Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-11

PLENTY. madam. What class?'
Well my sons in high school. an he's
got taste for 1iterati.' I want to get him
some books to read cheap. Something like
Whackery' or Dickums.' Have you got
Dickums'es Two tails of city an l
want some of SCOTS. My son said some
thing about an :Antikerry' an "A Bride of
Nevermore.'
Il think we can supply you with all these.
madam" replied the MISREPRESENTATION
the ghost Of q smile.
"An right, an I want more by the same
Arthurs' you select for me, an tell me the
price. Ny boy do spend lot OF time por-
ing over books, but maybe he'll be a litera-
ture' himself some day.
DO you have many such 'Malapropian'
customersT' I asked, when she had made
her purchases and her exit, both with much
flourish and hustle.
Queer Customers.
mot many as extremely SO as she seems
to be. Yet fairly intelligent people get
titles of well-known books badly confused.
l have known persons whose opportunities
for culture and reading have been great,
ask such questions as the following: Didn't
man called Ben Hur write the book en-
Titled Barabbas? and Isn't Owen Meredith,
Dumas nom de plumeT Such cases, how
ever, are as rare as amusing
l waited in the store a long time during
Wnlch a number of customers and sellers
passed In and out on their respective mis-
SONS Just as I was about to despair of
| witnessing more noteworthy scenes an I'M
easy looking, cadaverous Individual entered
| The dealer took down from a shelf a vol
ume: which bore signs of hard usage
| rms, he answered, lis the only copy
In stock at present.
| DO you-do you know anything about the
party who sold 1t to your asked the GUS
| toner, putting his hands behind him and
| edging away a little.
! Nothing. it came in with a lot purchased
| at auction"
well, 1 am undecided about 1t. am
anxious to supply my library, and it is so
| expensive to buy new books-but, really
don't you think there Is great danger from
bacillt in old volumes?"
| The dealer, a stout, healthy speciman OF
manhood. laughed heartily and said, IF
tnat be the case must be permeated with
disease-Tve lived nearly all my life among
| old books
The customer seemed reassured I'll
! take It," he said; lit may be a risk, but I'll
| ourn sulphur candle near it as soon as
| get home" And he passed out holding his
| purchase gingerly in his hand
That germ theory" said the dealer,
~ keeps &c away SO many would-be customers:
| II 1t could be annihilated trade would in
| crease at least by one-third."
Rare and Costly Books.
During my visits tc a number of stores
made inquiries concerning rare and costly
| volumes which are offered for sale. Only
have such books in stock. 1t is said that
the demand for them here is very small,
| that is, in comparison with other large
Cities There are book connoisseurs galore,
but somehow it happens that many of the
most cultured of them are men of great
| learning and small pocket books. One
dealer knew Of at least fifty such who would
| be liberal purchasers il they possessed the
wherewithal. when we take into consid-
Grafton the cultured character of the Wash
| ipgton population" he said, lit is aston
1shlng that there are so few purchasers for
| this kind of books among wealthy classes
The ways in which literary treasures fall
into the hands of dealers are varied as
interesting. Some families, which have
owned certain valuable work for genera
| tions and have learned to prize it for asso-
cations sake, are compelled by reverses
| Of fortune to stifle sentiment and convert
| the volumes into hard cash. In such cases
! the money price is insignificant in compar
| ison with the heartacheS it costs to give up
| the treasures. Other valuable books are
sold by those who care naught for any
| thing but the money obtained in return for
| them, while yet others fall into the dealer;
hands through ignorance on the part Of the
sellers as to their real value. Such books
are frequently bought for a few cents and
sell for hundreds of dollars. Collectors,
| too, frequently have similar windfalls. The
| story is told of collector who wanted to
secure copy of a rare book, printed in
| 1850. The price asked by a regular deal
] er was lar III excess OI what ne Couiu d.
ford to pay. Passing along the street one
day, he was meditsting on the coveted vol
ume, and planning to cut down his eX-
| penses sufficiently to enable him to buy it.
| the window of a cobbler's stall and saw
| the book on shelf. He entered and asked
] the cobbler if he would sell his copy. The
transaction was speedily effected, and the
collector received the treasure in exchange
for a few pence. Both he and the cobbler
thought the deal a fine stroke of business,
and on the part of the former its expectancy
cannot be denied; yet nice ethlca! problem
might be raised in the minds OF those VINO
would question his honesty in taking adj
vantage of the cobblers ignorance. BY
taking a similar advantage OF the sellers
of President Monroes library, man Sc
cured a copy of Purchas Pilgrims. in nine
volumes. for $27. An inferior copy of the
same work had previously sold in London
for f135.
Typical BOOkwOrm.
Most Of the secondhand book dealers OF
today are up-to-date business men, with
keen appreciation of the commercial value
of every volume which falls into their
hands; but occasionally in some antiquated
shop one finds the typical bookworm dealer.
a man who proves to be one of the most
unique and interesting features of his es-
adjustment He is usually an aged man
and has spent his life among books He
lives in world all his own-a world that
may hold him spellbound in primeval ages,
gazing with wonder and delight at mans
first efforts to leave behind some symbol.
some record of his first reach toward Gull
ture: a world that may thrill with stirring
scenes of medieval strife or be suddenly
replete with the peace, independence, glory,
of free nations, the outgrowth of former
struggle the flower of civilization. For
such a man loneliness has its antidote, since
he is surrounded by friends that are never
false and that never lie. Some of his treas
ures he puts aside on separate shelf
and refuses to sell; others he must sell;
but often his desire to make a living is
far surpassed by the fear that some GUS
toner will call for a volume which he
wants to keep.
The secondhand book store has another
function which is entirely foreign to all
others. 1t acts as a kind of circulating Ii
brary, through which the great varieties of
printed matter pass and repass on their
mission Of cultivating the peoples minds.
1t keekps knowledge moving and makes
small amounts do a great work just as
rapidity of circulation in the money market
does as much good as an increase in VOL
ume. Altogether, these old shops are about
as useful institutions as could be devised,
and people in ordinary circumstances
would find it a great deprivation to be
compelled to do without them.