CHAP. I.—FROM THE INVENTION OF PRINTING, TO THE STATUTE OF ANNE

SECTION I.—Of the origin of the Tax

Having thus reviewed the laws, in relation to the limited period during which they protected the copyright of authors, we proceed to the history of the practice of delivering copies of books to the public libraries, which it has been assumed is calculated to encourage literature.

We purpose in the present chapter to consider the origin of the tax,

1st. On public grounds,

Namely, for the purposes of state regulation. This division will include the British Museum and Sion College.

2nd. On private grounds,

Or those which apply to the respective libraries in favor of which the tax was imposed.

The latter division will comprise the several claims made by the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and those of Scotland and Ireland.

Looking at the law in other countries of the civilized world, the evident interests of society, and considering the general principles of justice, it would not be easy to discover the origin of this extraordinary tax, or the pretensions on which it was instituted. We should be driven to ascribe it solely to the exercise of that arbitrary power which formerly prevailed in England, and for which it were vain to conjecture any just foundation.