Prices of Books Part 26

Baron Bolland (1840), ?105. Bright, ?58 (top margin repaired).

Daniel (1864), 150 guineas--Lilly. W. H. Crawford (1891), ?250.

Mr. Holford is said to have given ?100 for his copy. F. Perkins (1899), ?200 (small hole burnt in two leaves).

_Sonnets_ (G. Eld for T. T.), 1600.

Steevens, ?3, 19s.; this copy cost Narcissus Luttrell 1s.; at Daniel?s sale (1864) it realised 215 guineas. Edwards (1804), ?8. Longman?s Catalogue, ?30. Roxburghe, ?21. Chalmers (1841), ?105. Halliwell (1856), ?41--bought by Mr. t.i.te. Halliwell (1858), ?154, 7s.--bought by Mr. Huth.

_Poems_ (Thomas Cotes), 1640.

Collins (1683), 6d. Lloyd & Raymond (1685), 6d. Field, ?2, 5s.

Na.s.sau, ?3, 13s. 6d. Bindley, ?5, 15s. Longman?s Catalogue, ?8, 18s. 6d.; another copy, ?10, 10s. Stowe, ?7, 10s. Bright, ?15.

Daniel (1864), ?44. F. W. Cosens (1890), ?61.

FOOTNOTES:

[58] Steevens?s remarks, given in another page of Dibdin?s ?Library Companion,? are worth quoting here, more particularly as that Shakesperian commentator gives his opinion of what was a high price for the first folio: ?I have repeatedly met with thin flakes of pie-crust between the leaves of our author. These unctuous fragments, remaining long in close confinement, communicated their grease to several pages deep on each side of them.... Most of the first folios now extant are known to have belonged to ancient families resident in the country. Since our breakfasts have become less gross, our favourite authors have escaped with fewer injuries.... I claim the merit of being the first commentator on Shakespeare who strove with becoming seriousness to account for the present stains that disgrace the earliest folio edition of his plays, which is now become the most expensive single book in our language; for what other English volume without plates, and printed since the year 1600, is known to have sold, more than once, for ?35, 14s.??

[59] ?Talk about Autographs,? by George Birkbeck Hill, London, 1896, p. 69.

CHAPTER XI

PRICES OF VARIOUS CLa.s.sES OF BOOKS

In this chapter some account will be given of a few of the various cla.s.ses of literature which have not previously been alluded to; but to give a general idea of some of these books which bring a high price, it will be necessary to be brief.

Oldys refers to the sale of a book which he supposes to have been erroneously valued, but he was not quite correct in his statement. He wrote, ?The atheistical book of Giordano Bruno sold at Paul?s Coffee-house for ?30 in 1709; it has scarcely sold for so many pence since.?[60]

The book referred to was--Giordano Bruno, _s.p.a.ccio de la Bestia Trionfante. Parigi_ (Londra: T. Vautrollier 1584), the sale of which is commented upon in _The Spectator_, No. 389. The sale at which this book occurred was that of Charles Bernard in 1711, and the amount was really ?28. The purchaser was Walter Clavel, and this copy was successively in the possession of John Nichols, John Ames, Sir Peter Thompson, and M. C.

Tutet. At the sale of the latter?s library in 1786 it was bought by Samuel Tyssen for seven guineas. Another copy, which had formed part of the library of Mr. P. Le Neve, was sold at Dr. Mead?s sale (1754) for four or five guineas.[61] The price has not gone down, as Oldys supposed it would, for at the Dunn Gardner sale (1880) a copy brought ?20, 15s., and another, at the Duke of Hamilton?s sale (1884), sold for ?18, 10s.

There is a larger circle of bibliophiles in France than in England, and they are more willing to pay high prices for out-of-the-way books. The early editions of Moli?re and Rabelais, like those of Shakespeare, are sold for large sums, and early French literature generally, like our own, has greatly advanced in price of late years.

Two instances of the great advance that has occurred may be given:--

Perrault, _Contes de ma Mere Loye_, 1697, wanting leaf of errata, a fine copy, in blue morocco by Bauzonnet, sold at Charles Nodier?s sale for 112 francs. The same copy at the Duke of Hamilton?s sale brought ?85.

Gringoire, _Les Fantasies de Mere Sote_ (Paris, 1516), a copy in blue morocco by Padeloup, sold at Hibbert?s sale for nine guineas. The same copy brought the large sum of ?180 at Beckford?s sale. One can understand such high prices as these, which arise from the revived interest felt in this kind of book, but the high price of _Le Pastissier Fran?ois_ (Amsterdam: L. & D. Elzevier, 1655) seems absurd. Such a book can be of little interest to English buyers, although certainly Mr.

Andrew Lang grows enthusiastic over it in his ?Books and Bookmen.? In an early edition of his _Manuel_ (1821) Brunet wrote--

?Till now I have disdained to admit this book into my work, but I have yielded to the prayers of amateurs. Besides, how could I keep out a volume which was sold for one hundred and one francs in 1819??

The book has greatly increased in value since then, and, as a consequence, copies not hitherto known have come into the market. Berard only knew of two copies. Pietiers, writing on the Elzevirs in 1843, could cite only five, and in his _Annales_ he had found out but five more. Willems, on the other hand, enumerates some thirty, not including Motteley?s.[62] Mr. Lang himself calculates the number of _Pastissiers_ now existing at forty, and gives a good many prices to show how the book has increased in value. A copy was sold in 1780 for 4 francs. Sensi?r?s copy sold for 128 francs in 1828, and for 201 francs in 1837. It was afterwards bound by Trautz-Bauzonnet, and sold with Potier?s books in 1870 for 2910 francs. At the Benzon sale (1875) it fetched 3255 francs, and was sold again in 1877 for 2200 francs. Mr. Lang further says that a copy was marked in Bachelin-Deflorenne?s catalogue at ?240, and that Morgand and Fatout sold an uncut copy for ?400. The Earl of Orford?s copy sold in 1895 for ?100.

This is one of the very few books that are absolutely valueless, except in regard to such value as it gains from its rarity and a.s.sociation with a great firm of printers; yet Mr. Lang says that ?there are at least four thousand people who would greatly rejoice to possess a _Pastissier_, and some of these desirous ones are very wealthy.? This is amazing, but I suppose it would scarcely be polite to refer to Carlyle?s verdict as to what the ma.s.s of people are.

Another scarce book, which is stupid, and of no interest in itself, is Horace Walpole?s ?Hieroglyphic Tales? (1785). The British Museum does not possess a perfect copy, but it has some of Walpole?s own corrected proofs bound up in a volume. The Earl of Orford?s copy, interleaved and bound in morocco by Roger Payne, sold in 1895 for ?37.

County histories vary in price, but they must always hold their ground and sell well, on account of the value of the information contained in their pages, which cannot easily be found elsewhere. They may be considered as eminently safe property. The following are the prices of a few of these:--

Atkyns?s (Sir R.) _Gloucestershire_, folio, 1712. Large paper (first and best edition).

Bryant (1807), ?17, 17s. Dent (1827), ?14, 14s. Sykes, ?16.

Na.s.sau, 15 guineas. H. Perkins (1873), ?29. Comerford (1881), ?41. Beresford-Hope (1882), ?38. Beckford (1882), ?52.

Aubrey?s _Surrey_, 5 vols., 1719. Large paper.

Dent, ?19, 5s. H. Perkins (1873), ?32, 10s.

Blomefield?s _Norfolk_, 5 vols., 1739-75.

Comerford (1881), ?160 (ill.u.s.trated). Earl of Gosford (1884), ?87 (drawings by Cotman inserted). William Brice, &c. (1887), ?20.

Drake?s (T.) _Eborac.u.m_, _History of the City of York_, 1736. Large paper, proof-plates coloured, in red morocco by Kalthoeber.

H. Perkins (1873), ?25. Beckford (1882), ?63.

Dugdale?s (Sir W.) _Antiquities of Warwickshire_, 1656. First edition, and the only one admitted as evidence in a court of law.

Bindley, ?10, 10s. Sykes, ?11, 11s. Comerford, ?12, 10s.

Beckford (1882), ?20. Sunderland (1882), ?15.

Dugdale?s _Warwickshire_, 2 vols., 1730. Large paper.

Dent, ?33. Sykes, ?39, 8s. Heath, ?64, 1s. Na.s.sau, ?33.

Willett, ?52, 10s. H. Perkins (1873), ?84 (red morocco by Derome).

Gough?s _Sepulchral Monuments_, 5 vols., 1786-96.

Fonthill, ?92, 8s. Beckford (1882), ?31. (Same copy.)

Loggan (D.), _Oxonia ill.u.s.trata_, 1675.

Beckford (1882), ?14 (old red morocco).

---- _Cantabrigia ill.u.s.trata_, 1688.

Beckford (1882), ?11 (old red morocco).

Nichols?s _Leicestershire_, four vols. in eight, 1795-1815. Large paper (original edition of vol. iv., part 1), russia extra.

H. Perkins (1873) ?260. Earl of Gosford (1884), ?275.

Ormerod?s _Cheshire_, 3 vols., 1819. Large paper.