New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-08
BURGLARIOUS BOOK-LOVER.


The yaIue of old and rare books is beginning to
assert and prove itself despite those who sheer at
the collector and consider the virtuoso in rare and
early imprints to be a mailman When certain
thieves lay plans for their larceny and risk trans
portatOn for the sake of possessing them, the most
letterless man in Wall-st. will understand that the
yellum-bOnnd volumes really worth as much as
Government bonds or the most elegantly engraved
certificates of railway shares. Eyerybody-by
which We mean everybody who is anybody-has
heard Of the fine collection Mt Ashburnham Place at
Battle, in Sussex County, England the property of
tie Earl whose fathers gave Il name to that seat.
Into the library of that house on Thursday, OctO-
Der o. 1881, the spoller entered. From that Ii
brary he earned away nuggets Of the typographical
and Ms. sort, which it almost takes away ones
breath to think of-whole bags fuil, in fact of
things which the providers about New-Yorl
stalls and the patrons of New-York
booksellers have heard Of but never in
the profoundcst Of their rcveries have dreamed of
possessing As he entered, bent upon his nefarious
purpose. with sacks in his hands and with con-
vcnient carts waiting outside, only one brave man
confronted the wretch II was the foOtman-lt was,
not to put too fine point upon it. it was john
Thomas He was merely footman, but he was
footman who knew the worth of priRc,ps and the
costlincss maybe, Of the Vaidariar Boccacco. Offer
ing himself, legs and all, to the dcpredator for
which he deserves to be mmutably enshrincd and
pcrpetuatad in the designs of Du MaurIcr, n was
ruthlessly shot down and left wri5hing upon the
library floor His blood may have spattered the
Virgeus of Bart. Cremonn (1472l his powder, as
he fell, may have fallen upon CaNtOns or Frobeni-
uses or Stophenoses or the modest and shrinking
Ezeyirs. All honor to Jecms. He initiated better
than he knew, albeit in vain. He was recovering
WHEN last heard from. When he shall be better
may his coEyacscrncc be deemed worthy Of the
cAble
But who was it-that is what we would
like TO know-who was it who thus made
forcible entry and violated the penetralia
sacred TO scarciticsl There are men who, in spite
Of their noble knowledge and praiscworthy posses
sion of the greatest variety Of useless information
may be acquitted az once of suspicion. Our own
opinion. frankly expressed, is that Mr.. Bernard
Quaritch had nothing to do, either personally or by
deputy, with the transaction. The mon who might
have been honorably engaged in it-Ilcbcr and Nit
ford and John Hill Burton, to name no othcrs-are
dead and gone To place where, II there he any
editions they are older and scarcer than any terres
trial dcsiderlta. II could not be either Of these In
the nature of things, they stand. or rather their
memory does most hon,rably acquitted. How we
wish that we knew who It was who folonousy. bat
perhaps with the most generous sentiments in his
heart tried 10 possess hnselfofa few Of the Ahburn
ham rarit.es. Really poor fellow, he may not have
been much TO blame, after all. May he not have de-
sired one book, albeit many he may have taken
merely for the sake of covering his tracks Possibly
upon some long and lofty shelf. with hundred
less worthy less costly companions by this side OF
il the other there may have stood some little du
odecmo of indispensable rarity, for whose posses
sion this devoted collector may morning and even
ing have prayed, and without which his life prom
ised to be dark desolation and despair. II he went
for that precious volume yirtuosty in bis heart ard
a revolver in his hand shall we not pity and forgive
himf Alas! there are temptations too strong for
human resistance. We see our poor friend lettering
about the Ashburnham grounds. We hear him re-
with himself IN the most moral of 40
iloquics. We recognize the peadings of his better
nature: He looks like a clergyman in his venerable
black suit upon which the dust Of his library has
gathered He makes effort to depart innocent |
but il is a failure He hesitates and he is lost. The
hand which has so innoccntly turned the leaves OF
many blacs-cttcr volume becomes black itself |
with crime lie breaks in; he reaches the library;
he CAPTURES the book he shoots the footman; he il
III with the coveted volume and heaven grant that |
he may not, poor SOUL be caught and convicted!