The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-11-01
RARE OLD BOOKS.
Perry Has Volumes of All Ages and
Values

A wonderful collection Of books is that
which Preston A. Perry, the well known
/ bibliophile, has on display In this city
3 Il day yesterday and today Mr. Perry
had the books on exhibition in the parlors
of the Hotel Portland, and quite a num-
| Der of people awaited themselves of the
! opportunity to view the priceless volumes
and have their qualities explained.
Mr.. Perry styles himself book lover.
He does not take 10 the term 'bibliophile'
which means much the same thing, but is
content to go on record simply as a lover
of books and an admirer Of the art that
iG in them
His collection is small, compared with
the value placed on the whole invoice.
! The collection is insured for $4,000 but
several times this amount would not in
duee Mr.. Perry to part with his books.
In order to be appreciated the Perry
I collection of books must be seen. 1t is
useless to attempt to describe them either
as to their value or their looks They are
Of all ages and sizes. From volumes SO
small that the aid of a microscope is
necessary to read the contents the books
range in size to a Dr. Johnson's diction-
y
chiefly in England to feed horses, and In
Scotland to support the people.
These books are printed in almost all
the great languages There is a roll of
Sanskrit older than America, another
book of devotion printed in the 18th CEN
tuFy, one of the rarest relics Of European
printing and in the execution of which
there is a wealth of beauty in the ancient
printers art. A wooden apparatus, in APP
pearance something like a relling-pin.
around which is rolled the book of
Esther. is another attraction. 1t is much
admired. and Mr.. Perry says ii is eight
centuries old. 1t is written in original
Hebrew and came from Syria.
A looker-on yesterday was examining a
small. ragged volume which did not i'm
pr SIS him as being anything wonderful.
THAT is Sir Thomas Moore's Utopia.
said Mr.. Perry, "the first edition. and its
value is $3.50" The book was laid down.
One among many curios in the book
world is a Persian phrase book. 1t is con-
structed of solid gold discs on ivory
plates. These discs cover small black
impressions in the ivory, and by moving
the discs the black spots are revealed
and obscured and the phrases formed.
This book is 1.o0o years old. Others are
Pliny's Natural History. one of the great
books of the world, and the Nuremberg
Chronicle, one of the wonders of ancient
biblical works. The former volume was
printed in 1472. A Koran 500 years old is
something of novelty.
One of the fine features of the collec-
ton is that of illuminated printing. Mr..
Perry has a number of these volumes in
which the large letters at the beginning
of chapters are plated with solid gold. set
in color work of remarkable brilliancy.
strange feature OF these is that the older
the volume the more beautiful the work.
Among the collection are The first edi-
tons of some OF the greatest books of
the best-known modern authors.
This wonderful collection of rare books
will be on exhibition Wednesday next
il being the fourth attraction in the Car
Ter Star Lecture Course
Course tickets. see; single admission.
50 caufs