Chapter V

THE REASONS WHICH MAKE A BOOK VALUABLE--SCARCITY--SUPPRESSED
WORKS--SOME BOOKS WHICH HAVE BEEN BURNED BY THE HANGMAN--WORKS
PRIVATELY SUPPRESSED--WORKS OF LIMITED ISSUE--TRANSACTIONS OF
LEARNED SOCIETIES--DEFECTS--"UNCUT" WORKS--IMPERFECT
COPIES--"MADE-UP" COPIES--FAC-SIMILE LEAVES--LAYING DOWN--BOOKS
PUBLISHED IN PARTS--LARGE-PAPER COPIES.

The reasons which contribute to make up the pecuniary value of a book depend on a variety of circumstances by no means easy of explanation. It is a great mistake to suppose that because a given work is scarce, in the sense of not often being met with, it is necessarily valuable. It may certainly be so, but, on the other hand, plenty of books which are acquired with difficulty are hardly worth the paper they are printed upon, perhaps because there is no demand for them, or possibly because they are imperfect or mutilated.

One of the first lessons I learned when applying myself to the study of old books was never, on any account or under any circumstances, to have anything to do with imperfect copies, and I have not so far had any occasion to regret my decision. It is perfectly true that no perfect copies are known of some works, such, for example, as the first or 1562-3 English edition of Fox's _Book of Martyrs_; but books of this class will either never be met with during a lifetime, or will form, if met with, an obvious exception to the rule. Fragments of genuine Caxtons, again, sometimes sell by auction for two or three pounds a single leaf, and even a very imperfect copy of any of his productions would be considered a good exchange for a large cheque; but these are exceptions and nothing more--exceptions, moreover, of such rare practical occurrence as to be hardly worth noting. In the vast majority of instances, when a book is mutilated it is ruined; even the loss of a single plate out of many will often detract fifty per cent. or more from the normal value, while if the book is "cut down" the position is worse. This lesson as a rule is only learned by experience, and many young collectors resolutely shut their eyes to the most apparent of truisms, until such time as the consequences are brought fairly home to them. It is exceedingly dangerous to purchase imperfect or mutilated books, or to traffic in them at all. This position will be enlarged upon during the progress of the present chapter.

To return to the reasons which contribute to the value of a book, it may be mentioned that "suppression" is one of the chief. This is a natural reason; others are merely artificial, which may be in full force to-day but non-existent to-morrow, depending as they do upon mere caprice and the vagaries of fashion: with these I have, in this volume at any rate, nothing to do.

De Foe, in his _Essay on Projects_, observes: "I have heard a bookseller in King James's time say that if he would have a book sell, he would have it burned by the hands of the common hangman," by which he presupposed the existence of some little secret horde which should escape the general destruction, and which would consequently rise to ten times its value directly the persecution was diverted into other channels. This is so, for where an edition has been suppressed, and most of the copies destroyed, the remainder acquire an importance which the whole issue would never have enjoyed had it been left severely alone. The Inquisition has been the direct cause of elevating hundreds of books to a position far above their merit, and the same may be said of Henry VIII., who sent Catholic as well as Protestant books wholesale to the flames; of Mary, who condemned the latter; of Edward VI., who acquiesced in the destruction of the former; and of Elizabeth and the two succeeding sovereigns, who delighted in a holocaust of political pamphlets and libels.

The Inquisition, with that brutal bigotry which characterised most of its proceedings, almost entirely destroyed Grafton's Paris Bible of 1538, with the result that the printing presses, types, and workmen were brought to London, and the few copies saved were completed here, to be sold on rare occasions at the present day for as much as L160 apiece. There is nothing in the Bible more than in any other; it is not particularly well printed, but it has a history, just as the Scotch Bassandyne Bible has, though in that case the persecution was directed against persons who _declined_ to have the book in their houses, ready to be shown to the tax collector whenever he chose to call. One Dr. James Drake, who in the year 1703 had the temerity to publish in London his _Historia Anglo-Scotica_, which contained, as was alleged, many false and injurious reflections upon the sovereignty and independence of the Scottish nation, had the pleasure of hearing that his work had been publicly burned at the Mercat Cross of Edinburgh, a pleasure which was doubtless considerably enhanced when another venture--the _Memorial_--shared the same fate in London, two years later. Drake had the honour of hearing himself censured from the throne, of being imprisoned, and of having his books burned, distinctions which some people sigh for in vain at the present day. As a consequence, the _Historia_ and the _Memorial_ are both desirable books, and Drake's name has been rescued from oblivion.

William Attwood's _Superiority and Direct Dominion of the Imperial Crown of England over the Crown and Kingdom of Scotland_ (London, 4to, 1705) is another book of good pedigree which would never have been worth the couple of guineas a modern bookseller will ask for it, had it not been burned by jealous Scotchmen immediately on its appearance.

The massacre of St. Bartholomew produced a large crop of treatises, and any contemporary book on the Huguenot side is worth preservation, for a general search was made throughout France, and every work showing the slightest favour to the Protestants was seized and destroyed. Among them was Claude's _Defense de la Reformation_ (1683), which was burned not only abroad, but in England as well, so great an ascendency had the French Ambassador acquired over our Court.

Bishop Burnet's _Pastoral letter to the Clergy of his Diocese_ (1689) was condemned and burned for ascribing the title of William III. to the Crown, to the right of conquest. The _Emilie_ and the _Contrat Social_ of Jean Jacques Rousseau shared the same fate, as did also _Les Histoires_ of d'Aubigne and Augustus de Thou.

Baxter's _Holy Commonwealth_ went the way of all obnoxious books, in 1688; the _Boocke of Sportes upon the Lord's Day_, in 1643; the Duke of Monmouth's proclamation declaring James to be an usurper, in 1685; Claude's _Les Plaintes des Protestans_, in 1686.

Harris' _Enquiry into the Causes of the Miscarriage of the Scots Colony at Darien_ (Glasgow, 1700); Bastwicke's _Elenchus Religionis Papisticae_ (1634); Blount's _King William and Queen Mary, Conquerors_, &c. (1692); the second volume of Wood's _Athenae Oxoniensis_ (1793); De Foe's _Shortest Way with the Dissenters_ (1702); Pocklington's _Sunday no Sabbath and Altare Christianum_ (1640); Sacheverel's _Two Sermons_ (1710); and Coward's _Second Thoughts concerning the Human Soul_ (1702), were all burned by the hangman, and copies destroyed wherever found.

Perhaps the most extraordinary instance of a work being destroyed for positively nothing at all is furnished by Cowell's _Law Dictionary_, which was sent to the flames by order of King James the First himself. This dictionary, and indeed every one of the books mentioned as having been subjected to the purification of fire, are now rare historical landmarks, and consequently both extrinsically and intrinsically valuable. Hence the reason of the high prices frequently demanded for them and for other works of this class.

The remaining copies of editions which were suppressed by their authors, or which have escaped accidental destruction, are frequently of considerable value. In the former class, Rochester's _Poems_ and Mrs. Seymour's _Account of the Origin of the Pickwick Papers_ are prominent examples; in the latter, the third folio edition of Shakespeare's Plays (1664), almost the entire impression of which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. Dugdale's _Origines Juridiciales_ (London, folio, 1666) was also almost entirely destroyed at the same time. Books coming under one or other of these classes are to be met with, and the note-book should always be at hand, so that a memorandum can be jotted down before the reference is lost. This course is adopted by the most experienced bibliographers, as well as by the amateur who wishes to become proficient in a study which is pleasant and profitable when conscientiously undertaken, but difficult and worse than useless to those who will not take the trouble to learn the rudiments of their science.

Works of limited issue are sometimes, but not always, nor indeed often, of especial value. It has been the practice for some years among publishers to issue works on what is nothing more nor less than the old subscription plan; but, unlike the hungry poets of old, who trudged the streets taking the price of copies in advance, the publishers keep faith with their subscribers. The edition is limited to a given number of copies, after which the type is distributed, and the plates--if the work is illustrated--broken up. Many speculators in books have endeavoured from time to time to "corner" editions so limited in quantity, buying at the published price, and subsequently selling again at an increased amount. In this way considerable sums have been _lost_, for works published on this plan have a decided tendency to fall in the market, and when this is the case they seldom if ever recover their former position. Hogarth's works, published in 1822, by Baldwin and Cradock, is a very good example of this tendency. The work was originally issued at L50, and the impressions, taken from Hogarth's original plates, restored, however, by Heath, are consequently of full size. There is a secret pocket at the end containing three suppressed and highly indecent plates, which considerably add to the value. I myself have many a time seen this large and sumptuous book knocked down in the auction room at sums varying from L3 to L5, and once bought a good copy by private contract for L4 10s. Ottley's _Italian School of Design_ is another example. This work when on large paper, with proof impressions of the 84 tinted fac-similes of original drawings by Cimabue, Giotto, Guercino, and other famous painters, is worth about L3 by auction. The published price in 1823 was no less than L25 4s. The issue of each of these works was limited, but neither have succeeded in retaining its position in popular favour, and in all probability will decline still further in the market as time goes on.

The lesson to be learned here is that such phrases as "only 100 copies printed," or "issue strictly limited to 50 copies," frequently to be observed in publishers' and auctioneers' catalogues, should be taken _cum grano salis_. The description may be accurate, but it does not follow that the limitation necessarily increases the value of the book. On the contrary, it may be well imagined that the publisher hesitated to launch the book entirely on its own merits, seeking rather the extraneous inducement of a "limited number". The earlier editions of Ruskin's works are an exception to the rule, for that author's reputation is deservedly great, and he is, moreover, master of his own books, which from choice he has, until the last year or two, preferred to render difficult of access.

Volumes of transactions and proceedings of learned societies usually have a market value, which fluctuates much less than is usually the case. These being supplied to members only, and rarely published for purposes of sale, may be said to be both privately printed and limited in issue at the same time. As a rule they increase proportionately in value as the series becomes more complete, and a point once reached, they generally maintain it. Hence works of this character are safe investments--perhaps the safest of any.

The result of every investigation into the causes which regulate the value of books has shown conclusively that no publication is of great worth merely _because_ it is scarce. The scarcity is a secondary and not a primary cause. Highly appreciated English publications of the sixteenth and two following centuries may be counted by thousands; but the number of inferior treatises, which have long ago sunk into eternal oblivion, which never were of any value, and never will be, are as the sand on the sea-shore.

However scarce and valuable a book may be, it must be remembered that the element of perfection has yet to be taken into account. It does not by any means follow that, because a copy of one of Shakespeare's 4tos is worth L300, another copy of the same 4to edition will be of equal value. It may be worth more or less, and here it is that the critical eye of the _connoisseur_ and dealer tells. Defects, such as a tear in the cover or any of the leaves, stains, worm-holes, and the like, detract from the value; if these are entirely absent, the value may, on the contrary, be raised above the average. The fact of a rare book being "uncut," and in the original sound binding, clean, and free from blemishes, considerably add to its value.

The first part of a book to get worn out is the binding, for some one or more of its previous owners are almost certain to have ill-treated it either by bending the covers until they crack, or by leaving the work exposed to the rain and damp. When the volume is coverless, and usually not before, it will have been re-bound, and the binder will, in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, have trimmed the edges, that is to say, planed them smooth with a machine he has for the purpose. Sometimes he will have cut as much as half-an-inch from the top, and nearly as much from the other edges; on other occasions, he may have been more merciful; but the result is the same, the book is damaged beyond hope of redemption, and the only question is as to the extent of the injury. The term "uncut," so often seen in catalogues, is, therefore, a technical term, meaning that the edges are left in the same condition as they were when the book was originally issued. It does not mean that the leaves are "not cut open," as so many people appear to think, but simply that the binder, with a fine sense of what is due to a volume of importance, has for once kept his shears in his pocket. The value of a book which has been cut is reduced to an extent proportionate to the quantum of injury inflicted: from 50 to 75 per cent. is the usual reduction, but many works are altogether destroyed. If a scarce book is sent to be re-bound, the binder should have the clearest instructions, in writing, that he is not to trim the edges. Should he do so, notwithstanding the direction, a by no means impossible contingency, he will do it at his own risk, and can be made to suffer the consequences.

Imperfect volumes are always a source of great inconvenience to the collector. First-class bookselling firms will not allow an imperfect book to leave their hands without notice to the purchaser, and, as a consequence, they charge a higher price than would be the case if the latter exercised his own judgment. There are mutual advantages to be gained in dealing with first-class people, for, if a mistake is made on one side or the other, there is usually no difficulty in rectifying it afterwards. Fine old crusted book-worms of the John Hill Burton type prefer, however, to exercise their own discretion in these matters, looking upon that as no inconsiderable part of the pleasure to be derived from the pursuit of their favourite occupation. They do not care to pay for being taught, at least not directly, and make it part of their business to find out for themselves whether a copy offered for sale is perfect or the reverse. As each page is usually numbered, there is no difficulty in ascertaining whether any are missing; not so with the plates, for, unless there is an index to these, the loss of one or two may hardly be noticed until the book comes to be collated with another copy known to be complete. This is a risk which the book buyer has to run, though, as a matter of practice, he protects himself when the purchase is an expensive one, and the dealer a man of credit.

In buying books at a cheap rate, or, in other words, when making a bargain either at a shop or an ordinary street-stall, the purchaser will have to observe the maxim, "Caveat emptor," and it will probably not be until he arrives home with his treasure under his arm that he will have the satisfaction of ascertaining that his bargain is a real one, or the mortification of adding another imperfect book to the long row already on his shelf.

Imperfect books are frequently what is called "made up," that is, completed from other copies, themselves imperfect in other respects. One complete book is worth more than two incomplete ones, and many desirable specimens, in the public libraries and elsewhere, are made up so well that it is frequently impossible to detect the hand of the renovator.

So long as all the leaves of a made-up book are of the same measurement, there would not seem to be much objection to this practice, but there certainly is when the paper of the interpolated leaves is different from the rest, or smaller in size, which it will be if cut down by the binder. Great care must be taken to see that neither of these defects is present, especially when, from the value of a book offered for sale, it may have been worth anyone's while to perfect it.

Another point to be observed in the purchase of very expensive and valuable works is, that none of the leaves have been fac-similed. These fac-similes are done by hand, and frequently so well that they cannot be detected without the aid of a strong glass. The late Henry Stevens tells a good story of a customer of his--Mr. Lenox, of New York, the founder of the Lenox Library, and a most indefatigable collector up to the last hour of his life. "Mr. Lenox was," says Stevens, "principled against raffles, wagers, lotteries, and games of chance generally, but I once led him into a sort of bet in this way, by which I won from him L4. I had acquired a fair copy of that gem of rare books, the quarto edition of _Hariot's Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginea_ (London, Feb., 1588), wanting four leaves in the body of the book. These I had very skilfully traced by Harris, transferred to stone, printed off on old paper of a perfect match, the book and these leaves sized and coloured alike, and bound in morocco by Bedford. The volume was then sent to Mr. Lenox to be examined by him _de visu_, the price to be L25; but, if he could detect the four fac-simile leaves, and would point them out to me without error, the price was to be reduced to L21. By the first post, after the book was received, he remitted me the 20 guineas, with a list of the fac-similes, but on my informing him that two of _his_ fac-similes were originals, he immediately remitted the four pounds, and acknowledged his defeat."

This Harris, whose name is prominently mentioned, was probably the greatest adept at this species of imitation who ever lived, and many important but defective works, now in the British Museum, left his hands, to all appearance, in first-rate order and condition.

"Laying down" is a technical term used to express the process of re-backing a torn plate or engraving. Many of the Shakespeare folios have the portrait and verses by Ben Jonson laid down or "re-laid," as the catalogues generally describe it. This, of course, can be detected at a glance, and it may be stated positively that a laid-down plate, frontispiece, or title is looked upon as a serious blemish, inferior only to the entire absence of one or more of the three.

Worm-holes, stains, fox-marks, and other flaws also detract from value; but as many of these may be removed by a judicious application of proper remedies, a special chapter will be reserved for their consideration. The market value of a book is thus composed of many elements, the chief of which is "condition"--above all things, a broad margin, and next, to that, leaves of spotless white.

I have already stated that where editions of the works of famous modern authors containing plates were originally issued in parts, such parts should, on no account, be bound up in volume form. The result of such a course cannot be better illustrated than by taking the well-known _Pickwick Papers_ as our example, and studying the following prices, all realised at auction quite recently:--

_Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_, original ed., with illustrations by Seymour & Browne, and the Buss plates, _complete in numbers_, 1837, 8vo, L8 10s.; L12 14s.; L8 10s.; L6 5s.; L11 5s.

_Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_, original ed. (_bound_), with illustrations by Seymour & Browne, and the Buss plates, 1837, 8vo, L1 (half calf), L1 1s. (half calf), L3 (calf extra), L2 12s. (half morocco extra), L2 5s. (half calf extra), L1 7s. (half morocco extra), L3 10s. (calf, gilt, an unusually clean copy, recently sold at the Mackenzie sale). The evidence furnished by these quotations is conclusive, and illustrates the principle better than anything else can do, that, in the present state of the English book market, it is the height of folly to bind up original parts of this nature. If, however, it must be done, the depreciation in value may be reduced to a minimum by binding in the best style, and taking care that not only all the covers, but even the pages of advertisements, are bound up also. On no account must the edges be cut, or in any way tampered with, or the value will sink from pounds to shillings on the instant.

I shall conclude this chapter by calling attention to the expression "large paper," so often noticed. It has been the practice for many years, on publishing certain classes of books, to print off a limited number of copies on "large paper," or paper of a larger size than that used for the ordinary copies. Thus, the second edition of Bewick's _Birds_, in 2 vols., 1804, is found in no less than three sizes, ordinary copies in demy 8vo, large paper copies in royal 8vo, and largest paper in imperial 8vo. The text is in each instance precisely the same, but the books themselves are larger in size as we ascend the scale. The well-known _Badminton Library_ of sports and pastimes is printed in two sizes, and as large paper copies are invariably limited in number, their value is always greater than that of their more humble brethren. Whether they maintain their original published value is another question which can only be solved by reference to particular cases as and when they arise.