Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-07-06
HAS RARE EDITIONS.
Mr.. VIM. PRICE DETERMINES
TO SELL HIS COLLECTION
Autographs CT Great Men-Characteristic
Letters Written by Dickens, Boswell,
Foote, Edmund Kean, Mrs. Slddons.
Thackeray and yoltaire.

Mr. William Wright of Paris, about
equally well known to book collectors
and to sporting men Of the two coun-
tries, has determined to sell his collec-
ton Of autograph letters, his library
and his engraved and other portraits,
says the London Athenaeum. In many
respects this is the choicest collection
of its kind which has come into the
market within recent years and it will
occupy Messrs. Sotheby seven days in
all, beginning on June u. Mr.. Wright
has apparently never experienced the
luxury Of self-denial in the matter OF
books for as he himself says, price
never frightened me" if any particular
book was wanted. A glance through
his catalogue will largely bear out this
frank admission, for 1t contains many
volumes for which the average collector
would commit any number of sins.
The three great attractions among the
books are the extra illustrated lives OF
Dickens, Kean and Garrick. Few books
of recent years have been more fire.
quently grangerized than Forster's
Life of Dickens" but no example OF
this species of bookmaking can be COM
pared with Mr.. Wright's. The three
octave volumes are inlaid and extended
to twelve volumes folio and comprise
119 autograph letters of Dickens him
self and nearly 400 others of contempt
raries. There are 545 portraits of lit
erary and other celebrities, 200 views
of places connected with Dickens or his
works, play-bills and a thousand and
one other Dickensiana.
The copy of Hawkins Life of Kean
is extended from two octave to eight
folio volumes by the insertion of about
$50 letters, 225 autograph letters, zoo
rare playbills, caricatures. etc. Barry
Cornwalps Life of Kean" is also ex-
tensively illustrated. Davies
Life of David Garrick" Is similarly
xtra-illustrated and contains $50 rare
portraits, 100 autograph letters, play
bills, pamphlets and a great variety OF
other matter The collections and eX-
tra-illustrated books relating to the Old
pleasure gardens Of London. theaters
and eminent actors and actresses are
too long to be specially mentioned, but
all appear to have been done with thor
oughness. The works illustrated by
George Cruikshank extend from lot a
to lot 282 and form a series that has
rarely been equaled. The Dickens lots
are over 230 in number ard include, be-
sides Forster's Life" already men
toned the original autograph Ms. o.
THE Battle of Life one Of the three
manuscripts of Dickens now in private
hands. There are about eighty lots 0.
works illustrated by T. Rowlandson,
and nearly that number of Thackeray
entries. including The Second Funeral
of Napoleon" 1841.
But if Mr.. Wright was successful as
a book collector it is difficult to find an
epithet which would fully describe him
as a collector of autographs. These
alone will occupy three days in selling
and extend from lot 1.064 to lot 1925.
The series of Garrick letters, sixty
four in all, and nearly every one of i'm
portance, is probably the finest since
that extraordinary series of forty-eight
unpublished letters of his came under
the hammer at Puttick's on Dec. H.
1S49, nearly fifty years ago. Mr.
Wright's series is to be offered at one
| lot at the reserve price of 9400-a 1T
| tie over &c per letter-and if that sum
be not reached they will then be offered
separately. 1t would now be quite i'm
| possible to form another series Of such
/ great interest and one cannot help ex-
pressing the hope that these letters
may be secured en- l>c for the club
which bears Garrick's name.
The majority of the other letters are
| of actors and actresses of eminence in
their day, but many are from literary
celebrities. There are three from Bos-
well, of which two were written to Gar
rick: several are from Dickens, thirteen
from Foote, mostly addressed to the
Delavas: a number from Mrs David
| Garrick, thirteen are from Samuel
Johnson. and nearly the same number
(most of them from the Kean sale OF
last season. from Edmund Kean; sew
enteen from Mrs. Siddons, and others
are from George Stevens, Thackeray,
Voltaire and Horace Walpole, to men
ton only very small number.
1t is impossible to do more than in
dictate the richness of this collection OF
autograph letters, from nearly all OF
which the catalogue will give reasona-
bly, full extracts. Mr.. Wrights aim
has apparently been not merely to OBJ
tain a signed document of this or that
celebrity, but to secure characteristic
! letter important from its contents as
well as interesting on account of its
signature. In this respect he has UNI
doubtedly been extraordinarily success
! full