No. Book volumes are not certainly merchandising. Book volumes are selling his work, which was amazing.

His argument against the licensing (as I understand it) was that letting other people license it and create derivative works (e.g. mugs, shirts, and other merchandise) would dilute the integrity of Calvin and Hobbes by removing them from their context in his work.

This was something he had to fight for and I'm glad he did, because his work maintains the same potency and impact it had originally, having not been diluted by cheap merchandising over time.

This is truly remarkable. Unlike almost every other cartoon or comic character ever, there are no "good old days" or "golden years" with Calvin and Hobbes. There's just Calvin and Hobbes. 10 years of amazing work, and nothing else.