International studio (43.1911)

22

THE INTERNATIONAL STUDIO

March, igil

i'J

W NOTICE OF EXPIRATION of the Period CT

for Registering EARLY APPLICATIONS
for the Eleventh Edition of The Encyclopaedia Britannica,
at Substantial Concessions in Prices, but without Immediate Payments

The Cambridge
University
Press
invited applications in ad-
vance of publication for the
New Edition of 1 he En-
cyclopaedia Britannica on a
basis of preferential treat-
ment in the matter of prices
to those who by applying
promptly should assist the
publishers to further the
economical production of
the complete work, and in a
large edition.
o
No Payment was required until after
delivery of the volumes, the object of
the advance offer being to ascertain in
what proportion the public would prefer
the work—whether on ordinary book pa-
per as in the case of previous editions,
or in the more compact form on India
paper (very light, yet strong and opaque)
—and what was not less important, to
ascertain their preference as regards the
six styles of binding.


This photograph was taken in an old country house in England, and the contrast between old
fashions and new is strikingly shown by the fact that the volumes of the new Encyclopaedia
Britannica in the single-tier mahogany bookcase stand under a portrait painted by Sir Joshua
Reynolds about 1775, nearly the time the First Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica appeared

The first edition of
The Encyclo-
paedia Britannica
was issued at
Edinburgh in
1768-71 by “A
Society of Gentle-
men in Scotland.”

• •

Successive editions
have appeared at
an average inter-
val of 14 years.

• •

The last completely
new edition was th e
9th, in 25 vols.,
issued, volume by
volume, between
1875 and 1889.

The purpose of this advance
offer
having been achieved, the relative demand for the work in its
essentially different formats having been definitely determined
(this being necessary before making estimates for the printing and
binding of a large edition—25,000 to 50,000 sets—of a work in
twenty-nine volumes of 960 to 1,064 pages each), the manufactur-
ing will now proceed rapidly and on a scale altogether without
precedent in publishing.
Delivery to early subscribers
has already begun in the case of Volumes I to XIV inclusive, and
the other volumes (XV to XXIX) are in the binders’ hands. Com-
plete publication of the Eleventh Edition of The Encyclopaedia
Britannica will, therefore, be effected soon after this magazine is in
the hands of its readers. The sale has been so extremely success-
ful that in order to allow all who wish to purchase the book an
opportunity of obtaining it on the most favorable terms possible, it
has been decided to allow the present low prices to remain open
till May 31 next. The first printing of 17,000 sets—12,000 on
India paper and 5,000 on ordinary paper (which it is expected will
be finished by March 1)—will, in respect to the India paper, be
oversold by the time this advertisement is read; so that those who
do not order promptly will find their names far down on the list of
subscribers to whom deliveries will be made in impartial rotation
from the further stock of sets which has been put in hand.
The advance-of-publication price is only $4.00 a volume for
ordinary paper bound in Cloth, or $4.25 a volume for India paper

bound in Cloth (the Ninth Edition having been sold when first issued
at $7.50 a volume, Cloth, which will be the ultimate price for the
Eleventh Edition). The leather bindings (full Sheepskin and full Mo-
rocco) are now correspondingly low in price.
THE PRESENT SAVING WHICH EARLY APPLICANTS MAY EF-
FECT BY ENTERING THEIR NAMES AS SUBSCRIBERS WILL
ENABLE THEM TO ACQUIRE THE FOREMOST WORK OF REFER-
ENCE AT PRICES WHICH HAVE NEVER BEFORE BEEN POSSIBLE,
AND WHICH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE, EVEN IN THE
PRESENT CASE, UNLESS THE BOOK-BUYING PUBLIC HAD RE-
SPONDED PROMPTLY.
Immediate applications
in the case of those whose names were not entered on the first sub-
scription list will be dealt with with all possible dispatch—that is,
as quickly as printers and binders can produce complete sets.
62 printing machines
have been requisitioned for the volumes that are being printed on
India paper. In view of the fact that the printing of The Encyclo-
pedia Britannica in this form is a lengthy process requiring unusu-
ally careful presswork, and in view of the further fact that the pub-
lishers anticipate a demand exceeding 40,000 sets before May 31,
it has been necessary to open a waiting list, delivery of the volumes
to be made as rapidly as printers and binders can turn out the
books, but in no case need any payment be made until the volumes
have been delivered.