High price reprints by Western publishers

[Stephen Hodge]

> I have just seen the price for a reprint of Mayrhofer's KEWA from a
western
> publisher as $995.00 !!
> Contrast this with the low prices offered by Indian publishers.
> I got the 4 vol. set of Turners CDIAL for $175.00.
> I got the 5 vol. set of Brugmann's Comparative Grammar for $75.00
(including
> airmail shipping!!).
> I got a 10 vol. set of the Taittiriya Samhita for $75.00.
> I've seen the 19 vol. set of Griersons Linguistic Survey offered for
> $416.00.

Yes, it is really an eye-opener when comparing prices of Indian
editions of books with Western editions.  But to put it into context,
perhaps one should go and live in India on Indian salary levels --
then those prices will not seem so cheap !  Though Indian booksellers
are no doubt happy that us Western scholars buy their books, I get a
feeling that an element of neo-colonial exploitation is at work.
What I would be more concerned about is the fact that the kind of
academic publishers mentioned (Brill, Curzon etc)  usually pay no
advances to the poor author -- OK if you have a tenured academic job
but not if you are an independent scholar. More exploitation ?

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge