The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-26
AUCTION ROOM ROMANCE.
Almost as Much Eagerness There as al
Monte Carlo.


For the man of sufficient leisure and
limited purse there are few more pleasant
ways of spending a spare hour than i'm
mixing with millionaire collectors and
contests of the 1eviathans of lucre5 for
the possession of a rare volume or work
OF art, for which the lucky purchaser may
pay many times its weight in gold. Even
cannot help feeling for the time some
thing of the sense of wealth and the
rapture OF possessing coveted object
Fer many years past the writer has
auction room in the west Of London
where many of the most costly objects
OF art and antiquarian treasures in the
where scores Of thousands Of pounds often
change hands in an hour or two
L shall never forget the tense excitement
of one historic sale many years ago when
some of the richest men and the keenest
collectors in England were bidding for a
shabby looking volume known as the
'-Psalmorum CodeX''-a book for which
changing half crown. But this insig-
nif1cant volume was one Of the worlds
greatest literary treasures, and as the bids
mounted into thousands of pounds the ex-
citement and suspense became almost
painful in their intensity.
Higher and higher the price rose
$4,000, $4,000, 34, 000-until, when it
was finally knocked down for $50 under
d.
room. The singular thing was that the
bidding was conducted almost in absolute
silence, and the only evidence of excite
nent was the tense strained, eager look
sale another volume, Mazarin Bible.
was sold for 93.000-a couple of COM
monplace-looking volumes thus fetching
The scene was different at another sale
I witnessed in the same room, when
crowd of naval officers literally scrambled
for relics of the great Nelson. The bid
ding was loud and fast, and the room
echoed with quarterback voices, as adj
mirals, captains and commanders wed
with each other for the possession of
fork. The inkstand,- which was a gift
from Sir William and Lady Hamilton to
Nelson, was knocked down to delight
ed admiral for e520. and just half this
sum was paid for his knife and fork. A
pair of ice-pails fetched G400, Lord Mel
sons sword 91.010, and his medals and
decorations e2,500.
Not even at the tables of Monte Carlo
can one see human nature more undis-
guiSed or in more varied forms than at
such auction sales. So keen Is the de-
sire for the possession in some that /
have seen sedate, middle-aged men burst
into tears or stamp with rage because
they could not get some object on which
they had set their hearts; and on the
other hand, have seen woman of fash
ion shed tears of joy and literally dance
with delight when coveted piece Of
china was knocked down to her
1t may be interesting to review some of
the remarkable prices realized in this
particular auction room. l have seen as
much as e1.S00 paid for small gold
snuff box which once belonged to Louis
XVI; and at the same sale more than a
hundred other snuff-boxes were sold at
an average of nearly 9140. A necklace
of small graduated pearls, of exquisite
purity and beautifully matched was
bought for e4,100, and another necklace
of black nearlS fetched f3475 single
picture has often realized from ct 900 to
100000; and the collection of Mrs. Lyon
Stephens some years ago brought over
G140,000 The auctioneers commission on
this sale would probably amount to s10,-
600.
There is often more than suggestion of
romance in these sales. Some time ago,
for instance. a few pieces of old china
were sent for sale by couple of old
women who Were little better than peas
ants in a Midland county, and who would
have been delighted to. receive a five
pound note in exchange for them. They