The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-03
PRICES CAPTIONS BRING.
IN 1913, 81 WEET FOR e361j IN 1892,
ONE FOR &2,f 100.

NtOue ht NhiCh HOOKS published by the First
EnEllsh Printer wcrc Onrrcd-sOne Almost
ne Valuable Now ne u Gutenberg BIblc.
Interest in the second part of the recent Ash.
burnham book sale in London centred In tho
perfect copy OF Lofobvre's Jason" translated
and printed by William Caxton. Englnnd's first
printer, at Westminster, about 1477, for which
80, 100 was puid-the highest recorded prico for
a CaNton. Attic Duke OF Roxburgho sale in
1912 book collectors, surprised at the immnc-
ulatc Valdofar Boccaccio OF l47l selling for
s2,260, were almost equally astoundcd
at Caxton's "Rccuyoll" l4T2-7D bringing
&l,OBO 1Os., as no one had previously
paid moro than Rl6G So. for n Cax.
ton, Earl Spencer having secured tho
Knight of the Tower" 1884, for that sum at
the Brand sale in 1907. The Duke OF Rox.
burghe had paid only $50 for his "Recuyell,"
and as the last lcnf was in facsimile 9l, O6O los.
was considered an extraordinary price. Yet no
copy oven rs good was offered at auction until
1855. when tho Earl of Jerseys, once Fnirfax's.
sold for 1880. and at tho same sale Cations
king Arthur" l4s5, fetched the record price
of al,95o. Mrs. Pope ABBY e. IIanscom), an
American, securing it.
Thirteen years passed, and then Ashburnham's
Jason" brought So, 100, which became tho
record price, and those who do not believe that
Coxtons have risen enormously in value should
study the illustrious pedigree of this especial
copy. Here 1t is: 1743. tho Earl OF OxFord's
copy, sold privately to Osborne, tie bookseller;
1851, 81 Is; 1878, West sale, "a As; l776,
Ratclitfc sale, SIS 1Os.; 1917, Erskinu sale,
al62 l5s.; 1923, Taylor sale. sos lis; 1884,
Heber sale. sS7; 1897, Ashburnham sale,
82.1Oo.
From these figures 1t can readily be seen that
perfect or very good copies OF books issued from
Cations press fetch ut the present time OK.
trcmely high prices. In 1873. however, when
the library OF James West was sold in London,
excellent copies OF Cations works brought prices
that would now be thought low, thirty-four Cux-
tons bringing n total of 93Bl is. 3D., the highest
nricc being the 9+7 los. that was paid for tho
Tales" 147S, by George III. A comparison of
the prices OF 1773 with those of the late Ash
burnham sale is OF interest. Vests copy of
Tho ~Itecuyell Of the Histories OF Troy" which
Caxton had translated from Lefebvre's original
in l46971. and printed some time between l472
and 1474 in English, sold for $50 lis. Ash
burnham's copy brought 1850. The West
copy was from OXfords library, known as the
Harleian, and was purchased by George III.
Since made perfect, it is now in the British
Museum. Vests Jason" u477) brought
"a As. and was the same copy, as shown pre-
viously, that brought 81, 100 ut the Ashburn.
ham sale. George III. paid S47 los. ut the
West sale for Cations first edition Of Chaucer's
IhIcS NlfINl. Az inc ASnDuTnnam SAFE an
other copy brought a72O. a better copy having
sold in February. 1896, for 81. 900. "Boethius"
H479l brought e5 los. in 1878 and $50 in
1897, "Cordyale" l479. Ri4 in 1873 and
ST60 in 1897; Mirror of the World " l4Sl),
912 12s. in 1878 and s2o5 In 1897. Thorold's
copy having fetched 1885 in 1884;
"Tully of Old Age" Q4sl) brought S5 los.
in 1878 and 1920 in 1897; "Polychromicon"
N4s2,, SIG IS. Cd. in 1873, and 92Ol in 1897,
n really good copy being worth about 81. 800.
"Confessio" Q4s4). 50 9s. in 1878 and slss in
1897, Jerseys, a better ono, bringing $50 in
1855; Cation" u4s4I. 81 rs. Cd. in 1878 and
s295 in 1897; Order of Chivalry" u4s3.s5,.
IS 5s. in 1873 and E3i5 in 1897. and "Specu-
lum' u4Ss y, so 9s. in 1873 and $50 in 1893.
Vests Royal Book" n4s7 y sold for RlO. his
IF yts Of Arms Q4s9D for $40 los. and his
Mirror" second edition u400l. for 50 l5s. or
these Ashburnham had no copies; but in 1899,
At thc BnSclsnch sale. q copy Of the "Royal
"Fayts' is worth about 94O0. a good Mirror"
The last Copy of Cations Golden Legend"
first edition printed about 1884. to be sold at
auction was w. II. Crawford's. which, slightly
Wcsl's copy "' in i77s. 81 sold dV for si2 i i5 IAN and f over
two hundred and fifty years enrlier. In 1896,
che SHo Mar %sn thought nf 81 Ms so lii,le w OF thHt the
sold twelve copies for 80 Ga. Sd. Up to that
time that was the largest number Of Caxtons
son mid 6s; 50, Tor Ave CaXtons, and Robert
Harrington had in his possession in 1877 seven.
The first recorded aucli ion sale where Caxtons
were disposed of was Richard Smiths, in 1852,
the second was Francis Bcrnord's. in 1868.
when ten sold for Fl 15s; Al FG,ty-nine Cax-
Of Norwich. and later or Ely. Who died in i7I4r,
AMI whose collection of 10000 volumes was
the Pubic Library in icaH'n6ridiSc.o This hi was a a
wonderful assemhlage of the works OF tho great
printer, but Robert Harley. aftcrwGrd, Earl of
Oxford and ERrl NlptinRr yhn JiCI
ieH years later, had %ffty.six Caxtons,
The largest number eyer in one private
1913 70 Thomas Osborne. tho dealer, for
$4,000 ana the Enrchnser who doubtless set
classics ~ the collection, priced "Recuyells.'
"Jasons,' Mirrors Of the World" and others
for quartos. Some of them were offered at the
Osborne auction sale in 1851 and brought sums
not greatly e ;SEs his catalogue prices; Who
for II Is, the sum dcmanGch in 17i3 by Eng
lands chief book dea!eri The leadinE. present
1t cost him 81 800 Mt the Ashburnham snle.
The Hon; BryGn Fairfax, one of the Commits
and his library was purchased for 92.0o0 by
Francis Child, the banker. from whom i passei
by marriage into tho family of the E,rls Of Jer-
scy. In the. catalogue made at the time Of prI-
ytatc sale. nine Cations were valued at 933 Is.
library was sold at auction in Lon Ion. and the
folIowiT are : 2 fey SSo OF ne b|c pri""es sc Lr Santana AIT ! ims
al05; "THIly." $3.50; "Confessio," $50;
king Arthur" 81. $50.
IL 1876 John Ratclifc's forty'eight copies
sold for 9936 5s. o.; At Aliens, sail. 1898, six
brought 95l 9s.; at Hcrberl,s sale, 1898, seven
brought 95l los; ana at Farmer salo. 1898.
five brought 9l0 lis. Ga. itoXburghe's -four.
teen CaXtons fetched in 1912 a total of 43. OO2
Is. and there are q number Of interesting sales
between the RoXburghe and tho Ashhurnham
which might be instanCed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
tv.one good ,Caxtons sold for 9lO.O72. though a
century and n quarter ago they would have
brought only 5000 or thereaboutE. That the
profit on, these books was great will be evident
when 1t Is said that for the "Recuycll" the
late Earl paid R55, for the "Rccucil" 927.
for tn jason as7. for the "Dlctc9 43l; for
the Tales" first edition, &2l; for the Tales,
$40, FOR The 'tordynle' R55 los. for the" Mir
ror" 425, for the 'Spcculnm" R@3, for the
tn" Caton" 4l6 l5s,, for tho CHRONICLES A." and
"Dcscription" ESQ. and for the "Polychroni-
spcclivcly for 1880, sGO0, 42,l0O. Sl,390,
G12O. G3ON 4hlO. &EGO. 29Ol. AhlO. 1000.