Author Description

IN offering this volume of essays on business to the merchants and manufacturers of the United States, the editor feels assured that it cannot fail to be appreciated by these intelligent and thinking men. The lessons of these practical papers, and the sound business principles which they serve to emphasize, appeal equally to the banker, merchant, and manufacturer, or the business man of any other class. The fact that there is a distinct literature of business is too little appreciated. Perhaps, as a class, we have been bending over the counter and the cost-sheet too diligently to see the finer fibers of our work; we have regarded business with a sordid and mercenary affection. 'In the intervals of business' it has been the editor's pleasant fortune to have his attention directed to some of the literary lore of business. The discovery of 'Helps' Essays,' bristling with scintillant, crisp, straight-from-the-shoulder business common sense was a delightful revelation. And certainly there are a few thousand other men, immersed in the details of business, who will read them with an equally keen relish of their wit, wisdom, and intensely practical advice and directions.