The San Francisco call., 1898-03-06

edition costs S250O, and II cannot
 be expected that the humble book agent should bring it to your
 door. It is devoted to the achievements of the rich and powerful, and, of course, New York occupies a large part of it, says the Herald
 Seven sections of the work have been already published, and the three sec tions devoted to the United States, now in preparation, will be ready for deliv- cry during the next year. It is not placed on sale in the book stalls, for the prospective purchaser might soil its silk binding and it's China silk lin- ings.
 Hubert Howe Bancroft, San Fran cisco literary man, now in Cambridge, Mass, is the author. He Is related dis tantIy to George Bancroft, the histori- an. but he has made exploits in the realm of history himself which, his friends say, entitle him to recognition aside from the mere matter of kinshlp MT. Bancroft writes in very enter taining style about the rich and what they have done
 As he says in his prospectus, he tells ofA.he rich and powerful of all ages aX nations, from Rameses to the RothsChilds, from Alexander to Astor. He begins with the men of pelt III old Chaldea, and closes his book with pages and pages devoted to the gGings and comings and the dOings Of Gotham $ miIlionaires Solomon and Pharaoh, Xerxes and Croesus, Cyrus and Caesar, Jay Cooke and Seth Low-all these are spoken of as influences in the world on account of their wealth
 There is a lavish IuXuriOuSneSS in the way this book is printed, illustrated and bound. It consists of 1000 pages. divided into ten sections of 100 pages each Each section is accompanied by ten water colors, etchings and photo- gravures incased in a portfolio. The text Is embeIlished with 2500 illustra- tions. The drawings begin with the dawn of history and end with the last handsome house on Fifth avenue. The covers are decorated with reproductions of water colors by the best artists. In order to give a more artistic appear ance to these reproductions they have all been retouched. The binding of this work is of rich, old gold armure silk, which has been specially imported for the use of the publisher. the Bancroft Company of Chicago. Everything con- nected with this volume was either produced in Chicago or brought direct ly to Chicago for the purpose. The in- sides of the covers are lined with white silk
 There will be only 400 volumes Of this work published. The first 150 vol tunes comprise an edition de luxe. The Chicago publishers call it the "Cygne Noir'' copy This edition costs $2500. There will be 250 more volumes, which will be sold for 5000 each. They have bot quite as much silk and less gold Trinting.
 Among the New Workers who have subscribed for the edition de luxe are Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont, who will send her copy to the Duchess of Marlbor- ough; Mrs. Astor, J. Pierpont Morgan, F o. Matthiessen, Charles Frederick Hoffman and c. P. Huntington.
 One of the most interesting things connected with this volume is the col lection of plates. The originals of the pictures from which they were made are mostly owned by MT. Bancroft himself; others were made especially for the Book of Wealth." and the ar lists went to Chicago especially to pro- duce the water colors and etchings from which the plates were made.
 Mir. Bancroft says he conceived the idea of the Book of Wealth" while en- gagged in the preparation of a work de- scrlbing the Worlds Fair at Chicago. me great wealth of the nations as sh0"n Tn that international exposition z moved him to philosophize He reached lhe conclusion that the history of the world pears upon every page the im- press of wealth. The jewels of Isabel Ia, queen of Spain, furnished Colum- ous with the funds to carry on a voy- a5e oI olScoVery. Arts, sciences and civilization itself have made progress on account Of the patronage of wealth
 Wlth thls Idea in mind MT. Bancroft s began the preparation of this most elaborate work He spent several years m research He did not have to wealth himself. He gathered material from original sources. He went to Eu- rope. where he received assistance and Encouragement from many of the gov ernments. He gathered engravfngs. 8Pkstes. paintings from every land. He ffade researches in Egypt, Palestine in fhe capitals of Europe and then came back to the United States. where he made an exhaustive study of life in ev- cry large city. He has gathered hun dreds of pictures of places and build ings which stand as representative of wealth. The Roman Forum, the tenn NIH of Solomon, the Baths of CaracaJla