Our Agent’s Companion

A salesman’s guide to selling religious texts in the late 19th century.

“With good will for all and malice toward none, and an earnest wish for the happiness and prosperity of all who buy or sell our books.” – The Publishers.

This handy little self-help guide offers some emotional companionship and well-meaning recommendations to the aspiring Bible salesmen in the late 1890s. Bold titles head dozens of paragraph-long sections – Magnitude of Subscription Book Trade, Canvassing Shops/Factories, Condense Your Work, How to Meet Objections, What to do When a License is Demanded, and How to Carry Your Outfits are just a few interesting examples. Thoughts from Dr. Spurgeon give one of the few hints at the anonymous publisher’s identity – very likely the Metropolitan Tabernacle Colportage Association.

This organization was founded by the prominent Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon to help fund his evangelical ministry. It employed “colporteurs” -traveling agents who sold or distributed Christian books, Bibles, and tracts directly to urban and rural communities across England. Copyrighted in 1897, five years after Spurgeon’s death. The Our Catalogue section mentions Bibles specifically – another important clue behind the volumes issue.