New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-03-09
CHARLES SUMMERS LIBRARY.
rr,v. cosr or I,ITERARY TASTES.

--.- ~, ~up apRAT SENATOR'S LIBRARY-HlS
vpsourSr USE OF PUBLIC coLLEcrioNs-EA-
~,,v.o.xr INDULGENCE OF BooK-LoVING
Observation-Disclosures OF THE BooKsfLLlNG
raArEitgIrY IN LONDON AND PARIS
s,,o,, TUE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIGUsE'l
IoSpov Feb. 23.-1he question which CORE
.nonaent lately asked you about Mr. Summers
I;,rarv is one to which several answers may oe
rven. ANYBODY who cares to know the factS may
consult among other sources OF truth, nrSt' inc
catalogue of Mr. Summers books sold In Boston ny
emotion by Messrs Leonard q Co., during the SUM
mar of 1876; second, the list or Ut. summer o0oh
In the possession of harvard College lssueu Wy MI
I,st;n wnsor the accomplished Librarian OF the
college. and making part OF the usefui Library
Bulletins which appear from time TO u'ne' MI
Sumner il reeollect rightly, peque'the" mo
libary to his Alma Mater rather left to her such
hooks as the authorities might care to keep with
,,erm,ssion TO sell the rest. They kept suppose
moh as they had no duplicates of. 1t was very
miscellaneous collection. What had been added 10
n aprlne the last years Of Mr.. Summers life was
aaded in obedience to one very definite principe;
priuciple not less convenient than dennite. was
with Mr. Sumner during much OF the t'inc nc 'P'N'
In London and Paris when he was last IN Europe'
In 1870. | spent many pleasant hours i'll MS coih'
many in some OF the chief bookshops OF those TWO
cities He said to me one day " make IL ruie
never to buy q useful book" 1t does not loilo"
that this had been his rule during all his Le. DuU
he explained it IN this way that De hau ava" Iva
had large public Liz rares at his command ana 'nos
aa;.bor ha nor any other private student coulu
.eora En- buv all the books he wanVed TO reIeI u.
c,o Nos the library of the Boston Athensuih, Oil
Harvard College. the Boston Public Library INC
Iibrary of Congrs IS. the Smithsonian Library anu
90 on Through ali these he was allowed 20 range
as ne liked and he never had the feeling WHICH leu
Mr. Ruskin TO declare, with his customary GIL
obasis that book which was worth reauinG was
worth buying. Mr. Sumner was perfectly cap'oio
At mastering q book not his own, or SO much OF IL
Ms suited his purpose at the moment ana 'heH sec
inc il pass from his hands without pang
Rut tor hooks which he cared for AS books-bo0Ks.
In Charles Lambs phrase which are books-he
cared very much indeed. He had to the 1uil inc
feeling of another eminent collector, MT. Henry
Ward Beecher, that there is no pleasure III lie
soual TO buying q book you cannot anord 10 o"y'
When Mr. Sumner was last here. his hnances-U IL
40 we'll known that there is no reason whV tic
matter should not be alluded to once more-wefe
not Ina fourlshiug condition. lie had suIhciehI
property and good income, but MS wants oubIan
bs means; and he looked to the proceeds Oh future
lectures to nay for the extravagances he was then
committing For he did buy eXtravagantly. lie
was far too much-or ttle-of the Grand selGnenr
In hasQle about prices UT even to refuse to pay
orice which he knew to he excessive; and which
ia some cases was enhanced by INSCRIPTIONS
dealers trading on his good faith said too lnuch
or too little of grgad 6egpeRr. III may DO taNeh
either way, but in this country OF hXed incomes
IRON Inherited property, the richest and MODEST
oraet,se a sort OF economy hardly known Iii
America among those who are the architects OF
tneir own fortunes. In respect of books and other
forms of brle-a-brac, there is nobody who makes
keener bargains than the titled or untitled possessor
of hereditary millions. once heard collector OF
limited means remark. as he turned over a book for
which he had paid large price " Ii were only a
Duke should get my books much cheaper"
THAI might have been said either here or in France.
There are no more careful buyers than the Duke
p,Au,uale and Baron James de ROthschild as there
are none who know more exactly what book Is
worth They both have priceless collections, and
they are both not Onlv buyers but sellers OF books
You might have seen not long ago. In the catalogue
of well known Paris dealer. copy OF the tlZcVlr
Horace of 1876 the edition most sought by cOIec-
tors. which was remarkable in that u mad rough
lrayes and had been sold-or to use tho potter
French word "ceded o-tO Mr.. Techener by the
Prince who owes his origin to King Louis Philippe
and much Of his fame to his library. The Duke
bad parted with this copy, which he had loug
owned and priced, because he had lately bought
ANNNN"
child sold to another Paris dealer the copy OF Mr.
ouaritchs General Catalogue which Mr. Quaritch.
with calculating generosity, had given him. The
Baron did not am bound to add, sell it in such
way or on such terms as to indicate desire to-
swell his fortune by the proceeds of Mr.. Quarltchs
beneyOlence. lie wanted to mark his contempt Tor
that heterogeneous list of printed merchandise as
biblioeraphcal publication. and he sold the book
which Mr. Quaritch ncltes tho public to purchase
at four guineas $500, for five francs t$ll Tho
obliging dealer took it at the Barons price, and
forthwith marked IT, in his own catalogue, sixty
francs (S12l, at which reduced price lt mad not
when last neard OF it found n purchaser 1t was
the wife OF this Barofs brother, perhaps cousin,
who said not long ago: What pity 1t Is was
not Brought mp dealer in bric-a brac: am sure
should have made fortune" remark uttered
apropos of some particularly clever bargain IN
which she had just outwitted ono of the pro
fessionals, presumably of her own taIth. IL has
occasionally happened to me TO lind myself III the
same bookshOp with the Baron, and to hear him
stop the owner of it in the midst of mis- geDuectlons
with an offer Of half the price he was demanding
for book Perhaps not many OF NJ. FOntaine's
customers would venture on 50 high-handed pro-
eeedng as that (fd NJ Fontalne, too. is great man
his wayl; and still fewer would get the book, as
the Baron did, at his own price. or near it, One of
AZ. Iontaine's rivals said to me not long ago
aThere are no more collectors; there is not one
customer Of mine who is not as much a mGrchGnd dc
trres as am. And there is no know book, on no
matter whose shelves, which yOu may not have at
price"
England could furnish not less striking instances
but not 20 make this parenthesls too long, q i'll
mention one only. The late Earl of Ashburnham
died possessed of an extraordinary collection Of
books. Among them was the Mazarin Bible on
yellum, bought for him ut the Perkins sale, on
commission, by a we'll known dealer, for CD, 100.
The Earl grnmbled a little at the price, but kept
the book as well he might. for it may he a century
before another copy occurs for SALE The sO-called