Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-11-20
NEW yoRHs OLD sooksHops.
Experiences Of Men Who Make a Rus; .
q ness OF Buying Private Libraries.

OF dim basement shops in New York.
day by day. would tell a tale of human
pathos, mixed with comedy, as strange
as any romance ever written. The
bibliopolists' calling is a curious and
eVentfui one. 1t thrusts upon him odd
commences and sometimes takes him
into weird surroundings.
Not long ago answered a hasty
summons to certain house in Brook
lyn. and made an offer for it's immense
library" said a downtown dealer. re-
counting one of his most peculiar ex-
periences. 1T came from the wife of
a bibliomaniac. who was widely known
throughout the city. s.t
Il knew the idiOsyncracies Of the
man, for had visited him once several
years ago. 1 wanted to buy some
books that he owned. He literally
kicked me out of his house, so l felt
no surprise when l saw his widow of
a few hours tear from their shelves, in
sheer bitterness Of spirit, the books he
had fondled.
She had lived with her family in
three rooms on the second floor of her
husbands big dwelling. He had forced
her to vacate the other apartments.
Two of the children had been driven
from home in order to make more
space for his books. His special hob
bies were the Civil War, Of which he
was a veteran, and China. No scrap
of literature that he could find on
either subject was spared. He gath
cred all into his Overwrought house
and kept them there. The third floor
fiI1a6 with ~
papers. They formed almost a COM
pact mass from wall to wall. When
the columns grew SO high and broad
that the doors could not be opened, a
panel was removed and the papers or
books were thrown through the
erevice. The window was open, and
the havoc of rain and snow had ruined
all within reach.
mo one ever was permitted to dust
the books or remove a fragment Of a
clipping. The CRIME Of years was
shaken from their covers when the
widow owned them for the first time.
She did not keep them one minute
longer than was necessary. She sold
the entire collection for $4,000. and I
removed it in ninety-three cases of
eighteen thousand volumes. 1t repre-
sented the abnormal labor of thirty
years, and at least two wrecked lives.
That is one of the sad extremes to
which love of books may lead a hob
by-rider who is not strongly balanced.
women sometimes send for me
from a great distance to inspect their
library. with view to purchasing
what they describe as fine collection
of books 1 have dashed to the scene
and found several hundred paper
backed novels, not worth the energy
that 1 spend in catching the next train
home. The car-fare is my loss, of
course-and it reaches a considerable
sum in IA year. l can do nothing ex-
cept leave the premises. and try not to
be even silently profane.
"Have you any paper for shelf-cov-
ers?' said a woman shopper who en-
tered the store at this moment, and in
terrupted the conversation.
mo, madam Turning away, he
continued: THAT is typical Of most
wOmen's appreciation of old books.
answer questions similar to that sever
al hundred times day. j can't under.
stand it. Women have revived fash
ion for the antique in furniture, but
they maintain a serene Indifference tC
antiquities in photography And YET
Oliver Wendell Holmes said: There
is no furniture like books
Il found a manual worth $3.50 in 9
young housekeeper's cold-scuttle once
She had asked me to buy some ole
books that had been swept together
when she cleaned the stOreroom. She
1~,,:<~ >re,k
| looking ones, and arranged them fr
orderly rows for my inspection. They
were not worth three dollars. The
| others she had thrown aside for tht
ash bin. I have learned by experience
| to reverence rubbish heaps. So
| quietly asked for a glance at the debri!
| and was led to the coal-scuttle. / helt
| my breath as drew forth the shabb!
manual. 1t was a first edition OF th'
| Star Chamber one of the earlies
books printed by the famous 'Grolie
| Club 3
/" This is an attractive little book
how much will you take for it?' I asked
"'You may have that for nothing,
was the reply.
Il said no more then. but when
| reached my SnOp L sent ner d sOoo
sized check. But when it reached tn
woman she suddenly changed her mind
and decided that she wanted her gif
returned. 1t took all my logic and elo
ruence to persuade her to sell 1t for tn
sum offered.
"I never have met among women
connoisseur or extensive collector
rare old books. or even new ones. An
there are fewer men, among the young
er generation, collecting to-day tha
there were a decade ago. Yet hun
dreds of books are published now 70
every thirty Of an earlier period. Col
lections of clippings from newspaper
and magazines are increasing In pop
ularity; and yet they are almost worth
less from a dealers viewpoint. for tn
strange reason that no two human be
ings seem to be interested In exactl
the same subject or the same phase {
it. The assortment may be wort
hundreds Of dollars to the man wn
gathers it, and yet be difficult to dis
pose of at any price. There are a fe'
exceptions. Clippings on the DRAMA
the evolution of a town or city, or o
the reports of the Weather Burea
Il NJ v,nnNIarlty.