Evening star., 1901-10-09
VALUE OF LIBRARIES
DISCREET COLLECTION OF Boks A
PROFITABLE INVESTMENT.
Masses of Tones That at Posthumous
Sales Have Brought More
Than First Cost.
From the New York Sun.

rum tHe -NtW 1tfk sun
We have before us the details of the re-
cent sale of the remarkable library formed
by the fourth Earl of Ashburnham. Some
of the volumes. supposed to be the most
valuable, brought less than they cost, but,
on the whole. the sale confirmed the belief
that the collection of books. If iudiciously
conducted. is an excellent investment.
Everything depends, of course, upon the
skill with which the owners selections
have been made. There is no more profit
to be expected from the omnivorous collec-
ton of secondhand books than from that of
secondhand furniture or clothing. OF this
fact striking proofs were afforded at the
sale of the accumulations made by Richard
Heber and Prince l.. L. Bonaparte. Heber's
books cost him about $4,000. but, al
though the posthumous sale of them was
carefully managed, and protracted over
number OF years, 1t produced only S2S5. 900.
Prince Bonaparte's collection had been
made at an outlay of some 5000 coo and
was Known to be unrivaled from a philo-
logical point of view. Nevertheless. 1t could
nnd no purchaser for several years. and,
hnaliy, was sold for $4,000 to a Chicago
norary On the other hand there is con-
elusive evidence that books, regarded by
experts at the time of purchase intrin-
sically valuable, especially If first editions,
are likely to appreciate with time. The
Roxburghe collection is supposed to have
cost not more than $4,000; it sold for
ABOUT six times as much. Some S15o.0O0
are thought to have been expended by
Beckford on his library; it brought more
than 1857 900. The original disbursements
Tor the Spencer collection are computed at
Soooooo; the books realized S1.250O00.
Ashburnham's Books.
Inc Ashburnham library was the outcome
of purchases begun as early as 1914, and
continued up to within a few months of the
late earPs death, which occurred in 1878.
In 1880 his entire collection of books and
manuscripts was offered for $500, ,oO0 but
no purchaser could then be found a. the
price. How much it has now brought can
not be exactly stated because considerable
portions of the library were disposed of at
private sale. Thus Mr.. Yates ThompScn is
said to have paid about SlJ000o for what
were catalogued as the Appendix manu-
scripts; Mr.. Quaritch bought privately a
fine copy of the Biblia Pauperum for SIS 600
What the Italian government paid for 1922
articles from the Libri collection Of manu-
scripts is not known. The books and manu-
scripts, however, which figured In the pub
lie sale by the Messrs. Sotheby are esu-
mated to have cost less than 100000; they
sold for $4,000.
One of the most noteworthy examples of
increase in price offered at this sale was the
sum commanded by little book of sixteen
leaves, the unique tract entitled the Urea
tyse of Fysshynge wyth an Ang!a," and
Uy w NyUhlU Qe WOTU ABOUT
At Haworth's sale In March, 1926, this tract
was acquired for about 800 by Messrs.
Longmans, apparently acting for the late
Earl of Ashburnham. At his sale 1t realized
H,SO0. A perfect copy of the second book
printed at Oxford, Aristotle's Ethics Q479),
cost less than So and brought s6u5. "A
Litii Boke Which Traytied of Pestilenca,"
bearing no date or printers name. cost
Lord Ashburnham less than $31, but found
a purchaser at the recent sale for $40.
'"The Book Called Caton." printed by
Caxton in 1883, cost less than $40 and
brought a,475. For the Life of JASON"
printed by Caxton about 14T7, the earl paid
s435. 1t was sold for si0.500. The "Fabu-
lac ct Vita" Of Aesop, printed by Sorg,
without date, cost about S15. I5 and brought
s305. The first edition of the same book,
with the Italian version of Zucchi Q4I9),
remarkable for its woodcuts, but not quite
perfect, cost about $3.50 and was sold for
$207.50 Les Prophecies de Merlin.' print
ed by Verard, Paris 049S), cost s157 so and
sold for $500. Another early printed
French book, lie Livre du Roi Modus,
printed at Chambery in 146S, advanced
from 500 to S2,9I5.
Price of Old Bibles.
OF course, even in book collecting by ex-
perts there is an element of speculation.
Some of Lord Ashburnham's books brought
less than might have been reasonably ex-
pected. For instance, a very respectable
copy of the first edition of the Bible In
English printed at Antwerp by Jacob Van
Meteren in 1885, dropped from $3.50, paid for
it by the earl, to $3.50. A perfect copy of
the first edition of King James version.
which cost s3S5, was sold for $3.50. Two
imperfect copies of the "Breeches'' Bible
Q5S4 and 1880, which cost $780, sold for
s1.25. A copy of the second edition of Fox's
Book of Martyrs Q570), which had cost
the earl s760, fetched only S53.T5 A vel
lum copy of Froissart's "Chroniques," one
of three printed by Verard. fell from 1890
to $3.50 An ElZeyir the CicerO's "Opera''
QG42), in ten volumes, bound by Roger
Payne, which had cost the earl s105. real
lied but $15.75. A very rare vellum copy of
Dante printed by Paganini Q515) declined
from $50 to $3.50.
Such diminutions of value We're excep-
tional at the Ashburnham sale. The general
effect of which, have said, was to
show that if collectors confine themselves
to first editions they are almost certain to
realize handsome profit on their pur-
chaSeS.