Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-08-10
In low A
COL. scoFIELD OF WASHINGTON
CLAIMS DISTINCTION OF OWN.
ING UNIQUE. LIBRARY.

Composed of $4,000 Volumes, Many Of
Which Are Very Valuable-The Col.
lection Of a Lifetime In Books-con1-
menced at Close of Civil War.
The distinction of owning the larg'
est private library in southeastern
Iowa, if not in the whole state, is
claimed by Col H. W. Scofeld, pro-
minent citizen of Washington. He has
a library of $4,000 volumes and many
of them are very valuable, as any
book collector will testify. The col
| lection of books has been a passion
with Col. Scofield for over seventy
years, for he is now past rs, and he
says he does not know the time when
he did not have mania, almost, for
owning books. A good many people
have doubted whether it Is true that
Horace Greeley learned. to read when
at the age of years, as his enthusl-
astic biographers claim, but the case
of Col. Scofield is an example OF a
living man who loved books ever since
he can remember and he learned to
read almost before he could talk.
| But like many another boy who had
his way to make in the world 1t has
not been till the last thirty years that
he has been able to crafty that whim,
which he says is a foolish one. Any
one who likes books will dispute this
point with him, but that is neither
here nor there as far as this article
| is concerned.
| When the war broke out, H. W.Sco-
field enlisted in the first regiment to
leave Iowa soil, the Second Iowa in
fantry He went in, he relates, as a
| thigh private y He was promoted
about the time of the fall of Fort Don
elson for meritorious conduct. though
this is not information cleaned from
him, but from the records. Later, he
| was promoted to a colonelcy and at
the fall of Mobile he was brevetted
brigadier general. He was mustered
out January 6, 1868. This war record
| is only german inasmuch as 1t was
rare books and got on track of others
had only about 1000 volumes. The
leans, and fell in with an old curios.
/ Ivy ouOphSSpCl lthS LIE OuS. blChShS
made immortal, only probably, from
all accounts "a better business man.
This man was Mr.. Muhl, who knew
a vast deal about curious books and
made several trips abroad and each
time found some books that he sent
to the colonel, who took what he
wanted and returned the rest. This
continued while the old shopkeeper
lived Many of the best he got from
Null, He has not made specially
Of Bibles, although he has seyera
i that would command a fancy price
among collectors, He has the famous
bug Bible" It was published ir
1853 at Antwerp by Jacob Van Met
tern. It may be of interest to relate
that the correct reading should be
Need not be afraid Of a terror by
night" but the bug Bible" has il
"Bugges by night" The type is the
old English. 1t is work Of art, II
the proofreader did fall down on 8
portion Of his work.
The Breaches Bible.
Another wonderful Bible is the
Brooches Bible" which students will
recognize as valuable one among
collectors. A curiosity is religious
volume in abbreviated Latin that was
evidently done in monastery. 1t has
been hand Illuminated and each chap
ter is begun with a handmade initial
letter. It is beautiful Elbert Hub
bard follows the style in his Roycroftel
shop at East Aurora, N. Y.
Il The oldest book in his library is
dated 147s, which students will notice
is very shortly after Gutenberg in
vented movable type. The "Breeches
Bible" was printed in 1911, when il
would appear they ought to have
known better. but maybe they were
like the cowboy out west upon whose
tombstone his comrades carved, "He
done his damndest; angels could dc
no more"
Be that as 1t may, the type is very
pretty and the hand Illuminating is su
perb. The colonel prizes these books
as the horseman does his thorough
bred horses or the connoisseur his pic
lures And speaking of pictures. he ha:
an original book of Hogarth tina
would delight an artist. He paid ST.
/ for the volume. You couldn't buy i
, from him at ALL and in the market i
! has value that makes 1t prohibitiyt
, to any but the wealthy. He also ha!
Boydell's Shakespeare. 1t was got w
about the time of the Napoleonic war:
, and it was such costly edition tina
J it ruined the publisher. The plate:
, cost nearly a million dollars. In some
} way they got to America and were
touched up and these few editions were
printed from them. 1t has nothing bu
, the illustrations of Shakespeare
characters. 1t cost about $3.50 for thu
two volumes.
OF course he has all the leading mag
azines of America since their begin
ming and has the Gentlemen's Maya
zine from the first volume, January l
1881, and down for $50 years. Littel''
Living Age is in the collection, ant
many other English publications. (
beautiful set of Thackeray and 0
Dickens tempt the person who merel,
enjoys them to read, while set o
Scott in fine morocco binding make
an even 100 volumes. But as rule