New-York tribune., 1906-07-03
BUYS OLD BOOKS.
Dealer Tells ON What Basis Tdlues
Are COMPUTED.

a catalogue bound in parchment. foNed, rare
and curious told of the secrets Of the sec
ond hand book trade in a downtown cafe the other
day. He buys for his employer 100000 volumes
year, travelling all through the metropolitan aus
trict and into several adjacent states He mas
carte blanche do business with owners in values
ranging from $50 5000. and boasts that he has
never made mistake
"T have little to do with selling books-only buy
EN- and set the price" said the young old man.
slipping the amber liquid in his mug.
You must know them alp
''No man can know everything" was the reply.
Il specialist in early English literature. pret-
ty fair on Americana. and backward on Russian
fiction. There is always something to learn, and
bibliophie is always learning
How did you begin the business"
"As a private collector. then librarian, and
finally professional buyer l gradually acquired
several modern languages and the lore OF bind
ings and editions. The great secret, however, is
TO know how to find out what you don't carry
in yOsr head. We have in shop library OK
three thousand volumes devoted solely 10 cata-
logues and bibliographies If a book isn't listed
there IT'S out Of million"
so you can look up the pedigree OF any book?'
Eyes. the editions and all the details are set
down. In the case of rarity the record tells OF
successive purchasers and the prices paid for the
last century. Sometimes in a library come across
a work with the title page missing. but the auc-
tioneer has pencilled a number the inside cover
that serves to identify it. book that has been
out of the market for fifty years is suddenly dis
covered in the attic Of an old country house; they
turn up in all sorts of queer places. Time may
have increased the value enormously or. again,
decreased it,
How do you estimate the value?"
mot on a literary basis, you may be sure Of
that Authors and artists judge by the contents;
the bbliophle considers the edition and scarcity.
cheap little privately printed tome telling OF
the early settlers on Long Island may be worth
$40 while recent ornate Shakespeare published at
that price will not fetch one-thlrd as much. J.
you ever want to sell books count on the old.
ragged. queer little ones rather than some calf
skin set Of standard author. Yet mere age does
not give value. We get letters from people who
offer us ancient almanacs and Bibles printed in
1900 hoping to get fancy prices for goods not worth
carriage. When / appraise book / look up the
prices formerly obtained for it, consider the pres
ent demand and deduct so much for wear. After
all the science involved you might call it lucky
guesswork'
What Is the average price you pay?'
For common lots. 25 or 30 cents a volume This
includes cloth novels history biography poetry and
so forth I never make offer. The customer
must say what he wants for the lot. He often says
that ne doesn't know the value. and would like me
10 tell him. In the first place. that would mean
giving him the benefit, instead of my employer. Of
years of study and second, we found that when
we made offers people would hold off and try 10
get larger bid elsewhere They would say. so
and-sO offers $780, The other dealer replied I'll
and expense of appraisal. So we let the customer
state his price. Sometimes 1t is excessive. and.
% sSSe apd n d aSRaea 10 take a@9Vansge @ OF ignot
When m dealing with rich people who know and
tions but try to give poor folk decent rate"
Is the profit made from the average or rare
IT'S the find that counts That's what makes
The other day We paid a quarter for an old Eliza
ssfhaT o b autho and N sold ut @ tS another not % dealer for
TeF a FLO looking @ for Just that book and we ddn
years for a customer and employ such expensive
machinery Of business goes far TO Justify the little
his money in hurry. dollar now is worth more
How do modern de luxe editions fare?"
Badly. man is lucky to realize One-tenth Of
printed on yeilum, which is thin sheepskin, with
fooled covers selling at thousand dollars volume
or so. There is too much buncOmbe in that line or
limited to small number. when the publisher Sc
%s roh ga pubshr by T Rad
bought alleged limited edition and found that
a maS aSG to the
In European Libraries valued at higher prices An
Old Testament papyrus in the Vatican has been bid
make Tog y amonds Cheap Tl pans by RapRae
would not fetch more than one OF these old Greek
fare there any absolutely worthless books?"
school books. At least they are worthless except
to the junkman, who sells them to the paper mill
date in a very few years. We never buy them. or
q
these works. They might become curiosties in
time like the famous New England Primer. Lit
erature and art never go out of date. Speaking of
art the superbly illustrated architecture and ptct
works OF century ago still beyond com
parlson. The fine bindings, the wood and steel
cravings can't be done to-day and these books
have an intrinsic value. we'll as that of age and
scarcity. Audubon's birds and NapoeOns art gal
lery examples OF costly magnfhcence combined
with utility. Fox's Book OF Martyrs published
in 1863 is less beautiful equally sought after
You must experience strange incidents In the
business"
Strange and pathetic. While looking over ono
lot l discovered some greenbacks that had lain In
a book for fifty years. The family thought that
the dead grandfather had slowed the away.
the man to whom / restored 1t. 1t is pathetic to
the struggle that people have I'm disposing OF
their beloved books. Whether they have read them
not. long possession has endeared the familiar
the shelf, or II the faVOrite Of a departed
relative. Up In Connecticut I bought the library
of who had been intending for many years
to visit his brother in London. and in order to
prepare himself had collected books about London,
but he died before he had read half the books or
ever seen the Thames. Another In Jersey had
his house barricaded against process servers who
wanted to attach his library. He let in through
triple chained doors, sold the collection to me IN
about five minutes. and then. throwing the doors
had the money and l had the books I recall also
the surprise of two old maids out Long Island
who were disposing of many first editions OF early
American writer's. Having paid dollar two
apiece when they bought the copies. they inn
agined that the value would be somewhat less to-
day
''What books do you care for yourself?"
Dickens, Charles Lamb and Tom Jones, re-
piled the young old" man. II think Tom Jones'
the greatest novel ever written"