New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-01
AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING.
Changes IN the Hobby Within Sirty
Years.
Years.
From The London Sphere

From The London Sphere
L is curious 70 note the change which has
been unc0nsCiously effected IN autograph collect
hg in the last sixty years When tina
hobby was IL its infancy-that is, IN the
earlier half Of the last certury-the autographs
Of royal and noble Fe-sonases were ranked first
and foremost and Il was chiefly TO such per
sonages that John Cough Nichols devoted his
fine work on autographs, 1879 Such auto
graphs have always commanded good prices but
these have not increased in value in the same
ratio as those Of less highly placed but world
renowned men- That king Of autograph col
leccOrS Dawson Turner, who in his way
sui Eeneris, obtained many royal and noble ex-
aTr-pIes, but he limited himself to no class or
country He amassed collection Of over forty
thousand examples, all Of which were acquired
al comparatively small SUNS possess a letter
from him ID q dealer, dated Yarmouth Deem
Der 9, 1913 comprising al order for certain aO-
tOE-aph letters, Of which eleven were at i'd
each, six At Cd each. and three at Is. each, and
these prices would seem 70 have been average
ones at that tine for ordinary letters of distin-
g71ished men. noble and otherwise Dawson
Turner'S hobby must have returned Il for every
Is. spent Oh II
rese1tztive and extensive collection Of auto
graph letters could have been formed at
average Of : a letter, and a fairly good and
Interesting collection at much less than that
Unfortunately for collectors. such is not now
the case, for the men with unlimited means have
adopted" the hobby Only the other day the
record price Of Il go was paid for Unfin-
tshed letter from Lord Nelson to Lady Hanll-
t0n: and still more recently long and also
IulSheC( letter or thirteen pages II me lSllQ-
writing Of Mary Queen OF Scots brought IJvO al
Sotheby's March 81 lasD, as against f40 paid
for It on July Is 1853. These two letters were
OF exceptional interest, but the prices cheerfully
paid for them show that money Is nc object
Whatever when the article itself is Of the first
rank Of Importance
A genuine Shakespeare autograph signature
a=a-7s oT1itP past praying for. During the last
fa sons OF auction sales there has been quite
an endemic Of Shakespeare autographs, bur
IN spite OF the very grave suspicion Whlcn SUI
rounds every one Of these they al FOUND ready
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. chiefly. One OF these, &C
1-ired for q few pounds, realized 2p g1Lneas
another bought for Cd, sold for tIO2; and yer
another which cost the owner a few pence pro
SDoed $50 The owners sold wisely; perhaps
+7,era are TWO opinions about the wisdom OF me
BUYERS Niltou's letters, for obvious reasons
sre q the greatest rarity, but II sum OF tvoV
e Maid for the scrTveners MANUSCRIPT OF boOh
= ~ .sDa-adfse Lost" one can only wildly sur
misc the commercial value o. q long letter N
the hand Of Milton Cromwell mas always -
a high value in the autograph Hl4IheL- nc
most charming letter Of his when mas COTE
---6e- the hammer was one TO his WIFE, daIeo
September 4 1850, one page tolo aild ms was
sold II Sotheby's on May a ISe4. Tor IL %
atrr-+ 70 rer cent more than Il had COST the
~v-nar Thirty years OF SO ago very me IeLLefS
# Tg- Johnson were purchasaole AT an aAFel<1SS
- = They have more than treDIed IN Fa-4e
-z-r57s+ an exceptionally tne one, IS N LIe C--2
- - historic euisrIe 70 MaCpherson-In "flcH
The photographer declared that he "oIa not pe
5s-a--z5 rom exposing what he thought 10 De
a cheat by the HaeIaces OF d Tu'I ,,ie +aen
-=sfize4 so The fact OF 4 letter having o-eI
-5~-a7 docs not seem 10 affect It's market vi uG
Coldsrnith's letters have also increased ~ -,
TWO Of more than ordinary interest n L ne
5--r-- sale q few months ago selling Tor % an
20 each Dickenss autographs as i ILLe - -
with nearly every other modern aulhor VIZ -i-9
written many letters, have not SAo"H A-'' "
dercy 70 20 up IN value e ,,z
TN autograph letters always short OF MOI
e-- r7orarchs do not 'enthUse" collectors 11eH
turn may come il the distant 1UIuE