Prices of Books Part 29

_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.

_Sh.e.l.ley._--The early editions of Sh.e.l.ley?s Poems and Prose Treatises were amongst the first of this cla.s.s 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 ??dipus 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 Sh.e.l.ley.

_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.

_d.i.c.kens._--?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 d.i.c.kens,? 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 Sn.o.b,? 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.sics 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 Glas...o...b..ry,? 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.

THE END