The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-14

nSoaeo9; You are smoking, sirl Get out OF my
benoni White. q print seller in q street of Hol.
% SGl1' NOT I even w 20 ed st1RDeSS sGlln ss P aoWsn nS
there IN tho midst Of his possessions. and, as 1t
time ! have pressed my. nose against his dim
and dusty shop window, f%casting M, eyes on all
him any price In reason, but ! never succeed
Cd n getting him to open the door to me. o,d
prints have for the man who studIOs them. The
James 1. olashorp Of philadelphia. He vas a
one visit imade TO him. / took down some
around to his house tho next. morning
and have q good long chat With him; well,
gone down town. Fronting BY this experience
gone ! wen ao Sns i nSxt day Tb at next 3; M dsy c 1 %eDt At :.
F'Mr. Ciaghorn had gone down town. That was
the kline, OF worker no was. When no gave me
big one, ho tapped me- on the shoulder and said;
Don't you show me another print for 2 year,
where he. sat in solitary grandeur a. tho bank.
Before l bad reached the door, l heard an mar
tieulate sound. and turned around 70 find MT.
halt.detiant manner. l went back and he Whis'
"'lf you come across anything that's good,
look at 1t, all the samc!'"
How did you happen to become u collector,
Mr.. Kcppclf' asked the reporter.
We'll, l was pitchforked into 1t. When i
was II. 1 was suddenly thrown upon my own
resources and had TO scratch for q living Tor
myself. my mother, and three sisters. l had
not been brought up to any business, and l was
books, especially books containing dine pic.
lures. The capital with which | began bust:
o ones number "a beaae Of = set 81 e Of nor een illHstpations. VIII
this book under my arm. 1 started out, to get
subscribers for the set. succeeded fairly well.
ually ! gained acquaintance with people Of
taste, fond OF fine books, and OF rare ones, l
found out what they wanted and was often able
10 hunt up the books. For FIVE years l trsmped
about the streets of New York In this way;
j remember i paid so a month for rent. 1
was still "a sort OF library agent.
A this time an Englishman, came to Now
York and opened q book shop in a Broadway
basement facing Astor place. He was a typf-
cal London shopkeeper; a being who was dis
worse over here. l once demonstrated with o
London shopkeeper for his objectionable rude
H' %:I n America. i told him, such conduct
would be considered unworthy Of any gentle
He looked at me in amazement and ex.
claimed:
".'But I'm not a gentleman I'm q shop
"fhis one that opened the basement book
shop was of the same type. He hated Ameri-
ca and no hated Americans, and, very nat;
his stock at auction and said he was going back
to England. He had a good many old prints
self = not IT long " sfterwara i me met pe him 1"s and u he
said that no should go insane If he could not
prints, for which:he said he had paid over 5000,
and said he would sell them for anything in
s sEsss to I'D ife1 PRINTS hMsy than i q ai sas do snoT but eR ny so %G ln.
sisted upon my making him an OFFER that 1
mi e hin Ipo one Of s 100 lust Ito to set T rid Of aE him;
with q portfolio of old prints on my hands. 1
was in as much despair as the old lady who
the very an s sis6t Of that r. portfolio raM I in sr Which, 10 as nai i
seemed to me. l had deliberately tied up 800.
ph hi Tas Tsi' desl 20 a ana ee soliec.or we NOT iona
after that nos.t and l odd 3dded d, e postscript p I'm IN E sy,aci
Of Wakefield when Moses takes the horse to
the fair and brings homes a gross ofEreen spec.
taoles in exchanged We'll. 1 wrote Mr.. Gebbis
q gross Of green spectaoles on my hands. When
he replied to the letter he, too. added q post,
he said. bring your gross Of green spectsoies
So when went oyer I took tho hated port
bought tho things and made collections Of
Of his sensations. He gave. mo a letter to John
:. Phillips %hH wa sS 2 prominent s16nISa mS collector, nsstcT and and
stirred me up to make u, study OF the sub.
}oc :, t TSuld hpye as sSia the {R S1 asv 9f Which Sa
why, he said, II you are as ignorant as
you say you are OF the value Of the prints, 1t
would be pure robbery for me to take them at
the price you arc willing to accept
He Hen, gave .va me @s si 10 f,s for q, six GS, 81 then and ar 3lba bet /
could study up the rest. That was the way 1
docs it ever happen" asked tho reporter,
that some, one. who hasn't the money to in,
dulge his liking, has this same excessive fond
ness for prints and etchingsf'
Yes" SAID Mr.. Keppel, there. are many
such cases. The love OF a good print and the
ability to recognize one often seems TO be a
natural gift. There was q little French boot
black who used to stand in front Of my win
dow, his little wet nose pressed against the
glass, while he studied every detail OF the pic
lures. / got him into the store one day, talked
with him, and finally employed him. He be
came one of the most valuable men l have eve,
had. He had an instinct for what was good
an almost unerring intuition. The love of 9
good print was born in him."
. BY which it may be seen that some men art
born with q hobby. other men acquire one, and
some, like Mr.. Keppel. have a hobby thrust
upon them.