Bibliophemera

  The Protective Association for Publishers and Booksellers was established in New York in 1888 in an attempt to help protect copyrights and enable publishers and authors to keep more of the profits. Regional publishers such as A.M. Thayer, were early pioneers in this effort. Authors such as Mark Twain were paid in royalties tied to the subscription orders. Twain, through his financially backed publishing company, Charles L. Webster & Company, also earned income this way from the publication of Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant.    A number of publishers used a network of subscription agents to secure orders that they'd take back to the publisher for fulfillment. They were contractually forbidden to sell to retail stores, which in turn would undercut the subscription prices that were generally two to three times higher than similar publications in retail stores. The agents at times wound up with overstock and the temptation was too much to make a buck. Add the piracy i...

A relic now of the pen and ink era, ink blotters fell by the wayside as ballpoint pens gained popularity in the 1950s and all but erased the need for an ink blotter. The ballpoint pen has suffered to some extent a similar fate in the digital world of today where much of our communication is done via texting, messaging, or emailing.  Ink blotters existed to do just that - blot ink on a handwritten piece to keep it from smearing, courtesy of an absorbent paper. For heavier stock paper blotters, such as this one printed on Wrenn's Porcelain Blotting--120-lb Light Buff, one side blotted while the other side advertised. Advertising blotters came about in late 1800s and had a good run to about mid-twentieth century. Union City, New Jersey printer, Herbert Grossman, used this ink blotter for advertising his business in 1932. They were giveaways to anyone who walked in the doors or ordered products through the mail. It seems a rather appropriate medium for a tradesman who dealt with ink on...