been a constant subject of discussion when I first went into business.
From an article which appeared in Fraser's Magazine in June 1852, it would seem that the question was a burning one at that date, and a little volume issued by John W. Parker 85 Son in the same year (the Opinions of Certain Authors on the Bookselling Question) makes it Obvious that the controversy was by no means confined to the Trade.
At the date in question there was in existence a Book sellers' Association which bound its members not to sell books at retail at less than their published prices while the publishers agreed not to sell on trade terms to anyone who was unable to produce a Card of Membership of the Associa tion. It had occurred to certain booksellers, the most notable among them being Messrs. Bickers 8: Bush, that their sales might be increased if they offered books at bargain prices and that for the sake of increasing their turnover (perhaps at the expense of their competitors and rivals) it would pay them to work on a narrower margin of profit than was secured to them by the regulations of the Booksellers' Association. When these suggestions were put into practice the undersellers naturally found themselves at loggerheads with the publishers and also naturally looked round for the best means of securing their supplies which the publishers had cut off.
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