Book Description

Excerpt from The Mechanics' Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette, Vol. 18: October 6, 1832-March 31, 1833 Full justice is commonly supposed to be done to that cheapness which forms so remarkable a feature of the literature of the present times, when it is allowed to have facilitated amazingly the diffusion of knowledge among all classes of the people. This, however, is to take but a limited view of the good with which it has been attended; for in proportion as the prices of books have been lowered, so also has the public learnt to appreciate the contents of books more according to their real worth. The time is not long gone past, when cheapness in a literary production was generally looked upon as a sure proof of want of respecta bility, if not of merit. Large paper, large type, large margins, and large prices, were things almost as essential to a good literary reputation as genius and learning themselves. Nobody would publish in little, for fear of being thought little. Even learned Societies deemed that it concerned their dignity to occupy the largest possible space with the least possible quantity of information. It. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.