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Back in the early part of the 20th century books were priced very low. People would often give them away or trash them rather than move them when they changed houses. Many people bought books by the foot to show their good/bad taste. In those days there was not a lot of worry about the secondary market for used books as the only used books that sold were first editions, etc. Paperbacks were envisioned to take the place of the secondary market as they were priced lower than a used hardback would sell for and the cheap low quality binding would seldom last more than one reading.
The practice of a secondary market developed only when prices climbed.
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