--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A presentation copy...is a copy of a book…" description: "\"A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning of it; for which, if..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/charles-lamb-1144_autographs_a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book_50851.jpg" --- # A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not… ![“A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning of it; for which, if a stranger, he only demands your friendship; if a brother author, he expects from you a book of yours, which does not sell, in return.” quote by Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/charles-lamb-1144_autographs_a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book_50851.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/charles-lamb-1144_autographs_a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book_50851.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/charles-lamb-1144_autographs_a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book_50851.jpg) > “A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning of it; for which, if a stranger, he only demands your friendship; if a brother author, he expects from you a book of yours, which does not sell, in return.” [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote satics the transactional nature of literary exchange, where authors seek validation or reciprocity rather than genuine appreciation. **In simple terms:** Literary reciprocity Key Takeaway Exchanges often mask self‑interest Themes reciprocity ego validation literary culture Mood ironic skeptical Type aphorism satire When to use this quote - seeking endorsement - publishing negotiations - creative collaborations Key Concepts author‑reader dynamics social capital Practical Applications - marketing copywriting - networking strategies Questions to Reflect On - What motives drive an author's request for a book? - How does this exchange affect authenticity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autographs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autographs/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Presentation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presentation/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) ## Related quotes > [A presentation copy, reader,-if haply you are yet innocent of such favours-is a copy of a book which does not sell, sent you by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-reader-if-haply-you-are-yet-innocent-of-such/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [When Any Women Ask Me For A Free Copy Of My Book, I Say Lets Do A SOD Sex On Delivery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cv-pillay/when-any-women-ask-me-for-a-free-copy-of-my-book-i-say-lets-do-a-sod/) [Cv Pillay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cv-pillay/) > [People who need to possess the physical copy of a book, and not merely an electronic version, are in some sense mysteics. We believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-queenan/people-who-need-to-possess-the-physical-copy-of-a-book-and-not-merely/) [Joe Queenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-queenan/) > [There are people already sharing eBooks out there, .. and they do it simply because they love books. You don't buy a second copy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-doctorow/there-are-people-already-sharing-ebooks-out-there-and-they-do-it/) [Cory Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-doctorow/) > [I actually own a copy of my own book; that's how dedicated I am as an author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hodgman/i-actually-own-a-copy-of-my-own-book-that-s-how-dedicated-i-am-as-an/) [John Hodgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hodgman/) > [“I'm the type of girl who will buy a third copy of the same book just because it is an older edition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-j-mihaila/i-m-the-type-of-girl-who-will-buy-a-third-copy-of-the-same-book-just/) [T.J. Mihaila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-j-mihaila/) > [Thank you for sending me a copy of your book - I'll waste no time reading it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-hadas/thank-you-for-sending-me-a-copy-of-your-book-i-ll-waste-no-time/) [Moses Hadas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-hadas/) > [I have a very big apartment in Paris but you can't really move around there anymore; piles of books everywhere. I don't want any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lindbergh/i-have-a-very-big-apartment-in-paris-but-you-can-t-really-move-around/) [Peter Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lindbergh/) > [“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yohji-yamamoto/start-copying-what-you-love-copy-copy-copy-copy-at-the-end-of-the/) [Yohji Yamamoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yohji-yamamoto/) > [Never copy yourself, always copy someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/never-copy-yourself-always-copy-someone-else/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Never draw anything you can copy, never copy anything you can trace, never trace anything you can cut out and paste up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-wood/never-draw-anything-you-can-copy-never-copy-anything-you-can-trace/) Wally Wood > [Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-copying-what-you-love-copy-copy-copy-copy-at-the-end-of-the-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some in Europe take a plane, fly to Silicon Valley, visit and look and come back and say we need to do the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-kaeser/some-in-europe-take-a-plane-fly-to-silicon-valley-visit-and-look-and/) [Joe Kaeser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-kaeser/) > [Switch my hair,they gon' copy her.Switch my gear,they gon' copy her,Look at how they stare,just a copier.Roger that.Did you copy that?? COPY CAT!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/switch-my-hair-they-gon-copy-her-switch-my-gear-they-gon-copy-her/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [“Everytime you make a copy of the copy, you lose clarity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-e-nelson/everytime-you-make-a-copy-of-the-copy-you-lose-clarity/) [Alan E. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-e-nelson/) ## More by Charles Lamb > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [In the indications of female poverty there can be no disguise. No woman dresses below herself from caprice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/in-the-indications-of-female-poverty-there-can-be-no-disguise-no/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/to-sigh-yet-feel-no-pain-to-weep-yet-scarce-know-why-to-sport-an-hour/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“I love to lose myself in other men's minds. When I am not walking, I am reading.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-love-to-lose-myself-in-other-men-s-minds-when-i-am-not-walking-i-am/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [While childhood, and while dreams, producing childhood, shall be left, imagination shall not have spread her holy wings totally to fly the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/while-childhood-and-while-dreams-producing-childhood-shall-be-left/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Man, while he loves, is never quite depraved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/man-while-he-loves-is-never-quite-depraved/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/summer-as-my-friend-coleridge-waggishly-writes-has-set-in-with-its/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I counsel thee, shut not thy heart, nor thy library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/i-counsel-thee-shut-not-thy-heart-nor-thy-library/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/my-theory-is-to-enjoy-life-but-the-practice-is-against-it/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [All, all are gone, the old familiar faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/all-all-are-gone-the-old-familiar-faces/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Those evening bells! those evening bells! How many a tale their music tells Of youth and home, and that sweet time When last I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/those-evening-bells-those-evening-bells-how-many-a-tale-their-music/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Beholding heaven, and feeling hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/beholding-heaven-and-feeling-hell/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Not childhood alone, but the young man till thirty, never feels practically that he is mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/not-childhood-alone-but-the-young-man-till-thirty-never-feels/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Explore all 283 Charles Lamb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More Autographs quotes > [I had a talent for copying the signatures of dignitaries like Indira Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan and so on. So, I wanted to become someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjay-mishra/i-had-a-talent-for-copying-the-signatures-of-dignitaries-like-indira/) [Sanjay Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjay-mishra/) > [Sign a couple autographs. So I can eat my meals for free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickelback/sign-a-couple-autographs-so-i-can-eat-my-meals-for-free/) Nickelback > [I'm closer to being happy. I'm doing things that make me happy. In football I loved to practice and I loved to play, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-williams/i-m-closer-to-being-happy-i-m-doing-things-that-make-me-happy-in/) [Ricky Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-williams/) > [I hate it when people come up to me on trains and ask 'Are you Soulja Boy?' If people want pictures or autographs, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soulja-boy/i-hate-it-when-people-come-up-to-me-on-trains-and-ask-are-you-soulja/) [Soulja Boy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soulja-boy/) > [Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. Every job is a self portrait of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/unless-you-try-to-do-something-beyond-what-you-have-already-mastered/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [My daughter sent me on a mission to get as many autographs as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/my-daughter-sent-me-on-a-mission-to-get-as-many-autographs-as-possible/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [Autographs and pictures do get a little old, but I don't mind if the people want it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominique-moceanu/autographs-and-pictures-do-get-a-little-old-but-i-don-t-mind-if-the/) [Dominique Moceanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominique-moceanu/) > [This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-gebrselassie/this-hand-is-not-very-active-always-because-it-was-in-this-hand-that/) [Haile Gebrselassie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-gebrselassie/) > [Autograph-hunting is the most unattractive manifestation of sex-starved curiosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-olivier/autograph-hunting-is-the-most-unattractive-manifestation-of-sex/) [Laurence Olivier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-olivier/) > [One of the Canadian customs guards got suspicious and said 'Haven't you been coming and going across the border a lot lately?' I finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-jackman/one-of-the-canadian-customs-guards-got-suspicious-and-said-haven-t/) [Hugh Jackman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-jackman/) > [I usually don't mind giving autographs, but when hundreds of folks with paper and pen start coming at you, it's time to seek shelter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lou-retton/i-usually-don-t-mind-giving-autographs-but-when-hundreds-of-folks/) [Mary Lou Retton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-lou-retton/) > [I have been sought out by a number of people who would have felt uncomfortable coming to a large public meditation. They don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-have-been-sought-out-by-a-number-of-people-who-would-have-felt/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I often steal sandwiches, eat them, and put the container's back., with a signed autograph of my self in its place. It's my way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/i-often-steal-sandwiches-eat-them-and-put-the-container-s-back-with-a/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) > [ The whole acting and Hollywood \[thing\], it's just work to me. Stand-up comedy ruins you so badly for doing television. I don't really need… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-stanhope/the-whole-acting-and-hollywood-thing-it-s-just-work-to-me-stand-up/) [Doug Stanhope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-stanhope/) > [Television, I love it, everything that happened before television lumped together, never caused folks to turn on a street to stare at me, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/television-i-love-it-everything-that-happened-before-television/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) [Browse all 284 Autographs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autographs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish autograph at the beginning of it; for which, if a stranger, he only demands your friendship; if a brother author, he expects from you a book of yours, which does not sell, in return.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Lamb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Autographs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/charles-lamb-1144_autographs_a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book_50851.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/charles-lamb-1144_autographs_a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book_50851.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/charles-lamb-1144_autographs_a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book_50851.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A presentation copy...is a copy of a book whoch does not sell, sent you by the author, with his foolish…” — Charles Lamb", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Lamb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A presentation copy...is a copy of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/a-presentation-copy-is-a-copy-of-a-book-whoch-does-not-sell-sent-you/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```