New-York tribune., 1900-01-28


books and the like should begin to put by lit
tie money for a rainy day. For it is going to
rain brc-a-brac and odd and curious things and
rare books about two months hence, ana the
same sort OF shower may not occur again II is
then that the DAILY collection as it has already
come to be called, is to be sold. 1t is well known
that Augustin DAILY had a taste which amounted
to a positive mania for collecting curious and
beautiful and rare things but after all that
has been written on the subject of this habit
and its results since his death the nature of the
collection is not likely to be generally appre-
ciated till it is placed public exhibition The
exhibition will be at the American Art Galleries
in March. The exact date is not yet fixed but
Il is intended that the exhibition shall open
about the 18th 14th, and that the sale shall
begin on Monday of the following week
The sale will begin with the furniture brlc-a-
brac, relics, paintings, engravings, etc-in Short
the general mass of everything except the
books and in the mean time the books will re- |
main on exhibition 1t is expected that 1t Will |
take about week to get to the BOOKS ana theh
1t will take another week to sell them, the SAFE
going on regularly, afternoon and evening. The |
book sale, it is said, will be altogether the most
remarkable one which has ever taken place IN
this country This is not much on account
of the size of the library, though the catalogue
will have about thirty-ive hundred numbers
and many of the single numbers will cover
several volumes each, but because of the quail
ity and nature Of the collection.
The library has already been described re-
neatedlv in more or less detail in these columns
and elsewhere, but reference to it can never De
avoided when reference is made to Mr.. Days
possessions. 1t includes enormous num-
Der of rare and costly books many of which
are unique. There is the famous Bible, extra
Illustrated and extended to over forty vol
umes, which has been described in The TrlD-
une; there is the history of NeW-Nork, SINH
larly illustrated and expanded and rebound TILL
it takes bookcase to itself; there is Ireland
history of the New-York stage, about thirty
volumes, treated in the same manner; there are
the folio editions of Shakespeare there are
many and many rare first editions of books of
all sorts and classes; there is Mr. Dalys own
life of Peg Wellington, extra illustrated and
with its pages decorated with water-coor draw
ings on the margins and delicatey laid
the text.
To the books of great and especial in
terest would be to make good sized catalogue
The of his books Mr.. DAILY had bound in
something like uniform manner, using diff
ferent cOors and combinations of cOlors to dis
tinguish books which belonged to different sets.
These bindings, though not the most costly that
could be obtained, were as serviceable as pos
sible, and also fine and artistic in every way. !
The great bulk of the books are bound in half
rushed leVant
There was a in Nj. Days house which
called the library but in reality the whole
house a library, and the theatre was a
branch of it. There were bookcases everywhere
in the study, in the dining room, In the halls
and corridors. The bookcases, too, are remarka-
BILE. They are for the most part of naid wood,
the inlayng being all done in Holland and the
parts put together in this country. These cases
will of course also be offered in the SALE along
with the other furniture
If Mr.. DAILY had been a collector in no other
way, his of setting his stage would
have provided him with a remarkable houseful
of furniture For his way, when he
wanted tc present play of a particular period,
to buy genuine furniture for it, wherever it
could be found, here in Europe But the
furniture to be sold is, of course, all and not
chiefly stage furniture. One notable piece of it,
at once curious and rich in itself and in
teresting relic, IS David GaTrick's desk Ii has
high back with painting of Garrick as
Hamlet and other elaborate decoration
The collection naturally contains many the
Rtrical relics There the scales used by Ed
mund Kean when he played Shyock and there
Is a sword that he used. There is cup made |
ST wood from Shakespeares birthplace, and the
lesser relics legion. The pictures not
many but some of them of great value.
There is a portrait of Peg Wellington, by HO-