The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-10-19
LITERARY LEAVES.
THE LuLL IN THE ENGLISH BOOK
MARKET.

..,-Tbe Great Gaisford sale
u.,r, Book OF John wesley-The
Amounts Secured Prom Book Sales
TN TO the end of July the literary
.,,onecrs are. as a rule, well occu-
n,.d but the first few days Of August
'.;,ress n sudden cessation from work
and sellers and buyers alike look long
inglv toward the holidays. The auction
season extends from the beginning oi
Noramber 10 the end OF July, ahu
during these nine months some Sky
or seventy first-c,ass sales may De tx
nected to take place in London alone
during the cour ss of which some 'o'VVc
volumes. ON the average, will change
hands. This, OF course, is e1-
elusive of mass OF ruopi'h
which 10 not worth calculating
and which is pat up and knocked
down in parcels with a promptitude
that would be amusing were the pro-
cess not so often repeated. Inc session
J 1889. 80, which has just closed, has peen
productive of some sixty-three good
| saIss: for any sale is supposed 10 merit
that appellation where the result SnoWs
an average Of about los. per lot all
round. Occasionally, though very
rarely, a library will produce as much
as Al. and even 81. per lot-as was the
case at the Gsi.ford sale in April last,
when 2.2tS books brought no less tnan
9.ls2l. odd, but this season such IN
stances rave been few and far between.
The books disposed of have been re-
markable for their mediocrity, and the
dispersed collections for the variety OF
their contents rather than for their I'M
| portance.
Here and there some extraordinary
books are to be noted; volumes when
have seldom, and perhaps never, APP
| peared in an auction-room before, ana
| it Is these which are worthy OF the
greatest attention, for it may be some
time before they appear again. mus
at sale in November last, the first
hymn book published by John Wesley
in 1887, excited considerable competi-
ton. and was finally disposed of for
POI. los. No other copy of the book Is
known to exist. At the same time
fine CODY of the original edition
of Wesley's Hymns, in "A Svo. vol
umns, was bought in by the
vendor for 23l. They consisted
chiefly Of first editions, and had
been collected with much labor, ex-
tending over many years. Such DOCKS
however rare though they may be.
fade into absolute insignificance when
placed side by side with the productions
, of the visionary, William Blake. which
are hardly to be procured nowadays at
any price. In June, 1887, a fine specl-
men of Jerusalem, with its 100 en-
graved pages in colors, and heightened
in gold and silver by the artist, was
sold by Messrs. Christie for 1861. in
March. 1888. a copy Of America, print
ed off in blue ink, brought 23l., and at
the same time the 'Poetical Sketches
| l6l.: but for years these were the only
original examples thrown on the open
market Ii ntil last April, when ten copies
made Their appearance all at once, to
the tunebf All. los. On this occasion
the 'Poetical Sketches sold for
isl.. The Book of Thel' for 29l.,
Songs of Innocence for ALL, Songs
of Innocence and Experience. two
volumes in one, 1904. s vo, e7l.
| The Visions Of the Daughters of Al
bion, 26l. los. America, Prophecy.
Gil. A: Europe. a Prophecy, 59l.; The
First Book of Urizen, 66. ; Young
Night Thoughts, with the designs
colored by Blake, 1897, 4Ol. los and
Illustrations to the Book OF JOB, III.
los. When the accomplished author
Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures was
evolving the new idea embodied In the
undertaking. he may or may not nave
| had in his minds eye certain little
book written by one BIaithwalte so
long ago as 1910. and erttled Art
Asleepe. Husband Boulster Lecture.
| The similarity in title and idea is, how
ever. exceedingly curious, and the work
is worth mentioning. although it pro-
duced the comparatively small sum Of
81. Another copy of the first edition OF
Burns Poems. printed at hllmarnock
in 1856, went for 1901. In November.
| 1887, only three years ago, sum OF
$751;. paid for another and equally good
copy Of this very edition, was regarded
as scandalously perverted.
| Asa contrast to these heavy prices,
a parable might be taken up on the de-
cadence of the classics. At one time
and that is not so very long ago-col-
| lectors were enthusiastic over the pro-
ductions of Aldine and ElZevir presses;
inventing, for the latter especially, all
sorts of foolish pet-names, such as
dummy twelves, in their sentimental
worship of a series of reproductions
which would have made the hair OF the
authors reprinted stand ~ with shame
and horror. so dreadfully had their
text been mutilated. Sir Edward Sui
Ivan. late Lord Chancellor of Ireland,
had a collection Of Aldines and Elze-
yirs. and at his sale in May last it was
thrown on the mercies Of an unsym-
pathetic world. Books which thirty
wears ago would have been eagerly com
peted for and driven up to lOl. or
| Isl. each. aud in some instances much
more. now realized miserable sums OF
los. and H.; even the Greek Grammar
of L.ascaris, the first book ever printed
by Aldus, only brought 81. l05., and
the editio princeps OF Heroaotus but
81. los. Bad az were the Aldlnes. the
EIzevirs were, if anything, worse.
Here was the true Virgil of 1886, ruled
in red. which seemed so desirable to
Charles Nodier Though. as a matter of
fact. it is full of mistakes from cover
to cover that till he could possess 1t he
declined to profane his shelves by any
Virgil at all. Here also was the right
Cesar OF 1885. with its page 23S CHROME
ously printed 24S, the possession OF
which was at one time regarded as
something to dwell upon. The Virgil
brought four guineas and the Cesar
less than sovereign. James Mag
azine.