, 1889-08-17
T
Some Prices Paid Are Fabulous, but Many
Signatures Go Dirt Cheap.

some friCfA fAiu arc IhDulOuHs bhb HAlAhS
Signatures Go Dirt Cheap.
Certain noisy politicians who run away
with the idea that they are very eminent
men, should certainly not omit to read
the catalogues of those who deal in auto
graph letters.
True, it is difficult to ccoun for some
of the prices. The catalogue of Mr..
Davey, Of Great Russell street, affords
some very noteworthy instances. Here,
for example, an autograph note, signed
and addressed envelope, of Sarah Bern
hardt, is only valued at 12s., while Q
guineas are asked for one of Boswell's,
which is only one and a quarter pages
quarto size. One of Lord Byron's, a
quarto page In all, is offered at II guineas;
but one of Coleridge is only Sc, and for
2s. more may be had one of De Quincy,
regarding his money troubles, to his pub
Usher. Poets and authors always abuse
their publishers when "hush," and as
often fall pack upon them when hard up.
A letter of Dickens qS50) is priced at 81
12s. Cd, one from Lord Beaconsield at
81 los, one from David Garrick at 81,
and one from Frederick the Noble" at n
quarter of that sum-
If n man nave plenty Of half g~uineas
he may become the owner of a number
of more or less famous autograph let
tiers. One of these coins, of their cur
rent value, will put you in possession of
n letter of William Goodwin or of Gou-
nod, of Charles Kean or of Lever, of
Macready or of Lytton, of Sturgeon or
of Prince Albert. Among the luxuries
Of which, like the small boy outside n
cook shop, the poorer collector must be
content with the smell-and scarcely
that-may be enumerated n William
Blake at CO. n Cowper at "a; a Queen
Elizabeth ut e25; a Thomas Hood at 8
guineas; n johnson ut GO rs. 3d.; a Mary
Queen of Scots at g5S; n Samuel Rich
ardson (of course to n young LADY, at GO
los; and n Dante Gabriel Rosetti for
about e3 3s. An original invitation for
the coronation, sent by command of her
majesty TO Lord st. John, of Bletso, and
signed Victoria r., " is only priced at
CO 5s. A William Ill is worth G5 los,
but n William " is not worth half as
much.
A letter OF the Rev. George Whitefeld,
whose tabernacle appears to be going
down. is up" mt three guineas. From
a general point of view it is not easy to
sec why n letter of William Wordsworth
("celebrated poetr) should be priced at
a guinea less than that of the author of
Might Thoughts" which no one now
reads, offered at ga Is.
A prophet Is not without honor, save
in his own country fact which
explains the appearance of n num-
Der of English literary men in cata-
logues of autograph letters. A letter of
John Forster is offered at 10 cents; one
of Mr.. Archibald Forbes for $1.25; ono
of Mr.. Austin Dobson at the same price;
Mt which figure also the collector may
present himself with specimens of w.
c. Bryant, Elihu Burritt, Mr.. Chamber
lain, Golden, Mr.. j. A. Froude (''quite
%scarce'O, Wilkie Collins. Garfield, and
many other persons more or less ia
mous-less than more very often.
The prices throughout the well ar
ranged catalogue are exceedingly mod
crate compared with some which we
have seen. One of Mr.. Gladstone's let
ters uhe line appears TO be drawn at post
cards. has reached the hands of the
dealer, who demands 81. 90 for it; but one
of Gordon is priced at SO over and above
that sum-; a Goethe goes for $40, n Shell
ley for four times that amount, and n
Scott for SEQ. Mr.. Ruskin's shows n re-
markable difference, being only S4.50;
but three lines of n prince Of the Sand
witch islands ordering bottle of gin sells
for 10 cents. A Cardinal Newman is
priced at S2.25, Mime, PATHS Mt n dollar
more, one of Lord Randolph Churchill
ut SI.75, one of Horace Greeley at S2.25.
A Samuel johnson is sold for S37. 80;
but n letter of neither Sir John Lubbock,
Charles Mackay, Professor Mason nor
Mr.. w. d. Howells appears to be worth
more than seventy-five cents. A signed
letter of Lord Tennyson, two pages oc-
tavo, is priced at S12.5 50; and one from
Thackeray with the e~nvelope) at SEQ.
1t might act as a sort of deterrent to
this craze for private letters if authors
would insist upon being paid pro rata by
their correspondents for every word
which they write in their letters, not
even emitting the address on the enve-
lope, which, when clean, also counts
st. James Gazette.