College and Research Libraries By W I L L I A M H. K U R T H Mexican Book Prices, 1950 and 1954 A Note on a Cost of Books Index ME X I C A N B O O K P R O D U C T I O N f o r 1 9 5 0 and 1954 has been the subject of a study to determine the scope of price changes according to the cost of books index criteria, forming an illustration of the results to be obtained from a general cost of books index.1 Mexican production was selected for several reasons. It is a major Latin- American book production. Price trends in Mexico, except through the temporary distortion introduced by the devaluation of the peso in April, 1954, are probably typical of the other Latin-American book trades, with the possible exception of Ar- gentina, thus making a price comparison between 1950 and 1954 prices significant from the standpoint of libraries in the United States. Although Mexico is a ma- jor Latin-American book producer, the number of books published in 1950 and 1954 was not prohibitively large in rela- tion to the compilation time available. Book production for the two years under study was broken down into nine subject divisions: philosophy and reli- gion, fine arts, social sciences, literature, novels, natural sciences and technology, law, medicine, agriculture. Excluded were such materials or forms of publica- tion as translations, separates, textbooks, children's literature, reprints, almanacs, Bibles, calendars, official government doc- uments, maps, music scores, and serial publications of societies. Books of one hundred and more pages were included; 1 " A Proposed Cost of Books Index and Cost of Peri- odicals Index," CRL, X V I (1955), 390-95. Mr. Kurth is assistant chief, Order Di- vision, Library of Congress. this definition of a book is not standard, but is the one finding most acceptance. T h e bibliographic source used was the Boletin Bibliografico Mexicano, pub- lished bimonthly by La Libreria Porrua Hermanos of Mexico City. T h e Boletin is the most comprehensive listing of trade publications issued in Mexico, being vir- tually complete in its listing of trade books. In a few instances prices are lack- ing, and in other instances it is not clear whether or not a particular publication is a reprint. All items in the Boletin for 1950 and 1954 conforming to the criteria specified, including that of page length, were tabulated. T h e changes in price are set forth in terms of Mexican pesos, and also in terms of U. S. dollars, to ascertain the true price movement affecting libraries of the United States. T h e exchange rate used to express the U. S. dollar equivalent of the peso price was that of the Federal Reserve Board2 which issues a yearly average of the daily certified buying rates in New York. This yearly average for the Mexi- can peso in 1950 was $.11570; in 1954 the average for the year was $.09052, reflect- ing the sharp devaluation of April 19, 1954. This is a drop of about 22 per cent from the peso's 1950 level in terms of U. S. currency, a factor in itself tending to facilitate American library purchasing of Mexican books. T h e results of the tabulation indicate that, despite the advantage for the Amer- ican library purchaser occasioned by the devaluation,3 the average Mexican book 2 Federal Reserve Bulletin, X X X V I I (1951), 117; X L I (1955), 99. 3 A currency devaluation suggests prompt acquisitions to fill library needs, before the effect of devaluation wears off and prices resume their climb. NOV EMBER, 1956 497 MEXICAN BOOK PRICES, 1950 Subject Division Total Number of Items Percentage of Total Production Number of Items Bound Percent- age of Items Bound Total Number of Pages Average Pages per Book Total Price (Pesos) Total Price (Dollars) Average Price (Pesos) Average Price (Dollars) Average Price per Page (Dollars) Philosophy and Religion 19 8.2 4 21.0 6,753 355 212.00 24.52 11.15 1.29 .0036 Fine Arts 7 3.0 0 1,535 219 89.00 10.29 12.71 1.47 .0067 Social Sciences 62 27.0 9 14.5 19,677 317 871.25 100.80 14.05 1.62 .0051 Literature 76 33.1 11 14.4 21,166 279 952.50 110.20 12.53 1.45 .0052 Novels 43 18.7 4 9.3 10,439 243 276.50 31.99 6.43 .74 .0030 Natural Sciences 1 0.4 0 401 401 12.00 1.38 12.00 1.38 .0034 Law 10 4.3 1 10.0 2,796 280 93.00 10.76 9.30 1.07 .0038 Medicine 10 4.3 5 50.0 3,548 355 284.50 32.91 28.45 3.29 .0092 Agriculture 1 0.4 0 287 287 10.00 1.15 10.00 1.15 .0040 TOTALS 229 100.0 34 14.8 66,602 291 2,800.75 324.04 12.23 1.41 .0048 MEXICAN BOOK PRICES, 1954 Percent- Average Total Percentage Number age of Total Average Average Average Price Number of Total of Items Items Number Pages Total Price Total Price Price Price per Page Subject Division of Items Production Bound Bound of Pages per Book (Pesos) (Dollars) (Pesos) (Dollars) (Dollars) Philosophy and Religion 24 6.5 8 33.3 6,563 273 281.00 25.43 11.708 1.05 .0038 Fine Arts 18 4.8 8 44.4 4,468 248 492.50 44.58 27.361 2.47 .0099 Social Sciences 78 21.1 18 23.0 28,230 361 2,949.00 266.94 37.807 3.42 .0094 Literature 126 34.2 33 26.1 35,470 281 2,333.40 211.21 18.51 1.67 .0059 Novels 57 15.4 20 35.0 16,720 293 546.80 49.49 9.59 .86 .0029 Natural Sciences 12 3.2 4 33.3 3,480 290 215.00 19.46 17.91 1.62 .0055 Law 34 9.2 9 26.4 11,872 349 799.00 72.32 23.50 2.12 .0060 Medicine 15 4.0 5 33.3 5,539 369 477.70 43.24 31.84 2.88 .0078 Agriculture 4 1.0 1 25.0 1,190 297 89.00 8.05 22.25 2.01 .0067 TOTALS 368 100.0 106 28.7 113,532 308 8,183.40 740.76 22.23 2.01 .0065 CHANGE IN MEXICAN BOOK PRICES, 1 9 5 0 - 1 9 5 4 (PER CENT) Subject Division In Pesos In Dollars Philosophy and Religion 4 . 9 - 18.6 Fine Arts 115.2 6 9 . 0 Social Sciences 1 6 9 . 0 111.1 Literature 4 7 . 7 15.1 Novels 49.1 16.2 Natural Sciences 4 9 . 2 17.3 Law 152.6 98.1 Medicine 11.9 - 12.4 Agriculture 122.5 74.7 Aggregate of changes 81.7 4 2 . 5 increased in price (i.e., in terms of its U. S. dollar price) by 42.5 per cent, f r o m $1.41 to $2.01 (U. S.). 4 T h e average price of two subject divisions d i d decline, however: philosophy and religion (by 18.6 per cent) and medicine (by 12.4 per c e n t ) . T h e s e were more than offset by a very heavy increase in the social sciences (111.1 per cent) and law (98.1 per cent) to produce the increase of 42.5 per cent. In terms of Mexican pesos, the in- crease was even more substantial, the av- erage price per b o o k increasing f r o m 12.23 to 22.23 pesos, an 81.7 per cent in- crease for the Mexican purchaser. A l t h o u g h the price rise was 42.5 per 4 The $2.01 ( U . S.) average price for the 1954 pro- duction compares with an average of $2.09 for 1954/55 Mexican book purchases of the University of Califor- nia Library (covering most of the 1954 production); the analysis of the book purchases, and the averages, were kindly furnished by Mrs. Dorothy B. Keller, head, Order Department, University of California Li- brary. The index figures thus closely approximate the price actually paid. cent in terms of U. S. dollars, cognizance must be taken of the fact that the 1954 production embraces a substantially greater portion of b o u n d books. W h e r e 14.8 per cent of the 1950 production rep- resented b o u n d books, the percentage of b o u n d books for the 1954 p r o d u c t i o n has mounted to 28.7 per cent. Also the av- erage b o o k in 1954 was a bit larger: 308 pages, versus 291 pages in 1950 (that is, the average number of pages per b o o k for books themselves one hundred pages and over. It will be noted that the average cost per page has increased by 35 per cent (from U. S. $.0048 to $.0068), whereas the average price per b o o k has increased by 42.5 per cent (the two averages can usually be expected to vary in the same direction) . In this instance the difference in percentages can be accounted for by the fact that the 1954 b o o k was larger, 308 pages as against the 291 pages of 1950. If we held the 1954 b o o k constant at 291 pages (the same number of pages as the 1950 b o o k ) , then the average in- crease w o u l d also be 35 per cent. Using the cost per page as a statistical measure- ment of the increase in prices w o u l d prob- ably not be as satisfactory as using the b o o k price, since the primary objective is to measure the price of the product to the consumer. From the practical stand- point, the price per page w o u l d probably not normally be used by a library requir- ing price and statistical information for budgetary purposes. NOV EMBER, 1956 499