manifestation of ability is sure to produce claimants for the publication
of books. No sooner had the story of "Hot Corn" appeared in "The Tribune,"
than a dozen booksellers were applicants to the author for a book. The
competition is here for the _purchase_ of the privilege of printing, and
this competition is not confined to the publishers of a single city, as is
the case in Britain. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and even Auburn and
Cincinnati, present numerous publishers, all anxious to secure the works
of writers of ability, in any department of literature; and were it
possible to present a complete list of our well-paid authors, its extent
could not fail to surprise you greatly, as the very few facts that have
come to my knowledge in reference to some of the lesser stars of the
literary world have done by me. You will observe that I have confined
myself to the question of demand for books and compensation to their
authors, without reference to that of the ability displayed in their
preparation. That we may have good books, all that is required is that we
make a large market for them, which is done here to an extent elsewhere
unknown.

Forty years since, the question was asked by the "Edinburgh Review," Who
reads an American book? Judging from the facts here given, may we not
reasonably suppose that the time is fast approaching, when the question
will be asked, Who does not read American books?

Forty years since, had we asked where were the _homes of American
authors_, we should generally have been referred to very humble houses in
our cities. Those who now inquire for them will find their answer in the
beautiful volume lately published by Messrs. Putnam and Co., the precursor
of others destined to show the literary men of this country enjoying
residences as agreeable as any that had been occupied by such men in any
part of the world; and in almost every case, those homes have been due to