Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/360

326 of the books from London. He must also pay a commission, usually five per cent., to his London agent, on all those books which his correspondent does not himself publish. If to this be added a discount of five per cent., allowed for ready money to every customer, and of ten per cent. to book-clubs, the profit of the bookseller in a small country town is by no means too large.

Some of the writers, who have published criticisms on the observations made in the first edition of this work, have admitted that the apparent rate of profit to the booksellers is too large. But they have, on the other hand, urged that too favourable a case is taken in supposing the whole 3000 copies sold. If the reader will turn back to section 382, he will find that the expense of the three first items remains the same, whatever be the number of copies sold; and on looking over the remaining items he will perceive that the bookseller, who incurs very little risk and no outlay, derives exactly the same profit per cent. on the copies sold, whatever their number may be. This, however, is not the case with the unfortunate author, on whom nearly the whole of the loss falls undivided. The same writers have also maintained, that the profit is fixed at the rate mentioned, in order to enable the bookseller to sustain losses, unavoidably incurred in the purchase and retail of other books. This is the weakest of all arguments. It would be equally just that a merchant should charge an extravagant commission for an undertaking unaccompanied with any risk, in order to repay himself for the losses which his own want of skill might lead to in his other mercantile transactions.