New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-06-01
THE LENOX LIBRARY.
AIR HENRY sTtNENs's KECOl.LECTIoNS of
IFS FOUNDER.

IT'S FOUNDER
LONDON Nav IL.
~ Henry S.evens's Recollccuons of Mr. James
80. NOW Published by bis son. ought to be well
CONC In New-Yorsers Mr.. Lenox himself was
I,,la known 10 most Of his fellow-'oW"S-
mo, who profit by bis splendid gift, ana
Mr. Henry Stevens is the one man ""o
knew more about tie Leuox Library no'
sbcnt Mr. Lcnox himself, than ANYBODY e's''
WHAT ne knew ne has now told IN tha' eosS'p'"
ovd npuca,t 81 vie not fsee from ina ccuIacicsw
nal.s I'll Mr. Stevenss writing such easy r'"''-
ing We see Nj. Lrnox amid his books very 'o
people in his lifetime did we s"e "-
corr ssnon acnce with Mr.. Stevens WI" i'' ''
wears aud more WAS his London agent "'o '',n' 80
NJ erdote eulivens these pages and many el''nPS0
:. -: sc ,,o escr.ts of book collecting. We see
nm, a,ch millionaire as he was, toiiihg ~ HIS
,os,,u,e making a business of pleasure, plodoihH
AWAY like "A booksellers clerk, colIatlhg' lnueAine'
catalocuinc sometimes bitterly complaining II
coveted rarity has escaped him. we may eve"
-. ,bot no i IN he sean reading his books. lie
rad cnouch of them to know the literature OF his
suhiect to know what he wanted ana "na' no
did not to know why particular doom
v.os valuable or perchance spite of its rarity val
uclcss TO him. Mr. Stevens wanted MIN 10 guy
Iudd's Speculi Ornis Descriptio." printed u. ~
n6 IN 15os small folio tract of ten leaves at 900.
an sort Of kew TO the Vespucci books ana the |os-
,,ocr.phi,r Introanctior Mr.. Lenox would none
oft After il had passed into the british Museum
Stevens who seems TO have enjoyed reinihuius III,
clients of their mistakes. tod MI LenoN wiiu ~
bsnn.,ed Mr Lenox dryly replied: your
Sneculi Orbis Dcscriptio is OF value mercy az
reference 10 sustain the attempt 10 uepi,.0
Hylacomylas of his labor" Toward tno emu Vi lis
nfour I enox wrote 70 Mr. Stevens: Il say TO you,
a hon "A
70 charge of bcastfulncss vanity, that Jew men
l.,,rg made such a collection as mine. know 50
,,uch obont II rs | dov That may be taken as an
,vp,e>sion of pride in his photographed knoWi-
,Jre ar his literary kno Wedge, or, perhaps, oo'h'
MIR Lepox adds mojeStly that he only wished Ho
knew far more abopt his books than he d'd' ana
sovs 70 Mr. Stevens: Il don't intend TO place my
s.lf,n this respect upon the same platform as th''
on which Won stand" Nor could any one else MI.
Stevens stood alone.
collectors are not born but made. and Mr.. Lcnox
WAS no exception TO the rue. Those WHO nave OK
nlored The Lenox library with admiration may
well wonder as they read that at first he was rather
careless about the condition of the copies he bought
and set little value upon fine bindings. 1t wasony
nv degrees that he became scrupulous as TO the
completeness and purity of his books he had been
collecting for some time before he knew even the
alphabet of photography. He returned to MI
Stevens a rare early NewEDgland tract expen-
sively bound with the remark thatit didn't answer
the description uncut" III the Ivoice. as 'hc
leaves had nanifostly been cut open and read III
had to be explained to him that the term uncut
,icnifed that the edges had not been trimmed,
and he shelved the tract with the remark that he
learned something every day | have heard the
most learned Of French bC ok,ellers aft cr twenty
five Years experience, say the same thing. Mr.
Ienox al one period was not above tie weakness
of yaluing "A book according to the price lie was
asked TO pay for il. lie ordered book from Ber-
lin cataloeue-priced llJ francs Receiving II
with the figure corrected to 3 francs he returned
it, saying he had supposed from the list price that
il a rare book.
He had nevertheless. dislike to paving excess
sivc prices. and still greater dislike to belhs
known as a buyer at high prices. lie had given an
unlimited order 20 Mr.. Stevens for copy OF the IN
comparable Mazarln Bible. l4JG-55-Mr. Stevens
objects TO calling il Mazarin- which was shortly
TO he sold by auction in London, although warned
that n copy had lately fetched near $1,000. The
bidding ran up to So 800 and the book fell at that
to Mr.. Lenox's agent. Such price was then With
out precedent, aud toe sale was much talked about,
and Mr. Lcnox was named the buyer. Vexed by
tbs publicity, and perhaps thinking he ma
paid too much he declined to clear the
book from the New-York Custom House. or pay
the bill, by that time amounting with commission
and expenses to So OOO However, after some reiiec-
ton and as Mr. stevens adds good deal OF cor
respondence he took home the book and soon
learned to cherish it bargain and the chief or
pamept of his library. Mr.. Stevens used to tell me
il was one of the finest copies he had seen. The
COPY last sold by auction, an inferior one much
cut and IN a vulgar binding, brought $4,000.
The story of the Bay Psalm Book belongs to the
romance OF photography. For tenyears Mr. Lenox
lonced for this book and was willing to give 5000
for it. The volume, known to everybody who
cares for such things by the above title, is
the New England metrcal version OF the Psalms
printed by Stephen Daye at Cambridge, Mass, in
1910 For SIX years Mr. Stevens and MI William
Pickering the well-known publisher and bookseller,
sought together in vain for a copy The only one
they knew of on this side of the Atlantic was IL
the Bodlean Library which had been there unrecog-
nized for ages # is characteristic of NJ Stevens
who was ,liplomatst as well seller of books that
though he several times handled this volume with
reverence, he forbore to tell the Bodloy librarian
what treasure he possessed Mr. Pickering died
and The contents Of his shop were sold oil at auc-
ton AZ Sotheby's on the 10Th of January 1870.
Mr.. Stevens was turning over and untying parcel
after parcel of the Pickering stOck-the sweeplngs
of his shop catalOgued, as the manner is IN lots
TO see what he might chance to see. Nothing oc-
CURED and Stevens was at the point OF abandon
ing his rnitcss search for unregaded nuggets, and
resolved TO open but one more parcel. lie opened
il and there was q clean and unspoted copy of the
Bay Psalm Book. The parcel was described in the
catalogue as lot "531, Psalmes. other editions,
1880 to 1915 black letter. parcel" Mr.. Stevens
must tell the rest III mis- way:
81 instantly closed the parcel and frightened the
string just Alfred came TO lay it OH the table.
A cold-blooded GOODNESS seized me. and advancing
toward the table behind Mr.. Lilly quickly bid in
aperfectly neutral tone sixpence and so the bids
went on increasing by slxpences until half crown
was reached and Mr. Lilly had lOosened the string.
Taking up this very volume lie turned to Inc and