The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1879-01-30
London Correspondence y. y Tnbune.l
4 Grpat Library In the Hands Of q
Woman.

hear that The library of The late
Mr.. Henry Huth has been left absO-
lutely To his widow. What she will
do with it is question of public in
tereSt. Among collections formed
during this generation il mas few
rivals. In mere magnitude if is some
thing To wonder at. Mr.. Huth had
been a buyer all his life long. He had
ample means and much knowledge.
They say it was his habit to look into
three or four bOOkshOps every after
noon on his way from the city to his
house in the West End. Not long be-
fore his death it occurred TO him
TO ascertain what his hooks had
cost him. lie had kept every bill.
Added up, they came to the enormous
sum of fIlT,OOO-nearly SGOO,OOO
Many library, nevertheless, SurpaSSes
Mr.. lIuth'S in number. What his Ii
bTary IS the most remarkable for is the
rarity and condition of its treasures.
1t is in some respects an almost match
less collection of literary bric-a-brac, a
phrase which | am far from using dis
respectfully. Mr.. Huth had the repu-
tatiOn of being willing to pay any
price for good thing. But | have
heard stories, which show that he was,
sometimes, at least, too Shrewd for the
booksellers who lay in wait for him.
They used to compete reckleSSly with
each other at auctions when some rare
edition was Offered that it was thought
would hit Mr.. Huth's fancy. The
book would be run up TO five times its
value solely with view to its re-pur-
chase by Mr.. lIuth, land the profit TO
he made out of him. The next time he
came into the shop the prize was dis
PLAYED 10 him with the remark: !:
There, Mr.. Huth, is the uncHt copy Of
the first edition (Elorence) of Homer
for which your have been waiting so
long" .'Oh, no" was the answer, Il
nave an uncut copy; it is copy on
Yellum | want" So the too specula-
tive bookseller would be left with a
book on his hands which he would
have to DISPOSE of at its market price,
with 4 heavy loss to pocket. His mis-
hap called for no sympathy. Mr..
Huth steered his way through the
traps laid for him with considerable
skill. He had the advantage of being
well read in three or four languages,
as we'll rs of minute knowledge in the
IldAl VI IlC
lived, moreover, during a period illus
trated by some of the greatest sales
that have ever been held. He had the
pick of the Daniel. the Libri. the Cor
ser, and many other famous assem-
blages of rare hooks. He bought pretty
indiscriminately, making sure that
the thing he bought was good i'm its
kind. | doubt whether he, or any 9TH
er hihliOphiie, reached the pOint of fas-
tidiOusnesS which the French pride
themselves on. But IT. stood as high
as any of his own cOuntrymen. His
widow, l am told, will have the cata-
lOgue on which he had long been EN-
gagged, completed, and will dispose of
the whole collection at some favorable
and hence rather diStant-time. Ii
seems a pity that il should he dispers-
ed, or that the British Museum should
not lie able to winnOw it and ill some
of the gaps on its shelves. II the au-
lhOrities had been willing TO accept it
as a whole and keep it together under
the maine of its owner, they might pos
sibly have had the whole But they
refuse bequests on such conditions,
and they thus lose many a good thing
they might come in for were they more
compliant to the whims of donors.