G.G. Evans Gift Book Establishment combined a retail shop and lottery to sell remaindered books. Each purchase came with a free “gift” that was chosen randomly by an Evans employee. The gifts had a purported value of twenty-five cents to one hundred dollars, but most were just cheap trinkets. For the customer, there was always a tiny chance that buying an inexpensive book would result in getting one of the most valuable gifts. In some ways it was similar to gambling, and gift book establishments went to great lengths in their catalogs to defend the morality of their operations.
During the late 1850s and early 1860s, there were five gift book establishments in Philadelphia and agents sold for them in the smaller towns. G.G. Evans was the biggest and—as he continually argued in his broadsides and catalogs—the first gift book establishment in the United States. Images of the interior of his store depict an elegant showroom with busts of famous writers and well-dressed men and women perusing the books and gifts. This gave the impression of sophistication and legitimacy, when it was actually a somewhat tawdry operation.
This and many more items from our collection are on view now through January 5, 2018 as part of our current exhibition: The Living Book: New Perspectives on Form and Function.
thelivingbook.librarycompany.org