Search

The rapid increase in the number of books published in the United States, especially during the past decade, has been the subject of much comment. Statistics are collected regularly by the trade papers, and these figures give the number of books for each year in each of several well-defined classes. There are at the present time 24 classes: as follows: (1) Philosophy; (2) Religion and theology; (3) Sociology and economics; (4) Military and naval science; (5) Law; (6) Education; (7) Philology; (8) Science; (9) Applied science, engineering; (10) Medicine, hygiene; (11) Agriculture; (12) Domestic economy; (13) Business; (14) Fine arts; (15) Music; (16) Games, amusements; (17) General literature, essays; (18) Poetry and drama; (19) Fiction; (20) Juvenile books; (21) History; (22) Geography and travel; (23) biography, genealogy; and (24) General works, miscellaneous. The charts included in this bulletin exhibit a block for each year from 1890 to 1916, both inclusive, and the figures in the middle of each block indicate the actual number of books published during the year. The figures in the upper part of each block give the number of reprints or new editions, and those in the lower part of the block indicate the number of books by foreign authors. (Contains 1 footnote.) [Best copy available has been provided.]