The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1886-06-03
A FEATURE or WASHINGTON.
The Zig Business Done by the Second
Hand Book stores of the Capital.

liz OOOh oNOLSo VI
inoton are 4 curious feature of the city,
writes Carp in the Celreland Leader.
There are a number of them, some OF
which do a business of tens of thou
sands of dollars yearly. Smaller mes
you will find in ou~t-of-the-way places
scattered here and there. and in any
n of these you may buy many valu-
able and rare books. One near the
treasury has the rooms of a four-story
brick building lined with books. En-
tering its ground floor is like going into
q large public library, where the books
are classified by subjects, and where
you can find almost anything you want.
You may ask for a set of the congress
sional debates; from the beginning of
the government until to- day, and it will
be furnished you. 1t will comprise sew
eral hundred volumes, and its price
| will be $500. You take your purchase
to your home and look over it, and
your mind goes back to the times of
the past as you read the curious mar
g.nal notes which you may find in some
Of the volumes, and look ut the various
autographs inscribed on the ~tly-leaves
Of others. These books have been gath
cred from all quarters of the country.
One volume may have belonged to An
drew Jackson, and you see his dashing
autograph on the title-page. Another
may have come from Stephen A. Doug
las library, and in many cases. you will
find books from the collections of Car
roll, of Carrollton, and other men
whose autographs have now q mercan-
5ile vlue.
The state department paid S22.50 at
a book auction. not long ago, for an
almanac, and it would have readily
given 800 for it. 1t was one that JEFF
'erson had used, and it CON
aimed many notes in Jefferson's hand
writing upon its pages. This almanac
was a part of aVirginia collection made
by Mr.. Shouey, n OF the stenograph-
RS of the senate, and the secondhand
book man of whom ShOuey bought the
almanac said he sold it to him for 81.
This man has 4 shop near the postof1ice
department., and while | was buying a
book of him yesterday | talked with
him about his trade. Said he: "Sec-
ond-hand book selling is Il curious bust
ness, and to the careful dealer there is
money in it. Books ~tiuctuate in value
according TO the demands of the times,
and one to-day which will not bring 10
cents may tomorrow be worth rs many
dollars. Anything rare comes high,
md the springing up of interest in the
nd congressional questions brings the
literature of the times when they were
formerly discussed into the market.
Just before the Garfield campaign be-
Gcan Il book collector named Parish, had
a OOm full of Credit MObilier reports
winch he was thinking of selling to the
waste-paper nan Garfield was NOM
mated. The question was brought
INTO the canvass. and he sold them for
several dollars apiece. Just now all
reports and speeches relating to the sill
yer question are of value. and some old
reports which we inyoiced at nothing |
bring several dollars 4 copy.
Here, for instance. is u valuable
book" continued the antiquarian Us he
picked up Il volume of about one hun
'lred pages bound in leather. 1T is
worth $50 at auction, and it is Il gov
eminent document too. 1t is 4 report
on the Alaskan islands, by Henry w.
elliott, and it contains many fine
sketches. Only scventv-five of these
books were printed, and it is almost
impossible TO procure them"
"What class of people collect books?"
[ asked. land what are their hobbies?:"
"Ihey are mostly scholars and read
ais, though. indeed now and then YOU
will find some ignorant fellow who
cares for the binding more than the
O%ntents, and not Il few people buy
books for the pictures that are in them
than the reading. There are
many picture collectors in Washing
Ion, and in some cases l find that it
DAYS better to tear Il book to pieces and
sell its ~engravings by the piece. Peo-
pie who would not give me 80 cents for
volume will pay 3 cents apiece for
he twenty or more engraVings which it
contains. A great many men buy old
magazines for the pictures, and | have
large sale of Harpcr's and Scribner'S
ON this account. They take the full
page pictures from these magazines
and cut off the white margin to where
engraving begins. They then
mount this engraving upon cardboard
as carefully as the mounting of a pho
and at 4 very small expense
procure choice collections of engrav-
rngs. The world has never surpassed
;he magazine illustration of to-day, and
you may find genius lurking in many
Of the pictures of an out-of-the-way pc
MANY men collect books on special
There are a number of cpl
cures in Washington, who want every
hing we can find on wines and gas
troHomy. The man to whom | sold
Jeflerson's almanac took, for one year,
everything on Virginia. and at another
he made a speciality of whist col
Iections, and bought every book relat-
NC to whist OF whist players. Old
county histories sell well here at Wash
and state historical collections
more than when they were first
All branches of Americana
well. and, indeed, if you keep any
kind of book for a number of years YOU
are sure to find a buyer in the end"
Speaking of secondhand hook stores.