At the request of numerous friends, but with some hesitation, I have decided to issue a short account of certain of my experiences and impressions during a long and delightful association with the bookselling trade. In doing so, I hope that it may find a welcome with those members of the trade with whom I have been in happy association for over sixty years, and that my experience may be a stimulus to those who are still plodding their way among the many details of what I consider one of the most interesting and fascinating trades, a trade of which all the details are never learned.
The bookselling trade has its pleasurable associations as well as its drawbacks, and, although my early experiences had not great attractions for me, yet, owing to industry and attention to business, I have much pleasure in looking back upon what from many points of view may be considered as a prosperous career.
Personally, I love the making and selling of books, and sincerely hope that these callings may still have a future far and away greater than the period through which I have passed.
In addition to "Recollections" of a personal character, I have included portions of a few articles which I think may interest my readers and friends. These have appeared at various times, and I hope that they will now meet with as kindly a reception as they did when they were first published.
"Sixty Years a Bookman" is intended for three classes of readers—my Personal Friends, the Bookselling Trade, and the General Public; and I trust that there will be found something in these records of a long and busy life to appeal to them all.
JOSEPH SHAYLOR
Gloucester House, Holden Road,
Woodside Park, N.
My Early Life in the Country