GLOOM ABOUT BOOKS
SIR,—There may be some reason for despondency over the sale of fiction, children's books and poetry, though even that is apt to be exaggerated. But the demand for books of many other types is greater than ever before, and this is not surprising in view of the fact that, in. relation to the cost of their production, they represent such astonishing value. Published prices depend largely upon the size of the edition ; that is, the number of copies the publishes can feel reasonably confident of selling, so that,
were there any drop in sales, published prices would have to be most substantially increased. Already, as many are finding, they leave no margin for two most expensive items—" publishing fallibility," that is, the cost of some proportion of publishing failures; and " manufacturing falli- bility," that is, the cost of over-supplies, which may occur even with successful books.
As Bertrand Russell's work was mentioned by your correspondent, it may interest your readers to know that over fifty thousand copies of the English edition of his History of Western Philosophy have already been sold at a guinea, and a further reprint of twenty-three thousand is nearing completion. And his much more difficult book, Human Know- ledge : Its Scope and Limits (just published), is rapidly becoming a best
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