> as lemmas

1849 D. R. Thomason Hints to Emigrants in Economist 28 July 836/2 A stranger accosts you..—points out the office—and introduces you to the President himself..who..gives you a card to a boarding or forwarding house... You..find out..you have gone to the wrong place..—that Mr President is a booking agent, and your friendly guide a runner.

1868 Sci. Amer. 4 Jan. 2/1 At the head office, and at the depots along the route, are a class of railway officials called ‘booking agents’... In Great Britain, first-class, second-class, and third-class tickets must each have a separate agent for their sale.

1889 Evening Gaz. (Sterling, Ill.) 27 May 3/3 The New York booking agent for western theatres is looking for attractions for the Academy of Music for the coming year.

1891 Belford's Mag. Feb. 432 I walked round to a booking-agent's.., where I was lucky enough to obtain tickets which..would admit me to a good place, even after the [theatre] doors were thrown open.

1961 New Scientist 20 Apr. 99/1 An electronic system for storing up-to-date information on the availability of airline seats and making it instantly available to booking agents in Britain and Europe, has now been ordered by the British Overseas Airways Corporation.

2003 N. A. Boyd Wide-open Town i. 33 Because audience reception remained unpredictable, booking agents often had a difficult time determining which acts would appeal to which audiences.