Page:A history of booksellers, the old and the new.djvu/497

455 PROVINCIAL BOOKSELLERS. 455 and, consequently, the bookselling trade there is of a very recent growth. Among the first important members of the fraternity were Darton and Freer ; but perhaps the most famous Liverpool bibliopole of his day was Thomas Johnson. He started in Dale Street, in 1829, with a stock of books only large enough to fill the bottom shelves of his window ; and at the back of his shop, scarce hidden, he kept his bed and household utensils. However, he had the happy knack of making friends in all quarters ; and when at a large trade sale, offered on unusually advantageous terms, he had speedily 'emptied his meagre purse, and was looking wistfully at the bar- gains falling to all his neighbours, a Liverpool merchant bade him go on purchasing to the extent of 100 or 150, adding that he himself would take the risk. This timely aid set Johnson up in a com- paratively princely manner, and after he had been in business a few years his periodical catalogue extended to 300 pages. At this time the country booksellers were chiefly dependent for their stocks upon the sales of private libraries, but the Liverpool booksellers possessed another large means of supplying their wants. The Bible Society in Dublin was very busy in distributing new Bibles in all directions, which the good Catholics at once carried to the pawnshops. These were purchased again by Mr. Duffy, who brought them over to Liverpool in huge sacks, and exchanged them for books more agreeable to the Irish taste. By degrees Johnson combined publishing and auctioneering with the more legitimate business. His first venture in the former capacity was Abbot's collected works ; but by far his most successful were