ABSTRACT
T HE swift growth of many a business must . look to the outsider like the East Indian trick, in which the little boy climbs an invisible rope to astonishing heights. The firm of Merrill & Baker rose swiftly as magic, and it~ later failure showed that the rope by which it had risen was as unsubstantial as that of the Eastern magician. In my time the organization seemed as solid as it was vast. There was on·e whole department, for in~· stance, with which we in the mail-order end had no business contact at all. In its handsome offices on another floor mahogany cases shon·e richly with· beautiful books on fine soft deckled-edged paper, illustrated with aquarelles and wood-cuts. These were de luxe limited editions and sold at from ten to a thousand dollars a volume, to New York millionaires.
