Cheaper Novels THE " dollar novel" has caused something of a
sensation in the United States. Now we are to have its equivalent in this country, through the enterprise of Mr. Victor Gollancz, who has formed a company (separate from his already estab- lished business) to publish new full-length novels at three shillings.
We have seen the first of these, but as it is to be published on October 13 our present comment relates only to its exterior features. To the uninitiated eye the only difference between it and a 7s. (Id. novel is that it is rather thinner and has a paper cover instead of cloth :—
" The format of the Mundanus novels will be full crown octavo- i.e., the format of the ordinary 7s. (Id. novel. Great care will be taken with the composition and press work ; and the paper, while thinner than that normally employed for 7s. 6d, novels, will be of good quality, white, opaque, durable. The covers {separately designed for each book) will be in stout paper of a striking colour. The thinness of the paper will enable the book to be slipped com- fortably into the pocket."
An interesting point of the new venture is that its directors believe that they will be able to advertise the Mundanus
books as fully as the more expensive novels : they have already purchased space to the value of £1,000 to announce the three books which they intend to publish before Christmas. As regards the libraries, special copies will be bound, not available for sale in the usual way.
But are novels too expensive ? Mr. Walpole and Mr. Priestley have already sold more than sixty thousand copies each of their last books ; and that at half-a-guinea, and within a few months of publication. A good book gives more lasting pleasure than a stall at a theatre. For a guinea the romance of eighteenth-century Lakeland, and of modern London may both he yours, and that is a small price, for the knowledge and entertainment given by Messrs. Walpole and Priestley. Quite a reasonable argument, therefore, can be made against the publication of cheaper books. That the author's profit may be less concerns only a small number of people, but what of the general public ? Bookstalls and literary reviews are already glutted with the material which comes to them daily, and without respite except for a few weeks during high summer. Shall we be swamped by these yellowbacks ? How is true worth to be discovered amidst such a scramble ?
The answer is that good books, like murder, will out. They force their way through mountains of mediocrity as surely as the delicate plant will cleave a rock to reach the sun. Sometimes, before success arrives, a genius will have died of old age or disappointment, but such casualties are inevitable in literature as in life. On the whole, real talent shines so brightly that it is as easy to discover in a jungle as it is in a desert.
The Mundanus enterprise is likely to encourage more people to buy novels, instead of merely using them as an anodyne for sleeplessness. At present four-fifths of the novels published are bought by the lending libraries : it is unlikely that their influence will diminish, and we hope it will not. But anything that will encourage readers to possess books of their own is to be welcomed : a man or a woman's library is a revelation of character, made and in the making : books possessed exercise a subtle influence on the mind of their owner : they are shown to other people, discussed, consulted, so that reader and author make friends, to the benefit of both, and to the advancement of culture.
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