Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-12

demand for old religious books 10 30 slieht
that they would bring little more than an
ordinary current publication.
Books on American History.
Scarce books on American history sell
as fast as We can get our hands on them.
Early colonial laws prior to l776 are among
the rarest Of all American books. This is
due to the fact that they have probably
been destroyed At least. only now and
then does one bob up. During the war OF
his. rspeiion the price OF paper was so
hish that nearly everything in the way OF
oiu books. magazines. pamphlets and ma
over. Ff ~ ' ie
That was before inventive esn,us had
SeNaseu other ana cheaper ways of manu-
featuring paper, and better Qualities too
Many volumes of American books must
nave been destroyed. particularly I'm the
southern states. where at times during the
war newspapers were printed on the back
OF wall paper
Il want TO tell you something that very
Few people know anything about During
me war and for many years after book
binders cut down the margins of magazines
Entrusted to their care to an outrageous ex-
tent have on my shelves many volumes
pound IN those days and in some there are
sososuteiy no margins to the pages. The
cents a pound for all their waste paper
The succeeding generations of bookbind-
efs Followed the pace of their predecessors
without knowing why they did So Close
tice during the war the same as the bnt-
tons on the back Of a Yrock coat are a re-
minder Of the garb of our forefathers.
The tailor of the present day can't tell
you WY ne puts the buttons there: neither
can the modern bookbinder inform Won
why he trims the margins of his work
We are getting back to ante-belt,n davs.
though. so far as boclzt,ir ding is concerned
me volumes from the best publishing
houses nowadays are turned out with
rough edges. as in the days of yore
Rare Work
Before going. let me show Won rare
volume. See that? 1t is COPY 81 the
Geistliche Magazien.' which was publish
ed by Christopher Saur in I764 This ex
tremely rare book is of special importance
because of its being the first religious mag
azine ever published In America. 1t was
commenced by Saur shortly after the com
pietion OF the second edition of his Bible
IN recognition of the great success of mat
work.
The numbers Were not issued at stated
intervals, but as he had the materials for
them And, as they were given AWAY with
out charge. of course only few were pre-
served. There is but one other complei.
set of the fifty numbers known. The5phi
IT'S. who contributed Nos. 81 and &c was
the noted Alexander Mack founder of the
Thinker Church. Nos. 10 and Al were writ
Ten by Christopher Dock. the pious School
master on the Skippack'
works from the press of BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN are always in demand. / know
CT books from his press, some of which
are not larger than child's spelling book
and with less number of pages. that are
worth several hundred dollars each Ard
tLere is an active demand for them, too
NO better investment can be found, either
Ter Franklin's imprint will increase in
value each year. The man who. a hundred
years from today, has in his possession a
DOCK printed by the great American Phil
csopher and patriot, has something On
which he may set his own price and CT
which he will have no trouble in disposing.
Yes, our business is a fascinating one
enjoy 1t. And L learn something new
every day.