The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-02-17
ABOUT RARE BOOKS.

Nearly Twenty Five Thousand Dollars
Once Paid for Volume.
To person not stakeholder in the
close corporation Of book-collectors the
high prices paid for first editions mean
that some one is riding his hobby at a
gallop. AS A. r. Spofford well says, the
passion for rare books, merely because
/ of their rarity, is a low order Of taste.
1t Is pleasing to note that he rage for
first editions Of very modern books has
been for some time on the decline.
Three years ago, when the craze was at
its height, first editions of Shelley
brought extraordinary prices. The first
edition QS21) Of "Adonais' sold for 1885,
and that Of "Alastor'' G816) for $780,
But the bubble burst. Some months
later the "Adonais" sold for nineteen
dollars and the "Alastor" for thirty-two
dollars. By the same token, it is graft
flying to read that Kipling's "Schoolboy
Lyrics" which has sold for $675, re-
Gently brought only $780, An old book
seller was very earnest about 1t when
/ he talked to Mail and Express report
Ell THU morning.
Wealthy people who don't know any
luiHS dpoul pooho, onio iic, oio iS
sponsible for the high prices placed on
first editions of recent authors / don't
object, as 1t Is good Tor business. Stlil,
can't see any reason IN H. Hlgn
prices for books ripened by the years
are perfectly reasonable. I am sure
that any lover Of reading would rather
hold in his hands Walton's Compleat
Angler OF 1903 than Waltons com
pleat Angler OF 1899
You may be surprised to Know ne
continued, that nearly twenty-five
thousand dollars was once paid for
single DOCK. Ii was at the Famous
Lyston Park sale OF 1854. Inc DOCK
was tine Latin Psalter OF Gutenberg
ana Faust, the second editlon OF l4oo.
Three years ago at the Ashburton sale,
the Mazarin Bible, OF the same printers
sold for twenty thousand dollars. 1t IS
not probable that the work Oh any pup
Usher OF to-day VIII ever have the value
OF the work or that OLD German nrn.
Prices have often been forced up at aut-
tons by collectors VINO were rivals.
Famous incident OF this KIND occurred IN
1872, at the Roxburghe sale, when the
MARQUIS OF Blandford PAID eleven thou-
sand dollares for the Vaidafer Boccac-
clio of A71, in order to keep 1t from his
great rival. Earl Spencer. Seven years
later the same book sold for forty-six
hundred dollars.
A good copy OF the first folio or
Shakespeare, published in 1923, brought
nine hundred dollars In 1854 1t Is now
worth from $4,000 to $2,b00, While at u
New York auction In 1881 copy sold
for $4,000. Walton's Angler was pub
lished in 1853 at one shilling sixpence
In 1891 fair copy sold for $3.50. A
well-known New York publishing firm
offers for sale the first five editions of
the Angler for which $4,250 is asked,
and the chances are that they will get |
It, Robinson Crusoe" is another clas-
sic which is steadily increasing In value. |
In 1896 a copy Of the first edition |
brought $375. 1t is probably worth five |
hundred dollars now"
Perhaps the most marked rise in |
prices has been in America. This rise is !
accounted for by the keen competition
If historical societies, the great public
ibraries, and wealthy collectors. The |
works of Increase Mather and Cotton
Mather and of Benjamin Franklin are
especially desira BILE. The early psalm
books and quaint primers also COM
nand good prices The chance of stum-
bling upon a rarity lends zest to tf1t
,unt for our early publications
Some time ago John Anderson Jr., of
his city, found what is considered an
copy of the first English Bible
printed in America. 1t was printed in
Boston in 1851, by Samuel Kneeland,
nd was sent out with a forged imprint
$50 ~ ,.. =. ......asa1