Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-06-03
A FEATURE OF WASHINGTON.
The Big Business Done By the Second -yra,.,
Book Stores ofthe Capital.
Cleveland Leader

Book Stores Of the Capital
Cleveland Leader
The secondhand book stores OF wo.l
ington are curious feature of tha ~.
writes Carp in the Leader There ~
number Of them, some Of which do "a
mess of tens of thousands of dollars ,sas
Is. Smaller ones you will find in ont-of
the-way places scattered here and tbs,e
and in any one of these you NAV Inn
many valuable and rare books. Onen.a.
the treasury has the rooms of a four-stor,y
brick building lined with books Fnto.
ing its ground floor is like going int.
large public library, where the books ara
classified by subjects, and where Won cam
find almost anything you want. Youmay
ask for q set Of the congressional debate
from the beginning of the government
until to-day. and it viii be furnished Vim
It viii comprise several hundred volumes
and its price viii be $500, You take vonr
purchase to your home and Look over II
and your mind goes back to the times NJ
the past as you read the curious MARGINAL
notes which You may find in some of the
volumes, and look at the various apto-
graphs Inscribed on the fly leaves Of 9th.
ers.
These books have been gathered from
all quarters of the country. One volume
may have belonged to Andrew jackson
and you see his dashing autograph ontbe
title page. Another may have come from
Stephen A.. Douglas library, and insmanv
cases you will find books from the collec-
tions of Carroll. of Carrollton, and other
men whose autographs have now mer-
camille value.
The state department paid SD 80 alta
book auction, not long ago, for an altman
ac, and it would have readily given Sl00
for 1t. 1t was one that Jefferson had us
ed, and it contained many notes in Jeffer-
sons handwriting upon its pages This
almanac was a part of a Virginia collec-
ton made by Mr.. Shouey, ono of the stem,
ographers Of the senate, and the second
hand book man of whom Shouev bought
the almanac tells me he sold it TO him for
81. This man has a shop near the post
Office department, and while / was buying
a book of him yesterday | talked with
him about his trade. Said he: Second
hand book selling is a curious business.
and TO the careful dealer there is money
in it. Books huctuate in value according
to the demands Of the times; and one to-
day which will not bring 10 cents may
tomorrow be worth as many dollars. ANY
thing rare comes high, and the springing
up Of interest in the old congressional
questions brings the literature of the
times when they were formerly discussed
into the market. just before the Gar
field campaign, began book collector
named Parish had room full Of Credit
MObilier reports which he was thinking
g. coll 10 IA ~.
field was nominated, the question was
brought into the canvas, and he sold them
for several dollars apiece. Just now al
reports and speeches relating to the sill
yer question are of value, and some old
reports which we invoiced as nothing
bring several dollars a copy.
Here for instance is a valuable book
continued the antiquarian as he picked
up a volume of about one hundred pages
bound in leather.
1T is worth $50 dollars at auction. and
it is a government document too. Itisa
report ON the Alaskan islands by Henry
w Elliot, and it contains many fine
sketches. Only seventy five of these
books were printed and it is almost i'm
possible 10 procure one of them
"What class of people collect bookss"
[ asked, "and what are their hobbies?"
They are mostly scholars and readers,
though, indeed. now and then you viii
find some ignorant fellow who cares for
the binding more than the contents, and
not few people buy books for the pic
lures that are in them rather than the
reading. There are many picture col
lector5 in Washington, and in some cases
| find that il pays better to tear a book to
pieces and sell its engravings by the
piece. People who would not give me 50
cents piece for the volume will pay five
cents piece for the twenty or more en-
cravings which it contains. A great many
men buy old magazines for the pictures,
and | have large sale of Harper's and
Scribner's on this account They take
the full page pictures from these maya
zines and cut off the white margin to
whore the engraving begins, They then
mount this engraving on cardboard as
carefully as the mounting Of a photo
graph, and at a very small expense pro
cure choice collections of engraviugs.
The world has never surpassed the mag
azine illustration of to-day, and you may
find genius lurking in many of the pic
lures of an out-of-theway periodical.
"MauT men collect books on special
objects. There are a number of epicuEes
in Washington, who want everything We
can find ON wines and gastronomy. The
man to whom ] sold JeifersOns almanac
took for one year everything on Virginia,
and at another time he made a specially
of whist collections, and bought every
book that related to whist OF whist play
ers. Old county histories sell well here at
Washington, and state historical collec-
tions bring more than when they were
first printed. All branches of Americans
sell well, and, indeed, if you keep any
kind of a book for a number of years
you are sure to find a buyer In the end
Speaking of secondhand book stores.
Washington has many book auctions
every winter, and very valuable collec-
ton is TO be sold during the present sea
son in the shape of the books of the late
ex-Goy. Thomas BARLEY, of Ohio. Bart
ley was a great collector, and he had IL
brary of choice volumes running into the
thousands.
Such book auctions are always held IN
the evening, and you may find supreme
court judges, senator's. congressman and
Iitarotaur yniyed nm in the crowds which