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Bookselling is the commercial trading ofbooks, which is theretail and distribution end of thepublishing process.[1]
People who engage in bookselling are calledbooksellers,bookdealers,book people,bookmen, orbookwomen.
The founding of libraries inc. 300 BC stimulated the energies of theAthenian booksellers.
InRome, toward the end of therepublic, it became the fashion to have a library, and Roman booksellers carried on a flourishing trade.[2]
The spread ofChristianity naturally created a great demand for copies of theGospels and other sacred books, and, later on for missals and other devotional volumes for both church and private use.[3] The modern system of bookselling dates from soon after the introduction ofprinting. During the 16th and 17th centuries, theLow Countries, for a time, became primary center of the bookselling world. Modern book selling has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet. Major websites such asAmazon,eBay, and other bigbook distributors offeraffiliate programs and dominate book sales.
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Bookstores (calledbookshops in theUnited Kingdom,Ireland,Australia, and most of theCommonwealth, apart fromCanada) may be either part of achain, or localindependent bookstores. Stores can range in size, offering several hundred to several hundred thousand titles. They may bebrick and mortar stores, internet-only stores, or a combination of both. Sizes for the larger bookstores exceed half a million titles. Bookstores often sell other printed matter besides books, such asnewspapers,magazines, andmaps; additional product lines may vary enormously, particularly among independent bookstores.Colleges anduniversities often have bookstores on campus that focus on providing coursetextbooks and scholarly books and also sell other supplies andlogo merchandise. Many on-campus bookstores are owned or operated by large commercial chains such asWHSmith,Blackwell's orWaterstone's in the United Kingdom, orBarnes & Noble College Booksellers in the United States.
Another common type of bookstore is theused bookstore orsecond-hand bookshop which buys and sellsused andout-of-print books in a variety ofconditions.[5][6] A range of titles are available in used bookstores, including in print and out-of-print books.Book collectors tend to frequent used bookstores. Large online bookstores offer used books for sale, too. Individuals wishing to sell their used books using online bookstores agree to terms outlined by the bookstore(s): paying the online bookstore(s) a predetermined commission once the books have sold. InParis, theBouquinistes are antiquarian and used booksellers who have had outdoor stalls and boxes along both sides of theSeine for hundreds of years, regulated by law since the 1850s and contributing to the scenic ambiance of the city.[7][8]
In some cities bookstores are specially relevant for tourism, such asBuenos Aires, which is the city with the most libraries per capita in the world.[9] According to theNational Geographic, Buenos Aires hosts the most beautiful library in the world,El Ateneo Grand Splendid[10] which used to be a theatre in the early 20th century and later became a library. In the present it is visited everyday by tourists from all over the world.
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