Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-08-08
A Twenty thousand Dollar Copy of the Bible.

Twenty Thousand Dollar Copy of the Bible
What do our readers think of S2I 400 a.
the price Of a single copy ola printed book
That sum, which is said to be the highes
price ever paid for single volume, wa
bid and paid at the great Perkins sale o.
rare books, at Haworth Park, near London,
on the 9th of June inst The whole salC
was very remarkable one 1t was the sale
Of portion Of the library of the late Hen
~ Perkins. who was in his lifetime a mem
Der Of the great firm Of Barclay, Perkin.
x Co, brewers, Of London. His library
which was a collection Of bibliographieal
curiosities, whose value lies in their age and
rarity rather than a library, Is said to have
cost him SlOO,O 600 At the sale, winch
lasted four days. SIS . lots were put up,
at auction and brought about f26, 600 or
Sl36, 600. the largest sum ever realized for
such a quantity of books. The book which
brought the immense sum we have men
toned, was a copy Of the Mazarin Bible.
We copy an interesting description of the
book, and Of the sale from a letter from Mr..
G. W Smalley, the London correspondent
of the ". J. Tri5uRc.
LONDON, June 6.-ln all the annals Of
Biblio mainland they are numerous
there Is nothing to equal the last days sale
of the Perkins Library. Never before was
there a sale in which 50 few books brought
ten thousand pounds ESQ, 000) were bid in
a single day, never one in which, on the
same day, there came to the hammer the
four Shakespeare folios and two copies of
the Mazarin Bible The first Shakespeare
folio in fine condition, as this was, Is of it.
self enough to give celebrity TO any sale,
but to-day it has been almost lost sight OF
in the splendor of two inc0mparably more
precious volumes. Probably in no private
library were two copies of the Marazin
Bible ever before united, certainly never be-
fore was any copy, whether on vellum or
paper, Soda such price as these fetched
to-day. More than this. Never before to-
day has any printed book been sold for 50
much as the least Of these two. Never but
once has any printed book brought half 50
much.
The characteristic Of the present period
is the dearness of all. Good books. of no
matter what description, bring, if good.
such prices as were never before dreamed
of. Manuscripts, incunabula. early printed
books of the sixteenth century, early Eng
fish and French, Italian and even Spanish
poety and romances, Psalters. service-books.
Aldines and Elzevirs, Books of Hours.
whether Ms. or printed, books owned bv
famous men or women or from famous Il
braries, books from the collections Of Gro
lier, de Thou, Longepierre, from kings H.
brarles or their mlstresses. books with
really fine illustrations, especially of the
eighteenth century, books relating to
America, the whole catalogue of early
Shakespeares, and Elizabethan-dramatic
literature and poetry in general, and lastly
books remarkable solely for their bindings.
are sought after with an avidity unsurpass-
ed in any days, and prices are paid for them
which would have prevented the formation
of most or all of the great collections of
former days.
the fact that the copy first known TO tiblio-
graphers was discovered in the library Of
Cardinal Mazarin. 1t has the do,Ible dis
tinction of being, probably, the rst edition
Of the Latin Bible. and the first b ,ok nrint-
ed with metal types by Cutie nberG and
Faust. As il has no date 1.-THE first edition
with a date is 1902, Ethe yea of il mo-
iuction can only be stated COZ liecturaUy a.
not earlier than 1850, nor 10 Ter than ii55
However, there can be little dopbt thar mis-
book was printed at Mayer ee. and we have
The usual roundabout te ii, nonv thar before
the sheets were worked off the cost of If had
reached 1000 forins, Whether on paper
n on vellum. II Is one of the finest books
md rarest IN the Worl ID. and one of the
NEST as well a. earlles. specimens of print
rg. One can almost agree with the cata-
oguer that II cont emplating this work.
he mind Is lost IN asi enlistment that the in
..entors OF printing should, by a single eff |
ort, have exhibited the perfection of their
Lrt.''
The book Is IN two volumes folio (but the |
euum copies are p rinted on single. unfold- |
d sheets, printed in double columns of A |
ines each. exceptI Y the first eight. which |
ave 40. and the NTH and tenth which /
ave Al. 1t | rig htly understood Sir. Hem
y Steven, the eopies on yellum differ from
he copies on pap er 10 such an extent that
hey are really two different editions the
lumber OF lines on the pages varying in the
wo, ana II e setting up showing other va-
latons. The types employed are manifest
J cast IN imitation Of the letters designed
y the critters ofthe missals and other books
i church service. Of the two Perkins
opes, had an opportunity to examine
My that on vellum. Whether the finest in
xEtence or not, 1t Is ar extraordinarily
,ood example. II formerly constituted.
avs the catalogue, the chief ornament and
,lory OF the Library Of the University of
lentz, whence 1t was obtained BY MessrS.
'icol. Dlbdin says it then wanted two
caves, which were supplied by Whitaker in
ae-slmlle- The catal0guer admits that he
as found one doubtful leaf, but has quite
Alled to discover tbs second. One missing
cal Is quite enough 70 destroy all claim OF
ms copy TO ne considered perfect | do
ot know on what authority it is stated
hat =" not one Of the five known comics are
siieued to be perfect To begin with.
here are seven known copies on vellum- in
tead of five. | cannot at the moment rafer
henouard' catalogue, but | don't think
II OF the seven are known or believed IN he
npetiect. In other respects, the Perkins ;
opy Is really 50 magnificent as to make its !
ngle deficiency all the more deplorable In
Ieasures 10! inches by %. and its edges
re IN many places the actual edge of the
I'm. Mr.. Stevens called my attention TO a
ONT That not even the zeal of the catalo- f
uer had discovered, viz, that even the q
holes are not trimmed off. Ii has a 4
ank leai AT the beginning of Vol. land b
le general condition of the vellum is ex- q
llent, or II the purchaser will only wine 7
with silk handkerchief the prenara- u
on with which some superservicea he re- #
rer mas smeared the vellum to make If G
ok white and pure The ink is brilliant
e impression beautifully sharp. and clear h
Is a monument OF Typography. vet to one | d
no cares for printing the copy on paper i a
more desirable book At the latter / had n
ny glance, but, in the first place. if is n,
solutely perfect, and in the second ali m
llum printing Is a struggle with needless M
neuItles, and the best impression can II
rdly equal the best on paper. Every II
ok iancier knows the difficulty of eettin5 f
book, and especially any modern hook a
'ellum IN a good state. The register Of u
paper copy of the Mazarin Bible is ner- :,
1, while in the yellum copy almost every a
ier page Is uneven. There are 20 copie I
existence on paper, of which oneat lea = u
, N America, IN the Knox library, bon ,bt a
him long ago for $500. SUI
But there they were. Be thei.. mer;.+s t
ec'S what they might, they re a m ,tcb- 4
; BAR pair' ana yhody who " anteda Naza- j
pl"le knew that ehoic betwef n two II
In wa r mo' likely to o. cur agar IN his il
,.l.T me Eellum q py was put up at v
:, ooo n''nutes pase FIVE, and was start p
low =, p;... inSas Dl Mr. Toovey, a book q
$40 "a ety Ihe second bid was al
I ~; and third II 400. and they advan me- tt
y, on, S.. LesaiS5rly nd rapidly by steps of h
on NJ I'm vi ne book stood at e2.4O0. II
! be- - -. Us % T., 500. From this time J
wSe'I l Tere ~ two competitors. In that hi
mi. there remained nobody but Sc
ion an NJ ~ ar, rooyey to contest its pos,
i N -, bidding rose steadily and al
! ~ 1854. 80: pause by hundreds to "a 100.
= II :, nio : little more slowly To "a % 90
- 80 ~aS M roovey's offer. Mr. F1i;s q,
- 10 10 advance. refused. The anoi
AZ ~ hammer swung in the air ms, ~
y fall as he changed his mind on si :,
800 Mr.. Toovey again added 81
;, Mr. Ellis slowly said 3.40O ",
=