New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-01-09
BOOK COLLECTING.
cATAIoCI-rS AND TRADE TERMS.

sPEClION ESSENTIAL IL BOOK-BUYING,
IrnoN THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIBUNE
LONDON Dee 2G.-Mr. Quartch, the well-known
bookseller in Piccadilly has published Supplement
10 the General Catalogue of Books which lie issued
in 1874. The general catalogue. though published
at something like a prchibitive price is known,
presume 10 the leading American collectors, II any
such there still be. The Supplement Is like unto IL
in form and bulk and the confusion of Its arrange
,nent is fer practical purposes sufficiently redeemed
bv an Index Mr. Quaritchs preface, in winch the
personality of the man peers out, tells us mat tls
supplement contains more than Z1.OOO mites WHICH
he estimates at $4,000 volumes. Inc Oehefa
Catalogue had nearly $4,000 titles, and together
Mr. ouaritch thinks they represent not much uhari
100000 volumes. OF this accumulaton-certalhiy
vast one even after due allowance for over caicl-
latious--Mr Quaritch speaks with natural prloe nc
pronounces il second to none offered for sale;
and this rather sweeping praise may be true OF some
portions of tho collection. {" SO extensive and con-
slant is the flow of new stock into my house, says
Mr. Quarltch that entreat all enthusiastic coiiec-
tors to call twice a week TO inspect my latest pur-
chascs MANY q rarity and many bargain are thus
secured" Rarties. yes but bargains The days
when bargains might be secured by the private
buyer are. i fear, over Mr.. Quarters ADVICE
moreover though il may be followed by the enthusi-
astc resident of London, cannot be followed by the
stranger, to whom this catalogue is NANNY au-
dressed. For him the crucial question Is: Oal
trust the descriptions in this cataogueT On the
answer to that depends the value Of the catalogue.
If must express an opinion on so delicate a qnes-
ton, l should begin by saying that 30 catalogue Is
perfectly Trustworthy. The percentage of inVoun-
ary errors is always considerable and booksellers
catalogue it is well TO bear iii mind is, after all, an
advertisement of the he has to sell, and VIII
repay reading with the caution which the expert
snced buver bestows on other advertisements. That
is true of all booksellers catalogues. As to MI.
Quartch's, Twill quote aremark which hnd IN the
recently published catalogue of one OF his french
comrades NJ. Morgand. very learned ana accom-
plished bookseller and photographer: An immense
catalogue one of the most important ever published
by bookseller containing, arec de remdrqadbits d.
,criptioas. most considerable and precious works"
This was said of the General Catalogue, and some
nf the descriptions in the Supplement are certainly
not less "remarkable.' Some of them | should
gay, had been composed in just that enthusiastic
state of mind which Mr. Quaritch desires 10
zee in the purchaser. In particulars 10 doubt,
he may urge, DESCRIPTION is a matter OF taste SucD
phrases as Every fine copy" "a copy IN the choicest
state" "a spendid specimen Of binding "a master
piece of Bedforls Skill" and the like, ought not to
mislead the wary purchaser. They may be, and Of
ten are accurate. They may be, on the other hand,
"enthuslastic; " representing more accurately Mr..
Ouaritch's eagemess to dispose of the book than
the impression 1t will produce on the mind OF one
who BUYS it without seeing it. Best edition., again.
is phrase which has come TO have a sort
of conventional meaning III the booksellers
mind 1t does not always mean the edition
which is best from literary point Of view, or best
printed or most priced by the collector but simply
that these words have been used before with refer
ence to this edition. and likely have been copied
III. 4 toto. N1,fy q
were perhaps when first used true, but have ceased
to be true, without ceasing, for that reason, to be
repeated. Scarce" very scarce" "rare,' ex-
tremely rare are words of common occurrence, but
of very uncertain Specification. book may be
scarce in England and common in France
scarce in America and easy 10 procure u
London. Mere difficulty in the imme
diate procurement of book does not
make il rare. II has been said by some writer on
books that a book which cannot readily be bought
NAV be called scarce but that is allowing too much
license. have known an artificial scarcity Of books
which were much reshed by the American buyer TO
be created. They could be bought cheapat any shop
III London, but the New York supply was KEEP; down,
and they were sold at exorbitant prices The price
was maintained the price of fish maintained in
London. by holding back supplies. No book ought
10 be labelled scarce of which a supply is readily
prOcurable in another country, whether II
be out of print or not. cont of print
means simply that the publisher of the book
has sold all his eOpes;to The retail bookseller II
NAV I've ont of ,prnt while half the counters in
London are burdened with IT. As for " rare books.
X may almost be said that nothing is as a
rare book OF, without ambiguity, that the number
of books really rare. in the photographed Of
the word is greatly inferior TO the number of books
which are described in booksellers cata-
logues Rarity in the genealogical sense, is
thing: rarity, in the photographed sense, is
other and very different thing. A book may be
really very difficult TO procure anywhere,
at any price, and yet not be rare. Be-
fore it is fairly entitled to that honorable
distinction. there must be somebody Who wants to
procure it. IL must be sought after There are
thousands and scores of thousands OF books which
have been published and forgotten. Some of them
reappear and then; they OF the very highest
degree Of rarity, but are sold for old paper at
much pound. Brunets definition is TO be kept in
mind q To merit the description rare, photograph
cally speaking, a book must, independently OF It's
well-ascertained rarity be or less sought for.
and therefore more or less valuable" And again:
a book may be rare without being valuable,
though il can hardly be truly valuable without
being rare and il is only the union of these two
conditions which make it altogether desirable
in the eyes of a delicate boOk-loyer"
| may be told that every collector understand all
this. which is possible enough But catalogues are
not published for collectors alone. They bear on
the face of theul abundant evidence that they
meant for buyers, who depend to a considerable ex
tent for their knowledge of the books they want
the catalogue itself. 1t is true, also, that no man
with much knowledge of books will be content with
the account he ends in a catalogue Very likely he
knows at once whether book is rightly described
as rare. or whether the edition is the best If not,