The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-15
VALUABLE VOLUMES.
Big Prices Paid by BibIiophiIes for
Rare Books.

Big Prices Paid by BibliOphiles for
Rare Books.
From the Washington Star.
Five hundred dollars for eight pages
of dingy reading!
That's a good deal of money, you will
allow, to invest in four small leaves of
printed paper" said Washington dealer
in rare books TO a reporter. However,
that price was offered few days ago.
| The eight pages wanted were of old Penn
sylvania laws. Was the offer accepted?
Not much; it was declined with thanks;
the owner being something of a blbliophile
himself and knowing that the scarcity of
these pages would permit him to fix his
own figure for the set.
THE pages would be passed over or
destroyed by the ordinary reader, yet there
is not another known copy in existence.
You will readily understand that they are
valuable when ~you consider the size of
the offer. 1t is a good deal of money to
put into few pieces of faded paper, but
l know where l could dispose of them at
a big profit even at that figure.
Yves, our business is a peculiar one.
Some time ago l bought a pamphlet from
another bookseller for 50 cents and sold
Ii within a few days for $40 That was
merely a stroke of luck in business. ]
was on this bookseller's shelves for sale
at stipulated price fixed by himself and
marked within the cover
Should man not in the business come
to my place with that pamphlet for sale I
would not presume on his ignorance and
offer him so cents. Such a proceeding
would be no less than robbery / would
make him fair offer, one that would en-
able me in handling it to make a fair
profit.
mo, dealers in rare books seldom
make purchases from strangers unless
they can give satisfactory information of
how the books came into their possession.
This is done partly from selfish motive
and partly from a desire to protect their
customers
THE dealer in rare books has his regu-
lar customers. His mission is akin to the
confidential lawyer with a client He is
familiar with the literary taste of each
customer. His first thought in purchasing
is that such or such a person would like
that book. The book is put aside and
word is sent to that customer
No; | do not depend on The trade of
Washington alone. Were | dependent on
any one city the business would be a dis
NAL failure. There are in Washington
number of private Libraries of rare books.
/ have customers in nearly every state in
lives in Portland, Ore. There is little
chance for deception, even were a dealer
SO inclined.
Hardly day passes that don't have
brought to me for sale old papers the
owners of which actually believe that they
have something that Will bring them
good price. In ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred they are fac-similies, and nv
heart goes out for the people who bring
them, because l am forced to break the
spell of their cherished hopes.
"A true bibliophile knows the value of
book the minute he hears or reads the
name. Therefore when / get hold of a
scarce volume, all i do is to acouaint nv
customers with the fact and it's state of
preservation. And very often orders come
for book six months after it has been
snapped up by some prompt collector
Washington is a good town for the col
lection and sale of rare books, but 1t is
by no means the best. Philadelphia stands
at the head of our line of trade All
through the hard times New York book
sellers have complained Of poor business.
but il has not been noticed to any great
extent here. OF course, when money Is
scarce it affects all trades more or less,
but the people who collect rare works are
usually those who have means to crafty
what has grown to be fad with them 1t
Is significant facr that some OF the most
valuable private libraries can be found in
the smaller villages.
Il got $500 for the first Masonic book
published in America, and il is no larger
than the ordinary primmer used by child.
IL had a double value because of the fact
that 1t was printed by Benjamin Franklin.
There are very few copies In existence
They are to be found In the older Masonic
lodges. and were purchased at good round
figures.
"A book that is valuable to one dealer
may not be valuable 10 another. For in
stance, a bookseller from another city
came in TO see me one day and asked IL I
wanted book which he had in his pocket
and for which he wanted me to make him
an offer. ! looked at 1t. and, as it was in
a fair state of preservation, / told him l
would give him $40. This was satisfacto-
ry to him, and he volunteered a willingness
to trade the book for books on my shelves
He selected sixteen volumes. the combined
list prices Of which amounted to 500
felt that l had bettered my stock, and
have no doubt that he thought he better
ed his il. the transaction.
You will likely be surprised when tell
you that in this God-fearing country there
cal books. This is due, probably. TO a con-
siderable degree, 10 the fact that there has
been a change in the orthodox teachings
from century or more ago. II Is almost
Impossible to get rid of rare theological
hooks; that Is, those books that are most