Client Type
This option menu enables users to exclude client categories that may distort the results of certain types of query. They allow for the exclusion of purchasers who had strong tendencies to forward books to locations well beyond their own locality, the interrogatation of particular sectors of the book trade, or the examination of demand from beyond the book trade.
client type
nature of the data
why switch it off
Commissioning Clients These clients either directly ‘commissioned’ the publication of one or more STN editions, or received large volumes of ‘commissioned’ works to a single point. The supply of large quantities of a single work to a single place may distort various types of queries, particularly as in many cases the ‘commissioning client’ would handle distribution of the work to other places via their own networks. However, it should be noted that some commissioners (eg. the pastor Pomaret) commissioned works for local consumption. NB. Clients whose professional designations link them to the book trade are never defined as 'commissioning clients', but instead are found under the most relevant alternative category on this option menu (ie. they are designated 'Swiss wholesale clients', 'Foreign wholesale clients', 'Swiss book trade clients' or 'Foreign book trade clients').
The commissioning clients raise significant problems of representativeness in the dataset, particularly with regard to keyword analysis or local bestseller tables. For many queries users may therefore wish to remove sales to commissioning clients from their datasets. N.B. This removes all sales to those clients, not just those for ‘commissioned works’. As an alternative strategy, in some cases, users may prefer to use the Edition Type option to exclude ‘commissioned works’.
Swiss Wholesale Clients These clients were the STN’s major trading partners, exchanging large numbers of books with them over an extended period. For ease of identification, this category is limited to Swiss-based printers, publishers and booksellers who both sold 1,000 units (copies) of books to AND bought at least 1,000 units (copies) from the STN.
These clients, like the STN, had extensive trade networks and tended to be acquiring books in bulk to sell to clients elsewhere in Europe. Sales to these clients are likely to have been forwarded to other, often distant, places, so do not necessarily reflect consumption at point of purchase. They also often included bulk orders of certain titles, which can therefore appear disproportionately large in sales figures and keyword statistics. For these reasons, and related issues of representativeness, users may wish to exclude these clients for certain queries.
Foreign Wholesale Clients These clients (only four in total) were major STN trading partners who distributed books over large areas. Three of them were large international dealers; the fourth, Malherbe, sold books through Colporteurs across large swathes of North Western France from his base in the small town of Loudun.
These clients had extensive trade networks and tended to be acquiring books in bulk to sell to clients elsewhere. Sales to these clients are particularly likely to have been forwarded to other, often distant, places, so do not necessarily reflect consumption at point of purchase. They also included bulk orders of certain titles, which can therefore appear disproportionately large in sales figures and keyword statistics. For these reasons, and related issues of representativeness, users may wish to exclude these clients for certain queries.
Swiss Book Trade Clients This category contains Swiss booksellers, publishers and printers with lower volumes of trade with the STN than the wholesale clients. The works that they ordered were more likely to be for local clients than with the wholesale clients.
This option might be turned off for certain queries aimed at contrasting the Swiss and the foreign book trade of the STN. It might also be switched off in combination with other options, for queries exploring the STN’s trade with clients beyond the book trade.
Foreign Book Trade Clients These clients comprise the publishers, printers and booksellers not included in any of the groups listed above. They also include one of the STN’s agents in Paris, Quandet de Lachenal, who handled substantial quantities of books on their behalf.
This option might be turned off for certain queries aimed at contrasting the Swiss and the foreign book trade of the STN. It might also be switched off in combination with other options, for queries exploring the STN’s trade with clients beyond the book trade.
Counter / Cash Sales This client type refers to only one pseudo-client in the database. ‘He’ goes under the name ‘unknown clients, paying cash’, and all sales made to unknown clients at the STN’s trade counter in Neuchâtel have been attributed to him. (N.B. All counter sales that were made to named clients are recorded under the names of those clients.)
This pseudo-client may distort certain forms of analysis, primarily because ‘he’ amalgamates an unknown number of persons and their sales. Users may therefore wish to exclude him from many data queries or interrogate his book purchases separately from all other clients. Users should note that counter sales are not recorded in some of the documentary sources used for this study, so the chronological pattern of his sales is dependent on source availability. Again, this may be a reason to exclude him. (N.B. The option of excluding this client also exists through the Client Data Source option.)
Miscellaneous clients This group includes all clients not subsumed in the groups above. It includes the vast majority of the STN’s clients and correspondents.
Users wishing to look at the trade of professional book dealers might like to turn this option off. In contrast, those interested in the STN’s trade beyond book trade professionals might like to switch off the professional book trade categories while leaving this category active.
