Mudie's Doors Closed After 100 Years: Firm's Romantic Rise in Victorian Days Mudie's Library, which closed its coots recently, for many years ex-excised an extremely powerful influence, not only on the English publishing and bookselling trade, but even on literary reputations and fashions in reading.
The firm was founded in 1842 by Charles Edward Mudie (1818-1890), but its roots may be said to go farther back tham that, for his tether, Thomas Mudie, had previously run a circulating library in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, which is said to have been visited by Hazlitt, Charles Lamb. and Fanny Burney, A guinea subscription (or seven shillings quarterly) was the basis on which Charles Edward Mudie built his enterprise, but he was a man with a vision of his own, He dreamed of "scattering the best books through the nation" on the widest possible scale, and within twenty years he had entirely revolutionized the circulating library busin A writer in 1863, Andrew Wynter, records that by then Mudie's library contained 00,000 books, and that The constant flood of people that are discharged from broughams and chariots into this emporium reminds one mere of the Pantheon than of a mere circulating library.
The "Catacombs"
At that date,. already it was the huge scale upon which Mudie handled books which impressed people most.
An employee, who only recently retired from the firm, began work there on the day on which Disraeli's "Endymion" was published, and has never forgotten the sight of 9,000 volumes (3,000 copies of a three-volume novel) ai iving all at once. novel, published half. This was, form of book a_guinea-and-ain fact, an artificial since there wy a comparatively small percentage of sales to the public. Evenually, chiefly because o bulk, the circulating libraries to hate the decker." in 1894 it was killed by an agreement between Mudie's and other firms.
C. E. Mudie had died four years earlier, and that historic agreement was signed by his son, Arthur O. Mudie, who died only last December. and until within a year or two of his death had been chairman of the company.
He struck outsiders as seeming more like a country gentleman than a business man, and had a reputation for extreme kindness and politeness. He weighed perhaps eighteen stone and an injury to his knees made movement difficult. Yet so polite was he that he insisted on getting up from his chair when one of the girl messengers in his office brought him his letters Mudie's first premises were in what is now Southampton-row. About 1845 a move was made to New Oxford-street, where the business remained until 1930. When that stucco building was vacated it seemed to many like an evil omen, and now the end has come.
Yet on the day the shutters were finally put up there was still a stock of 800,000 volumes, still a big overseas connection, still a large number of branches. It is a tragedy that so great an edifice should fall, especial! for those who have of the many employees, And one of the best-known figures in the London book trade, Mr. J. G.
Wilson, of Bumpus's, said this week NOTICE OF MARRIAGE,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.