A Victorian publisher

This is a study of the rise and activity of the London publishing house which started in 1829 as Bentley and Colburn and was finally absorbed by Macmillan in 1898. ...[I]t is also a microcosm of English authorship and publishing from the time of Scott to that of Meredith: one of the great periods of English publishing enterprise. ... It deals with authors' contracts and rewards, advertising, the influence of the circulating library, the work of the publisher's reader and editor, and the general relationshp between success and merit.. -- Jacket flap