The Helena independent., 1894-12-14
VALUE OF OLD BOOKS
M, Hard 10 Fs on Account Of the Varying
fads Of the individual
Collectors,
SCARCITY THE CHIEF EXCELLENCE


One OF the events IN hph'"' '""' "N'N
Naa the dispersion BY sale by auction OF
me library OF the late Gecige LivermoVe'
AZ csmbridgc. a library which its owner
haa spent years IN collecting, and which
rga. we'll known IN book loving circles
for rs specially inc collection OF bibles.
now testaments. psalms, hymns mud cate
,h,sms. II contained also works on biollo-
GRANNY. early topography. with'spcclmena
,rom the earliest hnd most celebrated
presses, vcimm manuscripts prNa'ey
nrlntea books. and rare Americana. such
anle. snys the Boston Advertiser, one
~ m, most important In boston in recent
,.,ars naturally brought together nhrar-
,.ns collectors. dealers I'm rare books from
s,cerent sections OF the country, and COM
ns,itlon MAS the order for The sale OF the
hast lots. the competition of experts, who
rnov thot the present were hard times
financially, and that they were purchasing
Tho luxurlos. not the necessities OF NE
The prices paid for some of the books
haze been chroniced Ia the daily press,
and these have raised the question no
doubt as TO wherein lny the value OF
these books. This is Il qucation which Is
not easy TO answer ami yrt some OF the
elements which enter into the value oi
aiven book may be stated. To take nm IL
lustrauon from last weeks sale; 'rhe
souldlers Pocket Bible a htue pamphle'
Of sixteen pages, printed in 1888. and con-
talnlng passages OF scripture appropriate
for soldiers. and issued for the use OF
,ror,vell,s army soon after the beginning
Of the civil war IN England, brought FLOW
much handsomcr copy, an exact reprint
and one Of ten copies printed on Tcllum'
with PREDATORY note BY Mr. LlyeImoLe.
was sold for so. Another vellum copy re-
produecd in fac-simile with an mtrodue-
,,on nv Francis Fry. IN 1852. brought Sa2
while twenty-thrce copies OF m edition OF
IN, same published by the American Tract
society. were sold for cents each. or
course for all practical purposes, the
accuracy OF the reprint being gunran-
,eea the 7-cent pamphlet had just as
much value, aside from binding, as the
5000 volume. In what did the difference
consist
IN the first place the element of scarcity
entered into the value. The $1,000 volume
was one Of two known TO be extant, and
as Il bears the Imprint OF 1913 1t Is safe to
infer that aside from the copy In the
British museum. there is no other in ex-
istence OF this work There are twenty
three OF the undated American Tract So
clety reprints sold, and for all that may
BE- known 10 the contrary, there may be
ter times that number extant. The scar
city OF a book, II the book has value at all.
is an important factor in determining the
price which 1t may bring when offered for
sale. There are historic manuscripts
which are priceless. when 1t was sup
posed that there were not more than a
dozen or so OF the first edition Eliot Indian
bibles extant. copy in fair condition
brought from 1000 20 5000 on such rare
occasions as one was offered for sale, but
"a Boston dealer secured the Livermore
copy last week-a good copy, too-tor 500.
There are more Eliot bibles extant Than
was supposed a dozen or twenty .'ears
ago, and then there are fads and fashions
in old books An Eliot is not SO much u
fad among collectors as few years sin %
II is valuable book. and will continue 10
be, but the fad OF collectors must be rcck-
oned one of the elements In determining
the value OF a rare book.
To the element OF scarcity must be
added that Of historical interest when the
question OF value is considered. 1t Is this
clement which enters into the prices paid
for books which are classed under the
head Of early Americana. The foundo
tions Of our American institutions We're
laid In the seventeenth century Tn bait
ties OF civil and religious liberty were
fought out here on New England toil
then. The sermons and tracts which Were
printed on the rude press at CambndgH
tell this story. our New England. in
deed our American history would he untn.
telligible without the works Of the Matt-
ers. Cotton, Shepard, Rorer Williams
Gorton, Winthrop, Bradfor1-thc men NHu
made America possible The publications
OF the New England settlers are scarce
but 10 their scarcity must be gldal 'ic
element OF historical Importance in rNrrg
their value
There ls also the element Of sentiment
entering into the value Of a book which
ls not to be Ignored All OF the original
text OF the Soldiers bible was To- bc found
In one Of the 7-cent copies sold lasi week
hut no one OF these copies had uNel boon
in the hands OF one of Cromwclrs God
tearing. liberty loving soldiers Tint
900 copy may have boon ui Nlr-iu0
Moor Sentiment may De- irrlI"' and i1i
fuled BY the GrAdgTinds ban sentiment
has It's market value.
ny ,los' W WV" ~ Ll'.n ,'"N Iu'g
, Dviuls n"H NJ" mum w "p WIZ n'''I,
ill,l li'nhl,oh pl w NNlu', y '''''' DION may
F~nluhn'' ~ ",unPly ny'"u,, " !. source
oi ut.au'. ), ","'S .u 'lll NuPIu,N one
i,, ilrNlgIe W. ~. " H''S "uE, fNlN' W.
seen In SNO paid Tor tho Cuycrbale blble
ol l'o' hNp ''E, Io' lhlNp M'lhn,'h"n p
,,"pl ol 'ht i'ul'N lllP'N''Sr N'l W'F'
may '"N' Ip'' "h' 'Nl'". W.NrlIp.
uohsi i " i"Ny w., 'N''.' 'lI" ii'i'l lhll i-'
hoh'' nnt may ''h N.-p"iInh IL whole To-
,,.a,y 20 .e'Nls 'U' ln' lIN,'' 'n make.
@ ,''''h NM l'r'l'' '''f, " N"'. unique,
,.,,,,. s -, va, ,'s ', W..N' ,'f 'I'n
iomr great event. rIorh making fhr wurll
renowned. " may belong fgu rIt.u alft. or