New-York tribune., 1899-12-24
BERNARD QUARTlCH.
~pRTNCF OF BOOKSELLERS" HIS
D1sE AND POWER IN THE WORLD
OF OLD BOOKS.

hookseuer Of Twenty -eighth-st.. re-
=, two telecrams from London telling him
-. ,esth Of Bernard Quaritch. the Prince
V,otseuers" one Of these kilograms was
r. A. Quaritch. the only son Of the dead
y. ,be other was from mutual friend. who
= n the close intimacy between the London
=. and his New York confrere Both were
:. h-ief announcements OF the sad event.
=. ,s,uraly contained no explanation Of any
..-.I motives that their senders may have
:. 7, would De- interesting however. to know
~. dying father. for Mr.. Bouton tells a story
=. which such d dying request would well
lc,ri
q. vas about ten years ago, think" says
=. Byuton- that I said to Quaritch: Well,
..,.h. youu live to see the dawn Of the
vs-,je,A century anyway. He shook his head
RI sid: No, I shall not, Bouton. But you
-
,ss-tale = tha ireternatural this would have
-. force Il every one were agreed to call the
., 1870 the frs, f the twentieth century AS
tk he zen r.,cence is interesting enough,
,. with a year and a week Of the nineteenth
GUY STU ur-pert Of excellent omen for the
...York man. Besides it harmonizes well
r.. vhat his friend remembers in general Of
y .m51s c0l-..tor-a man Of a somewhat
,c.-0us orisn %.
: s-smemo-r" he says, "once asking him at
liner . tell US where he was born. but he
s-ssi out an out They say he was a native
Prussia. hu. never could find out from what
II -.
s-s 70 London as young man. and was en-
Iy4a by Henry .. Bohn in the capacity of a
re, Ther De- -ose q be q clerk.
'3o.n was ;1.u considered the largest book
tsr in England You know the series OF
:s,s,adons r. the Greek and Latin classics
rA be published. Well Bohn used also to
r.-sh catalogue about four inches thick
rA was considered a wonderfully large cata-
ry7s IN those days. At the bottom Of the back
= Yice was s,amped-Price, one Guinea
{: t1rm that it g1t the name Of Bohn's guinea
Y Quartet sad TO Bohn one day: You are
gE3ered the biggest bookseller in England. l
: going 70 b. The biggest bookseller in the
MA That coming from his clerk, staggered
IN he uttle thought that Quaritch would
5- 10 fulfil his boast"
. a al many lovers Of rare and valuable
. Is and 90 mos. General readers the name Of
lnard Quar.t.A is familiar as that Of a man
70 kept famous emporium Of books and kept
t the prices of al the rarities Of literature.
he announcements Of the sales Of great libra
3 al Sothetys or at Chrsue's The mart Of
.aeas'). readers = The London literary week
: have tor years been accustomed to see after
Z number ana title Of suudry lots, and gen
'-y after a huge price the single name
y1aH'ch-' lie as al inyeterate bull Of the
ook market not thinking overmuch Of the ex-
eLse When he walked out Of al auction room
f1 the Consciousness Of having contributed
5 5000 70 the gross results Of the sale.
He was euvied. but not universally loved, by
1hophAes less financially powerful They ac-
'@1 him II "c9ruerin-' all the first fOlios" OF
-Akespeare for MS own selfish ends, and the
nk business world at large looked up to him
Lefty as 10 a self made business man who had
rked his way TO wealth from the humblest
'gnnings, and was not yet sick Of the pursuit.
Tbs Was only one view Of the man 1t is true
al he must have possessed the rarest business
lent TO have successfully embarked with
shoer car tai upon the humble bOokSellng en-
spnse IN Castle-st which followed his period
service with Bohn and preceded that more
nous "Quaritch's" in Piccadilly. But 1t took
0eh more than mere ordinary business ability
csrTy out the boast which had astOunded
lhn and TO carry IL out so amply that the
:nOry Of Bohn's four-inch-thick guinea
was swallowed up in "Quaritchs General
- ol
ae half thick again as the guinea pig"
% has sinoe developed into six thick quarto
wines and become precious guide to the
''o Of rare books
Bernard Quar.tch besides being a business
az, was connoisseur OF books, and, whatever
~ have been his antecedents In that veiled
ry past u his, he eventually became very
''ch Of d scholar perhaps by certain cuucu-
L absorption through contact with great books