Chapter XI: Prices of Various Classes of Books

In this chapter some account will be given of a few of the various classes 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, _Spaccio 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 Molière 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 François_ (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. Sensièr’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 association 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 mass 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.
Nassau, 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 (illustrated). Earl of Gosford (1884),
£87 (drawings by Cotman inserted). William Brice, &c. (1887),
£20.

Drake’s (T.) _Eboracum_, _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. Nassau, £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 illustrata_, 1675.

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

---- _Cantabrigia illustrata_, 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.

H. Perkins (1873), plates in three states-etchings, proofs, and
proofs on India paper, morocco extra by Lewis, one of six
copies, £155.

Plot’s _Oxfordshire_, 1677. Large paper.

Beckford (1883), £8, 15s. (old red morocco).

---- _Staffordshire_, 1686. Large paper.

Beckford (1883), £40, 10s. (old black morocco).

Thoroton’s _Nottinghamshire_, 1677.

Heber (part 9), £11, 5s. Beresford-Hope (1882), £11. Beckford
(1883), £14, 10s.

First editions of our English classics have increased greatly in price of late years. Many of Defoe’s works are very scarce, and bring good prices. The late Mr. James Crossley had a fine collection of these, but his library was in such poor condition that the books did not sell well. The British Museum bought at his sale, June 20, 1885, the autograph manuscript of Defoe’s “Compleat English Gentleman,” which had never been printed until Mr. Nutt issued it to subscribers in 1890. The manuscript remained in the possession of Defoe’s relations, the Baker family, for more than a hundred years, as Dawson Turner bought it in 1831 from the Rev. H. D. F. Baker, the descendant of Henry Baker, son-in-law of Defoe, for £69. In 1859, at the sale of Turner’s MSS., Crossley bought the book for £75, 8s.

_Robinson Crusoe_, first edition, 2 vols., 1719.

Roxburghe (1812), £1, 4s. Sotheby’s (1846), £4, 16s. (with
“Serious Reflections,” 3 vols., 1719-20).

Alfred Crampton, 1896 (3 vols.), £75.

Sir Cecil Domville, 1897 (part 1), £45, 10s.

Walton’s _Angler_, 1653, first edition.

Rev. J. Brand (1807), £3, 3s. (fine copy). Hunter (1813), £7,
10s. Utterson (1852), £11, 15s. Beckford (1883), fine copy in
green morocco, £87--Bain. Gibson-Craig (1887), £195 (morocco).
Gibson-Craig (1888), £23 (imperfect, sold with all faults). G.
Wood (Sotheby, 1891), £310 (clean, in original sheepskin).
Sotheby (December 1895), £415.

Goldsmith’s _Vicar of Wakefield_, 1766, first edition.

Mansfield-Mackenzie (1889), £67. T. B. T. Hildyard (1895), £56
(original calf). Alfred Crampton (1896), £65 (morocco extra by
Bedford). Rare Books and MSS. (Sotheby, March 1897), £60
(original calf).

BOOKS ON VELLUM

Collectors have always had a fancy for these very choice books, and that the taste has not yet died out is seen from the fact that the late William Morris printed copies of the beautiful books issued from the Kelmscott Press on vellum, and was particularly careful in the selection of the skins, which he obtained at first from Italy. A complete set of all the books on vellum (including Chaucer), forty-nine volumes, were offered at the Kelmscott Press for £650, and have been sold at that price.

We can understand the early printed books being struck off upon vellum, as the printers appreciated that material on account of its use by the scribes in the production of the beautiful manuscripts of a former age, but it is surely infinitely more convenient to have a book printed on good paper rather than on such a refractory material as vellum. Some collectors have been so infatuated as to confine their libraries to books printed on vellum, and the French Marshal Junot was one of them. Modern books were printed for him on this substance; but when they came to be sold it was found that the public did not care much for his books, and more than half of them were bought in. One of the lots illustrates in a remarkable manner the advance in prices at the present time. The book was Longus’s _Pastoralia_, printed by Didot in 1802. One copy only was pulled on vellum for the Marshal, and this volume contained the original drawings of Proudhon, and a set of proof impressions of the engravings. At the Junot sale in 1816 this book only realised £37, 10s.; at the Beckford sale it brought £900. One of the most charming of Junot’s books was the Didot _Horace_ of 1799 folio, a volume which contained the original drawings from which the copperplate vignettes were executed. This was bought by George Hibbert for £140.

Of old books, mention may be made of the dedication copy to James V. of John Bellenden’s translation of Hector Boece’s “Cronikles of Scotland” (1536), which was printed on vellum, and which, in a fine old binding, realised at the Duke of Hamilton’s sale (1884), £800.

Dibdin styled this hobby of collectors the fifth symptom of the bibliomania, and he gave a list of the vellum-printed books in Count MacCarthy’s and James Edwards’s libraries. In the latter collection was a copy of Martin Luther’s German Bible (Augsburg, 1535, two vols. folio), which sold for the reasonable price of £52, 10s. These copies on vellum were printed at the charge of John Frederick, Elector of Saxony.

Edwards employed Bodoni to print for him six copies of the edition of the “Castle of Otranto” (Parma, 1791) on vellum, and his own copy, made up with a selection of the best sheets, sold at his sale in 1815 for £29, 8s.

At Watson Taylor’s sale Pope’s “Essay on Man” (1819), printed on vellum, sold for £10.

Mention has already been made of the grand copies on vellum of the earliest productions of the printing-press--the Mazarin Bible, &c.

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS

Good illustrated books, which are an ornament to any library, are now high priced, and are not likely to fall in value. Such books as Dibdin’s bibliographical works, Rogers’s “Italy” and “Poems,” and many other books of a like kind, must always be a delight to the æsthetic collector.

Collections of engraved portraits have realised great prices, such as Holland’s _Basili?gia_ (1618), which sold for £600 at Christie’s in 1811; and his _Her?ologia_ (1620), which sold for £17 at the Beckford sale, £28, 10s. at the Earl of Crawford’s sale (1887), and £19, 15s. at W. H. Crawford’s (Lakelands) sale (1891); and the superb series of Vandyck’s etchings, which sold for £2850 at the Beckford sale.

Great prices have also been paid for extra illustrated books; but it is useless to record the prices given for them, unless a list of the contents is given also. Grangerising has been ridiculed with much justice, and some of the bulky works which have been produced, such as the illustrated Bibles and Shakespeares, are instances of a very absurd mania. Dr. Hill Burton gave an amusing and by no means exaggerated sketch in his “Book Hunter” of how the compiler set about his work. Now in England Grangerising is mostly confined within the limits of illustrating topographical works with views and historical books with portraits, but in the United States the old plan is said to be still in force.

BINDINGS

In no class of books have prices more conspicuously advanced than in the case of bindings, and in many sales that have taken place of late years fine specimens have been brought to the hammer; but no sale could compare with that of the Beckford library in this respect. Good examples of the libraries of Margaret of Valois, Maioli, Grolier, Thuanus, and Canevari are eagerly sought after, and the following prices of some of the choicest of these bindings will give readers an idea of the current values of these charming books:--

_Marguerite de Valois._ Carmina illustrium Poetarum Italorum, 1579,
2 vols. Old brown morocco, covered with the arms and devices of
Marguerite de Valois.

Beckford (1882), £242.

_Diane de Poictiers._ Le Livre des Statuts et Ordonances de l’Ordre
de Sainct Michel (Paris, 1550), printed on vellum. A beautiful
specimen of the library of Diane de Poictiers, in old brown
morocco, ornamented with the arms of Henry II. of France, the
crescent, bows and quivers of Diana, and fleurs de lis.

Beckford (1882), £155.

_Grolier._ I. Aurelius Augurellus (Venetiis: Aldus, 1505). Brown
morocco, beautiful specimen of Grolier’s library.

Beckford (1882), £250.

---- Lucanus cura Aldi Romani (Venetiis: Aldus, 1515). Grolier’s
copy, covered with scroll tooling.

Beckford (1882), £290.

---- Another copy, _veau fauve_, with Grolier tooling, £120.

_Grolier and Thuanus._ Lucanus de Bello Civili (Lutetiæ: R.
Stephanus, 1545). Brown morocco, covered with Grolier tooling;
apparently bound for Grolier, and subsequently possessed by
Thuanus.

Beckford (1882), £135.

---- Franchini Poemata (Romæ, 1554). Red morocco, covered with
Grolier tooling, and monogram of the Marquis de Menars on back,
from the libraries of Grolier and Thuanus.

Beckford (1882), £230.

_Grolier and Thuanus._ Buchanani Psalmorum Paraphrasis Poetica
(apud H. et R. Stephanum, s.a.). Olive morocco, sides and back
covered with gold tooling in the Grolier style, the first arms
of Thuanus forming the centre ornament.

Beckford (1882), £310.

_Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria._ Sainct Johan Zebedee
L’Apocalypse, Mystère (Paris, 1541). Blue morocco, richly
ornamented with gold tooling and the crowned cyphers of Louis
XIII. and Anne of Austria, by A. Ruette.

Beckford (1882), £255.

_Demetrio Canevari, Physician to Urban VIII._ Tirante il Bianco
(Vinegia, 1538). A perfect specimen of Canevari’s library, in
Venetian red morocco, with his device.

Beckford (1883), £111.

_Du Fresnoy._ Lucanus de Bello Civili (Lugd. Bat., 1658). Red
morocco, richly ornamented with gold tooling, with arms and
monogram of H. Petit Du Fresnoy stamped on the sides and back,
by Boyet.

Beckford (1882), £84.

_Marguerite de Montmorency, Dame de Fosseteau._ Duchesne, Histoire
genealogique de la maison de Montmorency et de Laval, 2 vols.
in 1 (Paris, 1624). Old olive morocco, the sides and back
covered with the MF and device (the Marguerite) of Marguerite
de Montmorency.

Beckford (1882), £120.

A few instances of the work of the great French binders follow, and it will be seen that the work of no binder is more appreciated by collectors than that of Monnier:--

_Clovis Eve._ Coloured Drawings of Maps and Plans of places in
France, executed in 1602 and 1603 for Henry IV.’s own use.
Olive morocco, covered with fleurs de lis, the King’s arms
forming the centre ornament, with his crowned H at each corner.
A magnificent specimen of Clovis Eve’s art.

Beckford (1882), £375.

_Boyet._ In the second portion of the Sunderland library there was
a small volume in old crimson morocco (Cicero, _De Officiis_,
Amst. ex off. Elzeviriani, 1677), which was not specially
described, nor the title printed in capitals. It did not look
worth many pounds, but Mr. Quaritch obtained it after an
exciting contest with Mr. Morgand for £120. The cause of the
excitement was this: from the character of the end papers it
was judged that the book had been bound by the French binder
Boyet. Specimens of his handiwork are very rare, and hence the
great price.

_Deseuil_ (or _Du Seuil_). In the second portion of the Beckford
library was a copy of the Leyden edition of Macrobius (1670),
bound in red morocco doublé by Deseuil. This fetched £39, while
another copy in vellum only realised 16s.

Here is another instance of the increased value of a copy of a
book bound by a good binder. A copy of Montaigne, _Essais_, 3
vols. 8vo (Amst.: Elzevir, 1659), bound in red morocco double
by Deseuil, brought £200, while another copy, bound by Roger
Payne in red morocco, only sold for £12, 10s.

A small duodecimo volume bound by Deseuil (Longus, Les Amours
Pastorales de Daphnis et Chloe, _Paris_, 1788) was sold at G.
Daniel’s sale in 1864 for £92.

_Monnier._ Decor Puellarum (Venetia: N. Jenson, 1471). Girardot de
Prefond’s copy, a magnificent specimen of Monnier’s binding, in
blue morocco, ornamented with flowers worked on variegated
leathers, and stamped in gold.

Beckford (1883), £530.

---- De l’Imitation de Jesus Christ traduction nouvelle (Paris,
1690). Large paper. Citron morocco, magnificent specimen of
Monnier’s binding.

Beckford (1882), £356.

---- Corneille, Rodogune. Au Nord [Versailles], 1760. Madame de
Pompadour’s own copy, printed under her eyes in a northern
apartment of the Palace of Versailles, in yellow morocco; fine
specimen of Monnier’s binding.

Beckford (1882), £325.

It has hitherto been the fine French and Italian bindings that have fetched the high prices, but now some of the beautiful English bindings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are coming in for their share of consideration. At the Earl of Orford’s sale (1895) R. Wood’s “Essay on Homer” (1785), bound by Roger Payne by order of Wood’s widow for presentation to Horace Walpole, sold for ten guineas. There is an interest in this book as having fallen into the hands of Goethe when his powers were first developing themselves, and it strongly interested him. Robert Wood was Under-Secretary of State in 1762, and he related an affecting anecdote of Lord Granville, a statesman known now only to the few. Wood was directed to wait upon the President of the Council (Lord Granville) a few days before he died with the preliminary articles of the Treaty of Paris. “I found him,” he continued, “so languid that I proposed postponing my business for another time; but he insisted that I should stay, saying that it could not prolong his life to neglect his duty,” adding a quotation from Homer, which may be found in Mr. Matthew Arnold’s discourses on Homeric translations.

EARLY EDITIONS OF MODERN AUTHORS

The last five-and-twenty years has seen the rise of a new taste in early editions of the works of modern authors, and a new class of bibliographers has arisen to describe these books.

Mr. J. H. Slater (the editor of “Book Prices Current”) has published a useful guide to this subject, entitled “Early Editions: a Bibliographical Survey of the Works of some popular Modern Authors. London, 1894.”

I have taken some particulars from this book, and supplemented them with a note of the prices realised at the remarkable sale of Mr. Alfred Crampton’s collection in 1896. I have also added a few books sold since that date.

Among the first of modern books to sell for high prices were the illustrated novels of Dickens and Thackeray, and to be valuable these must be in perfect condition, with the original wrappers, &c. After these come the other books illustrated by Cruikshank, “Phiz,” Leech, and others, viz., Ainsworth’s and Lever’s novels, Surtees’ Sporting novels--“Sponge’s Sporting Tour,” “Jorrocks’s Jaunts,” “Handley Cross,” &c.

Of poets, Shelley’s pieces were among the first to attain high prices, and Byron’s among the last.

_Arnold._--Matthew Arnold’s “Strayed Reveller. By A.,” 1849, and “Empedocles on Etna,” 1852, have long been classed among the rare books. The former was published at 4s. 6d., and its usual price now is £4, but a copy has fetched £7. The latter was published at 6s., and is now valued at from £3, 10s. to £6.

Beckford, _Poetical Sketches_.
Gaisford (1890), £40.

Blake (W.), _Songs of Innocence and of Experience_ [1789].
Engraved and coloured by Blake, in green morocco by Lewis.

Sir W. Tite, £61. Lord Beaconsfield, £85. Beckford (1882),
£146.

---- _Milton: a Poem._ Engraved throughout, and ornamented with
designs by Blake, blue morocco by Mackenzie.

Beckford (1882), £230.

_Browning._--Robert Browning’s first publication, which appeared when its author was in his twenty-first year, is a great rarity.

“Pauline; a Fragment of a Confession. ‘Plus ne suis ce que j’ai été, Et ne le sçaurois jamais être.’--_Marot._ London: Saunders & Otley, Conduit Street, 1833.”

Mr. Slater says that there are about eight copies known, and that it was supposed to be worth £40 or £50. A copy, with an autograph note by the author, was sold at Alfred Crampton’s sale for £145. Mr. Thomas J. Wise printed a facsimile reprint in 1886, which has been used by the forger to deceive. Mr. Slater had seen a “doctored” copy of this reprint, in which Wise’s title and prefatory note were removed, the paper was rotted to make it porous, and the leaves were smoked to give them a mellow appearance. Mr. Wise’s paper is thicker than the original, and Mr. Slater gives a hint how to distinguish the two:--

“On the final page (71) appear the words--‘Richmond, October 22,
1832.’ If the word ‘October’ is printed in _thin_ italics the book
is without doubt a reprint. So far as I am aware, there is no other
difference between Mr. Wise’s excellent reprint and the original
(the paper excepted).”

_Burns._--The most amazing price ever realised for a modern book was that of £572 for “Poems chiefly in the Scottish dialect. By Robert Burns. _Kilmarnock_, 1786.” The original price of this octavo volume was three shillings. The history of the very fine copy sold in Edinburgh in February 1898 is traced back about eighty years by a writer in _Literature_. In 1870 it was sold for six guineas to G. B. Simpson, of Dundee, who sold it in 1879, with some other books, to A. C. Lamb for £124. The price of the Kilmarnock Burns has steadily advanced from £3, 10s. in 1858 to £111 in 1888, and then it made the immense leap to £572.

_Byron._--“Poems on Various Occasions” (Newark, 1807, 8vo) sold at Alfred Crampton’s sale for £45. “The Waltz” (1813, pp. 27), published without a wrapper at 3s., sold at the same sale for £55. Mr. Slater says that an uncut copy has been sold by auction for £86.

_Meredith._--A fine uncut copy of George Meredith’s Poems, 1851, sold at a sale of Rare Books and Manuscripts (Sotheby, March 1897) for £17, 10s. Another copy with alterations in the author’s autograph (Sotheby, June 1897) sold for £25.

_Morris._--The beautiful issues of William Morris’s Kelmscott Press advanced in price in many instances before publication, and are likely, now that the supply has ceased, to advance still more; but they vary very much according to the literary rank of the books. The edition of Keats, published at 30s., was sold lately for £12. Shelley’s Poetical Works, in three volumes 8vo, was sold at Sotheby’s early in 1898 for £8. Chaucer’s Works, folio, is out of print, and was marked by Messrs. J. & J. Leighton at £30.

_Rossetti._--The first printed work of Dante G. Rossetti is of great rarity. The poet was thirteen years old when the lines were composed, and fifteen when they were printed. The title is “Sir Hugh the Heron: a Legendary Tale, in four parts. G. Polidori’s Private Press, 15 Park Village East, 1843. Private Circulation only,” pp. 24. A copy was sold at Sotheby’s in 1890 for £16. Miss Christina Rossetti’s first poems, privately printed at the same press, have brought seven guineas.

_Ruskin._--“Poems by J. R., collected in 1850 for private circulation only,” a foolscap octavo volume of 283 pages, is valued at £50 or £60. The value of his sumptuous books, “The Stones of Venice,” the “Seven Lamps of Architecture,” and “Modern Painters,” is known to all, and when in good condition they look their value. The original editions of the first, 1851 to 1853, are valued at from £12 to £15. The first edition of the “Seven Lamps,” 1849, at £4, and the second edition, 1855, at £4, 10s. The “Modern Painters,” 5 vols., early editions, from £20 to £25.

_Shelley._--The early editions of Shelley’s Poems and Prose Treatises were amongst the first of this class of books to attain high prices. Some may be noted here in chronological order:--

“Zastrozzi: a Romance,” 1810, was published at 5s. Bound and cut copies have sold for £5, 15s., and £12, 5s. An uncut copy, in calf, fetched £12, 5s. in 1890, and an uncut copy in morocco brought fifteen guineas in 1897 (Sir C. S. Forbes).

The most interesting of these pamphlets is the one which was the cause of its author being expelled from University College, Oxford.

“The Necessity of Atheism. Worthing. Printed by E. & W. Phillips. Sold in London and Oxford,” n.d. [1811] f. 8vo, pp. 13.

Nearly all the copies were destroyed by the printers, and Mr. Slater values a clean copy at about £20, but probably it would realise much more than that.

“St. Irvyne,” 1811, morocco uncut, Sir C. S. Forbes, 1897, £16, 10s.

“An Address to the Irish People” (Dublin, 1812) was published at 5d., and Mr. Slater values a copy at £8 to £12, but one was sold at Alfred Crampton’s sale, 1896, for £42.

“Queen Mab,” 1813, in the original boards, was sold in 1891 for £22, 10s.

“The Refutation of Deism,” 1814, fetched £33 at an auction in 1887.

The largest price, however, given for one of these pamphlets was £130 for “Œdipus Tyrannus,” 1820, at Crampton’s sale. The entire impression was destroyed except seven copies, only two or three of which are known to exist, but a reprint on vellum appeared in 1876. The British Museum possesses a copy, presented by Lady Shelley.

_Tennyson._--The first editions of Tennyson’s Poems bring high prices, and the scarcest is the famous “Poems by Two Brothers,” 1827, published for 5s., and large paper for 7s. The present value of the former is about £15 to £10.

The original MS. was sold in December 1892 to Messrs. Macmillan & Bowes of Cambridge for £480. After a facsimile had been taken, it was resold to an American collector.

_Dickens._--“Sunday under Three Heads” was one of the first of the novelist’s works to sell for a high price. As it is a very small book, it is not saying much to describe it as selling for its weight in gold; in point of fact, it sells for more. Mr. F. C. Kitton gives the market value of the various novels in his “Novels of Charles Dickens,” 1897. The first edition of the “Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi” sold in July 1897 at Sotheby’s (Jack, Halliday, &c.) for £8, 17s. 6d.

_Thackeray._--Thackerayana is very high priced, and the following two instances of sales in 1897 show that the tendency is still upwards:--Two incomplete sets of “The Snob,” ten numbers and thirteen numbers, 1829-30, fetched at Sotheby’s (Parlane & Dasent) £89. The eleven numbers complete, with seventeen numbers of the “Gownsman,” sold at the Mansfield-Mackenzie sale, 1889, for £25.

“The Fox and the Cat,” final proof-sheets of a story apparently intended for the _Cornhill Magazine_, but never published, revised by the author, with numerous corrections and additions in his autograph, sold by Sotheby’s in March 1897 (Rare Books and MSS.) for £45, bought by Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co.

The price of the first editions of Sir Walter Scott’s novels have been long in rising, but good fresh copies fetch a good price now.

The most remarkable price for a three-volume novel was obtained in July 1897 at Sotheby’s (Jack, Halliday, &c.), when the first edition of “Jane Eyre” sold for seventeen guineas.

The question naturally occurs, Will such prices as this continue? but it is a question very difficult to answer. All that can be said is, that in this class of books there is the most uncertainty as to the high prices being sustained.

Depreciation is a factor which must be taken into consideration, but it is not at present very widespread. It is quite easy to understand why editions of the classics and Thomas Hearne’s editions of “Chronicles,” &c., have gone down in price, because the publication of superior texts has partially superseded them; but one can scarcely explain why the set of “Byzantine Historians” should fall so much in price, for these ponderous volumes have not been superseded. At the Hamilton sale in 1884 a fine large paper set of these “Historians,” 1645-1777, eighteen volumes in red morocco by Ruelle, and five in calf, only brought £4, 10s.

Mezeray’s _Histoire de France_, 3 vols. folio, bound in blue morocco by Derome, which sold formerly for £105, only sold for £33 at the Beckford sale.

A large paper set of Hearne’s Works, bound in red morocco, was bought at Mead’s sale for fifty guineas by an ancestor of Meerman the bibliographer. It continued at the Hague with Meerman’s library until the sale of the latter in 1822, when it was bought by a London bookseller for £200. Pickering purchased it, and sold it to Hanrott for £500; at his sale in 1836 it was bought by the Duke of Buccleuch for £400. At Watson Taylor’s sale a set fetched £200. At the Beckford sale, the set of Hearne’s Works were all on small paper, with the exception of “Camden,” “Annales,” 1717, “Fordun’s Scoticronicon,” 1722, and “History and Antiquities of Glastonbury,” 1722. The twenty-seven lots only brought altogether £41, 10s.

* * * * *

In conclusion, there remain two points to lay stress upon and to reiterate--

(1) That price depends largely upon condition. This every one connected with book-buying knows, but the fact is almost entirely overlooked by those who know but little of books. Constantly when a very high price is announced in the papers some person finds that he has a copy of the identical book, for which he expects to obtain an identical price, and he cannot understand when he is told that his copy is practically valueless, because it is in bad condition.

If a book is unique, he who wants it must take it as it is, and make the best of the missing leaves, the worm-holes, or the stained pages; but if several copies still exist, it will be found that the price of the bad copy bears no proportion to that of the good one.

(2) The forger is abroad whenever prices rule high. We have seen how facsimiles have been sold as the originals, and bindings have often been doctored, Maioli’s and Grolier’s being manufactured for the ever greedy demand. Fortunately, however cleverly the frauds may be produced, the expert is pretty sure to notice something that makes him suspicious, and suspicion will soon be turned to certainty; but the public are easily gulled by that to which they are unaccustomed.

Groliers may be imitated to deceive even the expert, but in respect to more elaborate toolings, such as those of Le Gascon, we are safe, because to imitate these successfully would cost so great an expenditure of time, that the forgery would be worth almost as much as the original.

FOOTNOTES:

[60] “Memoir of William Oldys,” 1862, p. 104.

[61] Nichols’s “Literary Anecdotes,” vol. i. p. 593.

[62] Lang’s “Books and Bookmen,” p. 13.

INDEX

Adam the royal goldsmith, 58

Æsopus (1485), 185

Albani Missal, vicissitudes of, 75

Alchorne (Stanesby), his library, purchased by Lord Spencer, 154

Allen (Thomas), his library, 144

Althorpe library purchased by Mrs. Rylands, 16

Americana, growth in value, 221

Anacreon, 1554, 185

Apponyi (Count Louis), his library, 173

Ariosto (1516), 190

Aristoteles (1483), 185;
copy on vellum, 143

Arnold’s (Matthew) poems, 256

“Arthur (King),” 1557, 216

Ashburnham (Earl of), sale of his library, 174, 176;
Ashburnham MSS., 70

Ashmole’s (Elias) library, 9

Ashwell (Rev. George), sale of his library, 119

Askew (Anthony), sale of his library, 138;
MSS., 141

Astle (Edward), his library, 156

Atkyns’s ‘Gloucestershire,’ 244

Aubrey’s ‘Surrey,’ 244

Auchinleck library, 173

Auction, use of the word, 105

Auction sales:
In the seventeenth century, 104-125
In the eighteenth century, 126-146
In the nineteenth century, 147-178

Auctioneer, print of, by Nicholls, 45

Auctioneers, 37-48

Augustinus, ‘De Civitate Dei,’ 192

Aungerville (Richard) = Richard de Bury, 3

Authors, remuneration of, 2, 14

Averages of book sales, 177

Aylesford (Earl of), his library, 171, 176

Bacon’s Henry VII., price, 94

Baker (Samuel), auctioneer, 134

Ballard (Thomas), auctioneer, 128, 130

Bancroft’s (T.) epigrams (1639), 216

Barnes’s (Juliana) ‘Treatyse of Fysshynge,’ 216

Barnfield’s (R.) ‘Lady Pecunia’ (1598), 216

Barrois collection of MSS., 72

Bateman (Lord), his library, 174

Bateman heirlooms, 173

Beauclerk (Topham), sale of his library, 140

Beaumont and Fletcher’s works, 221

Beckford (William), sales (1823) 158, (1882-3) 166, 175
‘Poetical Sketches,’ 256

Bedford Missal, 75

Bedford (Francis), his library, 170

Beloe (William), 20

Bentley (T.), auctioneer, 118

Bent’s ‘General Catalogue,’ 93

Beresford-Hope (Rt. Hon. A. J. B.), his library, 170

Berri (Jean Due de), inventory of his library, 56

Berri (Duchesse de), her library, 159

Bernard (Charles), sale of his library, 127

Bernard (Dr. Francis), sale of his library, 119, 126

Berwick (Lord), his library, 162

Bible:
‘Biblia Sacra Latina,’ Gutenberg & Fust, price of, 182
‘Biblia Sacra Latina,’ Fust & Schoeffer, price of, 182
Latin version of the Psalms, Fust & Schoeffer (1459), price of, 182
‘Biblia Latina,’ N. Jensen, 183
In English, by Coverdale (1535), 183
Tyndale’s New Testament (1526), 183
Complutensian Polyglot (1514-17), 142, 183
Plantin Polyglot, 184
Walton’s Polyglot, 185
(Alcuin’s), at the British Museum, 74
(Eliot), 222

Bindings, sale of, 111;
specimens of, 250-255

Bindley (James), his library, 157, 175;
his portraits, &c., 158

Blake’s poems, 256

Blew (Rev. W. J.), his library, 174

Block books, price of, 181

Blomefield’s ‘Norfolk,’ 245

Boccaccio, 190;
Valdarfer edition (1471), 154

Boece’s ‘Cronikles,’ translated by Bellenden, on vellum, 248

Bohn (Henry G.), bookseller, 35;
sale of his ‘Epoch,’ 176

Bolland (Baron), his library, 162

Book-collecting as an investment, 19

Book sales in the nineteenth century which have realised
over £10,000, 175

Book trade _circa_ 1525, 85

Books:
Imported into England, 81
Not to be sold at too high a price, 82
Sellers of, 26-48

Borromeo (Count), his library, 157

Botticelli’s drawings in illustration of Dante, 69

Boucher (Rev. Jonathan), his library, 151

Boyet, specimens of his binding, 253

Brabourne (Lord), his library, 173

Bradshaw (Henry), ‘St. Werburghe’ (1521), 216

Bradshaw (Henry), Notes on Dorne’s Day-Book, 84

Brand (Rev. John), his library, 151

Bridges (John), sale of his library, 111

Bright (B. H.), his library, 163

British Museum:
Library of the kings and queens of England, 6
Manuscript collections at, 67

Britton (Thomas), sale of his books, 128

Broadley (John), his library, 160

Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre,’ 262

Browne (Sir Thomas) on the increase of books, 10

Browning’s (Robert) ‘Pauline,’ 256

Bruno (Giordano), ‘Spaccio de la Bestia Trionfante,’ 241

Brydges (Sir Egerton), his list of book prices (1564), 88

Buccleuch (Duke of), his library, 172

Buckingham (Duke of), Stowe library, 163, 175;
MSS., 163

Buckley (Rev. W. E.), his library, 173

Bullord (John), auctioneer, 44, 121;
confused with Ballard by Nichols, 44

Bunbury (Sir E. H.), his library, 174

Burgess (Fred), his library, 173

Burney (Dr. Charles), purchase of his library for the British Museum, 67

Burns, Kilmarnock edition of his Poems (1786), 257

Burton (J. Hill) on collecting as an investment, 19

Bury (Richard de) and his ‘Philobiblon,’ 2-5

Bute’s (Earl of) botanical library, 144

Butler’s ‘Hudibras,’ published price, 98

Byron’s Poems, 258

Bysshe (Sir Edward), sale of his library, 111

Byzantine historians, 262

‘Cæsar,’ edited by Dr. Samuel Clarke, large paper, fall in price, 181

Campbell’s (Colin) ‘Vitruvius Britannicus,’ published price, 95

Canevari (Demetrio), specimen of binding from his library, 252

Carr (Samuel), auctioneer, 117

Cassano library bought by Lord Spencer, 15

Castell (Dr. Edmond), sale of his library, 117;
his ‘Lexicon Heptaglotton,’ 14

Catalogue (monthly) of books, 100

Caxton:
Changes in the value of the productions of his press, 193-214
Chaucer’s translation of Boethius, 109
‘Golden Legend,’ its original price, 83
Caxtons, 137, 140;
at Dr. Francis Bernard’s sale, 121

Chalmers (George), his library, 162

Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales,’ 2, (Caxton) 199, (Pynson) 217,
(Wynkyn de Worde) 217;
subscription for Urry’s edition, 100

Chiswell (Richard), auctioneer, 43, 109, 111, 113

Christie and Manson, auctioneers, 48

Church books, 86

Cicero:
‘Opera Omnia’ (1483), 185
‘Epistolæ ad familiares’ (1467), 185
‘Epistolæ’ (1471), 186
‘Orationes’ (1472), 186

Clare (Earl of), his library, 166

Clarke (Dr. Hyde), his library, 174

Classics, _editiones principes_ of the, 185;
fall in the price of other editions, 180

Claudianus (1482), 186

Clavel’s (R.) catalogue of new books, 93

Cock (Mr.), auctioneer, 130, 132

Colard Mansion, a scribe before he turned printer, 67

Coleridge (Lord), his library, 174

Collins (Anthony), sale of his library, 131

Comerford (James), his library, 160

Cooper (William), first English auctioneer, 37, 104, 117

Copland’s (R.) reference to the price of books, 85

Corser (Rev. T.), his library, 165, 175

Cosens (Frederick William), his library, 172

Crampton (Alfred), his library, 174, 255

Crauford (Rev. C. H.), his library, 165

Crawford (Earl of), his library, 171, 175

Crawford (W. H.), Lakelands library, 173, 176

Crofts (Rev. Thomas), sale of his library, 140

Crossley (James), his library, 170

Currer (Miss Richardson), her library, 164

Cutwode’s (T.) ‘Caltha Poetarum,’ 217

Daly (Right Hon. Denis), his library, 144

Dampier’s (Bishop) library bought by the Duke of Devonshire, 16

Daniel (George), sale of his library, 164, 175

Dante, 190;
‘Divina Commedia’ illustrated by Botticelli, 69

Davis (Charles), auctioneer, 130

Davis (Richard):
‘Auctio Davisiana,’ 37
Sale of his stock, 117

Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe,’ 246

Delisle (Léopold), his claim for stolen MSS., 72

Dent (John), his library, 159, 175

Deseuil (or Du Seuil), specimens of his binding, 253

D’Ewes’s (Sir Symonds) MSS. bought by Harley, 11

Diane de Poictiers, specimen of binding from her library, 251

Dibdin (Dr. T. F.), 21, 32

Dickens’s Novels, &c., 255, 261

Digby (Sir Kenelm), sale of his library, 112

Dillon (John), his library, 165

Domville (Sir Cecil), his library, 174

Dorne’s (John) Day-Book, 84

Drake’s ‘Eboracum,’ 245

Drummond of Hawthornden’s ‘Forth Feasting,’ 218

Du Fresnoy (H. Petit), specimen of binding from his library, 252

Dugdale’s ‘Warwickshire,’ 245

Dunsmore (John), 109, 111

Dunton’s (John) account of the booksellers of his time, 29

D’Urfey’s (T.) ‘Pills to Purge Melancholy,’ published price, 99

Dyneley (R. D.), his library, 172

Dyson (Humphrey), sale of his books, 115

East, destruction of MSS. in the, 55

Ebesham (William), 61

Edwards (James), his library, 149

Ellis’s (F. S.) stock, sale of, 176

Evans (Robert H.), bookseller and auctioneer, 34, 154

Eve (Clovis), specimen of his binding, 253

Fabyan’s ‘Chronicles,’ 218

Fagel (Greffier), his library, 148

Farmer (Richard), D.D., sale of his library, 145

Fashion in the prices of books, 17

Fastolfe’s books (1459), 57

Fielding’s (Henry) library, 135

Flavel’s (Rev. John) Works, published price, 95

Fletewode (William), sale of his library, 138

Folkes (Martin), sale of his library, 135

Fonthill Abbey sale, 158

Forbes (Sir Charles Stewart), his library, 174

Foster (Birket), his library, 173

Foxe’s ‘Acts and Monuments,’ 218

Frere (John Tudor), his library, 174

Frobisher’s ‘Three Voyages,’ 218

Froissart’s ‘Cronycles,’ 218

Gaisford (Thomas), his library, 172

Gardner (Cecil Dunn), his library, 166

Gellius (Aulus), 1469, 186;
1472, 186

Gennadius (John), his library, 173

Gibson-Craig (James T.), his library, 171, 175

Godolphin (John), sale of his library, 109

Goldsmith (Oliver):
Sale of his library, 138
‘Vicar of Wakefield,’ 247

Gordon (Sir Robert), Gordonstoun library, 156

Gosford (Earl of), his library, 170, 175

Gosset (Isaac), his library, 155

Gough, Richard:
His library, 152
‘Sepulchral Monuments,’ 245

Gramont Memoirs, published price, 97

Grangerising, 250

Greenhill (Thomas), sale of his library, 108

Greenwood (Jonathan), auctioneer, 43

Gringoire, ‘Les Fantasies de Mere Sote,’ 242

Grolier, specimens of binding from his library, 251

Guilford (Earl of), his library, 159, 175

Gulston (Joseph), sale of his library, 141, 166

Gurney (David), his library, 166

Hailstone (Edward), Walton Hall library, 173

Hakluyt’s ‘Navigations,’ 219

Halliwell-Phillipps (J. O.), his library, 177

Hamilton Palace MSS. sold to the German Government, 69, 169, 176

Hamilton’s (Duke of) library, 169, 175

Hampton (Lord), his library, 166

Hanrott (P. A.), his library, 160, 175

Hardwicke (Lord Chancellor), his library, 172

Harleian MSS. bought for the British Museum, 12

Harley library bought by T. Osborne, 13, 30

Harriot (T.), ‘Merveilleux et estrange Rapport,’ 219

Hartley (Leonard L.), his library, 171, 175

Haslewood (Joseph), his library, 160

Hawkins (Rev. W. B. L.), his library, 174

Hearne (Thomas):
His remuneration, 15
Diaries sold for a hundred guineas, 129
Editions, original subscription, 101;
depreciation in price, 260

Heath (Rev. Benjamin, D.D.), his library, 152

Heathcote (Robert), his library, 148

Heaton (Beresford R.), his library, 174

Heber (Richard):
Collection of early sale catalogues, 112
Sale of his library, 160, 175

Henley (‘Orator’), sale of his library, 136

Henry VIII., Act respecting importation of books, 81

Hibbert (George), his library, 159

Hildyard (T. B. F.), his library, 174

Hill (Thomas), his library, 162

Hoare (Sir Richard Colt), his library, 170, 175

Holland (Henry):
‘Basili?logia,’ 249
‘Her?ologia,’ 249

Holmes’s ‘Life of the Queen,’ enhanced price, 102

Homerus (1488), 186

Homer’s ‘Iliad’:
MS., 68
Subscription for Pope’s translation, 101
‘Batrachomyomachia’ (1486), sold in Maittaire’s library, 133

Hope (Adrian), his library, 174

Hopetoun (Earl of), his library, 172

Horatius (1470), 186;
printed by Didot (1799), on vellum, 248

Home (Rev. T. Hartwell) on MSS., 53

Howell (John), auctioneer, 119

Hunt’s (John) inventory of books (1483), with prices, 84

Hunter (John), his library, 155

Hurd (Philip), his library, 159

Hutchinson (Joshua H.), his library, 173

Illustrated books, 249, 250

Italian classics, 190

Jacomb (Dr. Thomas), sale of his library, 118

James I. as a book collector, 6

Jersey (Earl of), Osterley Park library, 171, 175

Johnson (Dr. Samuel):
His work on the ‘Bibliotheca Harleiana,’ 31
English Dictionary, published price, 96
Sale of his library, 141

Johnson’s (Michael) address prefixed to an auction catalogue, 46

Jonson’s (Ben) Works, 221

Junot (Marshal), his library, 156

Justinus (1470), 186

Juvenalis et Persius, 187

Kidner (Thomas), sale of his library, 107

Kirton (Joseph), bookseller, ruined by the Fire of London, 28

Kloss (Dr.), his library, 161

Knight (Charles), pioneer in the cheapening of good literature, 28

‘Knocks-out,’ dishonesty of, 124

Lacy’s (T. H.) stock, sale of, 176

Laing (David), his library, 165, 175

Lakelands library, 173, 176

Lang (Andrew) on collecting as an investment, 20

Langford, auctioneer, 137

Lansdowne (Marquis of), sale of his library, 150;
MSS., 137, 150

Larking (J. Wingfield), his library, 173

Larpent (Baron), his library, 174

Lawrence (Edwin H.), his library, 173

Leicester (Eleanor de Montfort, Countess of), pocket lectionary
made for her (1265), 57

Leland (John) saved MSS. from destruction, 55

Libraries of the Middle Ages, destruction of, 5

Libri sales, 164, 175;
collection of MSS., 71

Lilly’s stock, sale of, 176

Linschoten’s ‘Voyages,’ 219

Livius (1469), 187,
(1470) 187

Lloyd (Bishop), sale of his library, 121

Lodge’s (T.) ‘Rosalynde,’ 219

Loggan’s ‘Oxonia,’ 95, 245;
‘Cantabrigia,’ 95, 245

Lok’s (H.) ‘Ecclesiastes,’ 219

London’s (William) ‘Catalogue of Vendible Books,’ 93

Longus, ‘Pastoralia,’ on vellum, 248

Lort (Michael, M.D.), sale of his library, 144

Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria, specimens of binding from their
library, 252

Lucanus (1469), 187

Lucianus (1496), 188

Lyte (Rev. H. F.), his library, 163

Mackenzie (J. M.), his library, 172

Macready (W. C.), his library, 165

Madan (Falconer):
Account of the Thomason Civil War Tracts, 6
Account of an historical mass-book, purchased for the Bodleian
Library at a cheap price, 76
His edition of Dorne’s Day-Book, 84
On cost of MSS., 59
On collections of MSS., 67 (_note_)

Madox’s (Thomas) ‘History of the Exchequer,’ 14

Maitland (Dr. S. R.) on prices of books in the Middle Ages, 53, 58

Maittaire (Michael), sale of his library, 132

Malmesbury MSS. destroyed, 54

Malone (Edmond), his library, 157

Manton (Thomas), sale of his library, 108

Manuscript books, prices of, 49-78

Manuscripts in public libraries, 67 (_note_)

Marche (Richard du), illuminator, 57

Margaret (St.) of Scotland, her historical mass-book, 77

Marguerite de Montmorency, specimen of binding from her library, 252

Marguerite de Valois, specimen of binding from her library, 251

Marshall (Frank), his library, 172

Martialis (1471), 188;
‘Apud Vindelinum Spirensem,’ sold in Maittaire’s library, 134;
original MS. copies of epigrams, sold for 3s. 6d., 1

Mason (George), his library, 145

Maunsell’s (Andrew) Catalogue of English Books, 90

Mead (Richard, M.D.), sale of his library, 134, 139

Meredith’s (George) Poems, 258

Merly library, 155, 175

Mezeray, ‘Histoire de France,’ 262

Middleton (Prof. J. H.) on MSS., 51, 58, 61, 63, 78

Millington (Edward), auctioneer, 37, 113, 117;
elegy, 40

Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ 219;
published price, 96;
‘Comus,’ 220;
Poems, 220

Minsheu’s Dictionary, published by subscription, 100

Molière’s Works, published price, 99

Monasteries as producers of books, 2

Money, change in the value of, as a factor in the prices
of books, 50, 63

Monnier, specimens of his binding, 254

Moore’s (Bishop) library, 10;
epigrams on its presentation to Cambridge University, 11

Moore’s (Thomas) Poems, profitable sale, 96

More (Sir William) of Loseley, his library, 87

Morris’s (William) Kelmscott Press publications, 247, 258;
his collection of illuminated MSS., 73

Nassau (George), his library, 158

Niccolo Niccoli, book collector, 64

Nicholl (J. B.), his library, 165

Nichols’s ‘Leicestershire,’ 245

Nicol (George), bookseller, 34

Noailles (Comte de), his library, 161

North (John), his library, 158, 175

Ogilby’s (John) lottery of books, 94

Oliver (Mrs. Elizabeth), sale of her library, 119

Omar Khayyam, translated by Fitzgerald, 103

Orford (Earl of), his library, 174

Ormerod’s ‘Cheshire,’ 246

Osborne (Thomas), bookseller, 13
Purchase of the Harley library, 30
Charge of over-pricing the books unjust, 32

Ouvry (Frederick), his library, 169

Ovidius, 188

Oxford, book-sales at, 38

Paine (Cornelius), his library, 172

Paper, deterioration of, 24

Papillon’s (David) purchase of books, 13

Paris de Meyzieux, sale of his library, 142

Pastissier (Le) François (1655), 242

Paston (John), books sold by his executors to King’s Hall, Cambridge, 56

‘Paston Letters,’ extracts from, respecting cost of MSS., 60, 61

Patents for books, 89

Paterson (Samuel), auctioneer, 44, 136, 137, 138, 140, 148

Payne (J. T.), his library, 165

Payne (Roger), specimen of his binding, 254

Payne (Thomas), bookseller, 33

Payne & Foss’s stock, sale of, 176

Pearson (Major Thomas), sale of his library, 142

Pellet (Dr. Thomas), sale of his library, 131

Penn (Granville), his library, 164

Penrhyn (Lord), his library, 152

Pepys (Samuel):
On the increased price of books after the Fire of London, 28
Subscriber to Ogilby’s lottery, 94
Original published price of the Diary, 97

Perkins (Frederick), his library, 172

Perkins (Henry), his library, 165, 175

Perrault, ‘Contes de ma Mere Loye,’ 242

Petrarca, 191;
‘Opere’ (1514), 143;
his library, 54

Phillipps (Sir Thomas), his collection of MSS., 73, 174

‘Philobiblon,’ editions of, 3

Pickering (William), his private library, 164, 175

Pinelli library, 142

Pitt (Moses), 110

Plato (1513), 188

Plautus (1472), sold in Maittaire library, 134

Plays, published price of, 96

Plinius, 188

Plot’s ‘Oxfordshire,’ 246;
‘Staffordshire,’ 246

Poems printed in quarto, 96

Pole (Sir W.), his library, 174

‘Poliphili Hypnerotomachia,’ 191

Pollard (Alfred W.):
On collecting as an investment, 20
On English book-sales, 106

Pope’s ‘Essay on Man,’ on vellum, 249

Porson (Richard), his library, 152

Price (Sir Charles), his library, 165

Prices:
Vicissitudes of, 16
Causes of increase of price, 18, 21
Cautions respecting price, 263, 264
Depreciation, 262, 263
Of early printed books, 179-192
Of early English literature, 193-222
Of Shakespeare’s Works, 223-240
Of various classes of books, 241-264
County histories, 244-246
English classics, 246, 247
Books on vellum, 247-249
Illustrated books, 249, 250
Bindings, 250-255
Early editions of modern authors, 255-262

Prust (John), Canon of Windsor, 58

Psalmanazar’s (George) ‘Formosa,’ published price, 98

Published prices, 79-103

Publishers and stationers, 27

‘Purchas his Pilgrimes,’ price, 94, 220

Putnam (G. H.), his works on the history of bookselling, 26, 79

Puttick & Simpson, auctioneers, 47

Quaritch (Bernard), 21, 36;
his remarkable catalogues, 36;
catalogues of MSS., 68

Quintilianus (1470), 189

Ranew (Nathaniel), auctioneer, 110

Ratcliffe (John), sale of his library, 139

Rawlinson (Richard), sale of his library, 135

Rawlinson (Thomas), sale of his library, 126, 128

Reed (Isaac), his library, 152

Rees’s ‘Cyclopædia,’ published price, 97

Reid (H. G.), his library, 173

Revicksky’s (Count) library bought by Lord Spencer, 15

Reynbold (John), scribe, 59

Rhodes (Hugh), ‘Boke of Nurture,’ 220

Richard III., Act respecting importation of books, 81

Ricraft’s ‘Oriental Languages,’ 220

Rodd (Thomas), bookseller, 34

Rogers (Thorold) on the prices of books, 55, 86

Roscoe (William), his library, 157

Rose (J. Anderson), his library, 173

Rossetti (Dante G.), ‘Sir Hugh the Heron,’ 258

‘Roxburghe Ballads,’ 142

Roxburghe sale, an epoch in book collecting, 17, 147, 153, 175

Ruskin’s (John) plea for the purchase of the Hamilton MSS., 69;
his Works, 259

Russell (Rev. J. F.), his library, 171

Russia, libraries in, bought by the yard, 14

‘St. Albans, Chronicle of,’ 214;
‘Boke of,’ 215

St. Paul’s Cathedral library, loss of MSS., 6

Sallustius (1470), 189

Salmond (W. D.), his library, 172

Sangar (Gabriel), sale of his library, 110

Scot’s ‘Discoverie of Witchcraft,’ 220

Scott’s (Sir Walter) Novels, 261;
published price of his Poems, 96

Seaman (Lazarus), sale of his library, 105

Seillière (Baron), his library, 171, 175

Selsey (Lord), his library, 165

Shakespeare’s Works:
Prices of, 223-240
First folio, 223-229
Second folio, 230-232
Third folio, 232
Fourth folio, 233
Separate plays, 234-239
Published price of separate plays, 94-96
Poems, 239, 240

Shelley’s Poems and Prose Treatises, 259

Shrewsbury (Earl of), his library, 164

Silius Italicus (1471), 189

Smalridge (George), ‘Auctio Davisiana,’ 37

Smith (Consul Joseph), his library bought by George III, 136;
his second library sold by auction, 136

Smith’s (Capt. J.) ‘Virginia,’ 221

Smith (Richard), sale of his library, 113

Smollett’s ‘History of England’ published by subscription, 102

Solly (Edward), his library, 171

Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, auctioneers, 47

Southby (T. H.), his library, 172

Spencer (Earl), purchase of Revicksky and Cassano libraries, 15;
sale of Althorpe library, 16

Spenser’s ‘Faerie Queene,’ 221

Stanley (Colonel), his library, 154

Stationers in the time of Henry VIII., 80

Stationers’ Company, 89

Steevens (George), his library, 148

Stevens (Henry), 21

Stourbridge Fair, sale of books there, 117

Stourhead heirlooms, 170, 175

Stowe collection of MSS., 70

Strawberry Hill sale, 162

Stuart (William), his library, 174

Sullivan (Sir Edward), his library, 172, 176

Sunderland library, 12, 166, 175

Sussex (Duke of), sale of his library, 162, 175

Sykes (Sir Mark Masterman), his library, 158, 175

Syston Park library, 170, 175

Talleyrand (Prince), his library, 156

Taylor (Baron), his library, 164

Taylor (George Watson), his library, 158

Tennyson’s Poems, 260

Thackerayana, 261

Thackeray’s Novels, 255

Thomas (Ernest) on Richard de Bury, 3

Thomas, the limner, 60

Thomason’s (George) Collection of Civil War Tracts, 6-9

Thorold (Sir J. H.), Syston Park library, 170, 175

Thoroton’s ‘Nottinghamshire,’ 246

Thorpe (Thomas), bookseller, 34;
his catalogues, 35

Thuanus, specimens of binding from his library, 251

Tite (Sir William), his library, 165, 175

Tooke (J. Horne), his library, 155

Toovey’s stock, sale of, 176

Towneley (John), his library, 155;
drawings, &c., 155

Towneley Hall library, 170;
MSS., 170

Townshend (Marquis of), his library, 154

‘Tristan,’ 192

Trithemius, his objections to printing, 66;
scolds his monks, 66

Turner (Dawson), his library, 164

Turner (R. S.), his library, 172, 176

Utterson (E. V.), his library, 164

Valerius Maximus (1471), 189

Vellum, books printed on, 247-249

Vespasiano di Bisticci, book producer, 64

‘Vigilles des Mors,’ 192

Vincent (Dr.), his library, 156

Virgilius, 189

Vossius (Isaac), sale of his library, 12

Walford (B.), auctioneer, 118

Walpole’s (Horace) ‘Castle of Otranto,’ on vellum, 249;
‘Hieroglyphic Tales,’ 244;
library, 162

Walton (Brian), Bishop of Chester, sale of his library, 117;
his Polyglot Bible published by subscription, 100

Walton’s ‘Angler,’ published price, 98;
present price, 247

Wanley (Humphrey) on the sale of Bridges’ library, 130

Warwick (Earl of), sale of his library, 110

Way (G. L.), his library, 166

Weever’s ‘Funeral Monuments,’ 221

West (James), sale of his library, 137;
his MSS. sold to Lord Shelburne, 137

Willett (Ralph), Merly library, 155, 175

Wills (Howard), his library, 173

Wimpole library, 172

Wodhull (Michael), his library, 171, 175

Wolf (John), a pirate bookseller, 89

Wood’s ‘Essay on Homer,’ 254

Woodhouse (John), his library, 149

Wordsworth’s ‘Excursion,’ published price, 97

Worsley (Benjamin), sale of his library, 109

Wren (Sir Christopher), sale of his library, 132

Wycliffe, unique tracts, 221

York (Duke of), his library, 159

Young (Alexander), his library, 172

THE END

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.

Edinburgh & London

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note:

Punctuation in the text has been standardised, and typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and obsolete or variant spelling have all been preserved.

Superscripted characters are preceded by the ^caret symbol.