APPEAL
Social Status and Recognition for the Buyer
Samuel Willard
A Complete Body of Divinity
BostonL B Green and S. Kneeland for B. Eliot and D. Henchman, 1726
During the 17th and 18th centuries when subscription publications were primarily reserved for books with expensive production costs, an appealing aspect to the buyer would be the inclusion of their name on a list of subscribers inside of the book.
In this book Benjamin Franklin's father and brother are listed as subscribers.
Image retrieved from: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/agents/case2.html
A Complete Body of Divinity
BostonL B Green and S. Kneeland for B. Eliot and D. Henchman, 1726
During the 17th and 18th centuries when subscription publications were primarily reserved for books with expensive production costs, an appealing aspect to the buyer would be the inclusion of their name on a list of subscribers inside of the book.
In this book Benjamin Franklin's father and brother are listed as subscribers.
Image retrieved from: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/agents/case2.html
Financial Security for the Author & Publisher
Subscription sales not only assured an adequate number of books to be printed based on demand, but it also removed the costs of booksellers since canvasing agents worked on a commission model and typically paid their own expenses.
This image is of a check between the publisher, Charles L. Webster & Co, and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was hesitant to publish his memoir but due to demand for Civil War books at the time and his dire finances he did via subscription, yielding a considerable amount of income for his wife.
Image retrieved from: http://historyofbooks.wordpress.com/a-brief-history-of-the-personal-memoirs-of-u-s-grant/late-19th-century-bookmaking/
This image is of a check between the publisher, Charles L. Webster & Co, and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was hesitant to publish his memoir but due to demand for Civil War books at the time and his dire finances he did via subscription, yielding a considerable amount of income for his wife.
Image retrieved from: http://historyofbooks.wordpress.com/a-brief-history-of-the-personal-memoirs-of-u-s-grant/late-19th-century-bookmaking/