The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-15

1904. q
The Thomas Heyes' issue OF 4The Mer-
chant OF Venice" OF 1000 is far rarer than the
y. Roberta issue, called the first. No
copy OF the former has been sold by auo-
ton aimee 1874. much Ado About Moth
ing 1900, is the copy whioh brought &287
LIS. at the famous Daniel sale In 1904, and
Is In beautiful condition. vastly superior
TO the cleaned example for which Mr.. Perry
gave E1 $40, the record price, last Deem
Der. '.
The 1902 merry Wives of Windsor" IL
one Of four perfect copies, the other three
all owned In Great Britain. This one cost
Locker-Lampson e8s5 In 1890, and would
resell to-day for at least 1000. For the
1911 aTitus AT dronlcus" Mr.. Church paid
s82o In 1901. Although the third, this 10
the only obtainable edition, the first and
second editions, 1894 and 1900, being repre-
sented respectively by n and two copies.
Ahighly interesting portion Of the Church
library contains works possessing Shake
spearian interest. The choicest gem in this
section Is unquestionably Robert Chester's
@Love's Martyr" 1901, q volume Of excess
sive literary importance on account Of its
containing shakespeare only oontribu-
ton to any other authors work. This Is
a poem, 4The Phoenix and Turtle"
Only n copy Of Loves Martyr" 10
known, a poor example. In the Christie
Miller library In Britwell, England. The
Church copy, formerly in the Daniel; Tite
and Locker-rAmpson collections, brought
R1sa at the Daniel sale forty-two years ago.
It's present value Is fully fifteen times this
sum.
Among other rare items Of Shakespear-
lana are the pseudo Shakespearan plays
and foundation dramas: "Loorine," 1906;
"The Raign of King Edward the Third, /"
1895; "A Warning for Fair Women 1900;
"Sir John Oldoastle,' 1900 (the issue with
Shakespeare's nance; True Tragedy Of
Richard, Duke Of York. 1900; 'The London
Prodigal,' 1905; 4True Chronicle History Of
King Leir,' 1905; "The Puritan" 1907; "A
Yorkshire Tragedy 1908, and "The Two
Noble Kinsmen,' 1es4-all first editions save
Richard. Duke Of York.
Only FIVE perfect copies of 'Locrine'
are in existence. Two Of these are owned
in this oo%untry-in the libraries Of Mr..
Church and Mr.. Morgan. Edward the
Third contains q line from Shakespeare's
ninety-fourth sonnet (-LiHes that Tester
smell far worse than weeds") showing that at
least one Of the still imprinted "Sonnets'
was well known at this early date, 1865.
The great interest Of king Leir,' 1905;
Is obvious, as Shakespeare is supposed
to have used this play, first acted in 1903,
when writing his king Lear Only two
other perfect copies are extant.
Mr.. Church's splendid copy Of the First
Folio, measuring 1877 by sH inches, and
immaculate throughout, was described In
THE SUN Ave years ago. It cost him 1880
in 1880 but would bring more than twice this
amount. In addition, he owns four issues
Of the second edition. the 1858 and 1904
issues OF the third, and two issues OF the
fourth.
These treasures are rivalled by the rich
gathering Of sh~akespeare's poetioal works,
including the first, fifth, sixth and eighth
editions of @Lucreoe'; the two issues OF the
first edition Of the 'sonnets,' and the COL
leoted Poems" OF 1eAO. Only five perfect
copies OF the first edition Of "Lucrece,'
1894, are said to be extant, and two Of the
five are in Greater New York. in the pos
session of Mr.. Church and Mr.. White.
The second edition Of -Lucreoe, . ,I5oS,
is represented by one copy; the third edi-
ton, 1900. by one copy, and the fourth
edition. 1907, by two copies, the extant
| examples Of each being all owned in Eng
land. The next earliest edition owned in the
| United States Is therefore the, fifth, 1916,
| OF which three perfect copies are known
Library, and Bodleian Library, Oxford,
England. The Church copy Is the finest
OF the three.
A copy Of the sixth edition, 1924, sold for
81 1925 here in 1901. Mr.. Church's copy is in
the * contemporary vellum binding.
The eighth edition Of "Lucrece,' 1855,
also in the Church collection, contains a
frontispiece portrait Of Shakespeare, which
is the rarest Of all engraved portraits Of
| the dramatist. The gems Of the poetical
items are the two issues Of the first edition
of the "Sonnets' Of 1909, bearing the i'm
prints, respectively, Of william Aspleys
and John Wright
The latter Is by far the rarer Of the two,
only three perfect copies having; survived.
Mr.. Church's copy, which cost him 5000
in 1888, is in beautiful condition, superior
to the others, which are owned in England.
Its present valuation is at least S15, 1000.
Mr.. Morgan's Sh~akespearian collection,
remarkably rich In fine copies Of the folios,
contains only a few early editions Of the
quarto plays and poems. One Of the most
important items il 1Loorine,' 1895, one of
the two copies owned in this country. Mr..
Church having the other one. This ex-
cessively rare item was secured in 1900,
when he purchased the magnificent library
OF the late Theodore Irwin Of Oswego.
The library Of Robert Hoe, inferior to
Mr.. Inorganic in several respects, includes
q finer series Of Shakespearian items, the
eight examples Of the folios being all splen-
did copies-the First Folio, Of extraordinary
size, was described in THE Sun In 1901
while among the poems and plays are
several notable ~rarities. The most i'm
portant Sh~akespearian item in Mr.. Hoes
collection Is probably the sixth edition Of
Venus and Adonis," 1927, Of which he
owns the finest Of the two known copies, q
remarkable example, uncut, and in the
original vellum. 1t also has the leaf before
the title page, marked Al, which is not In
the other copy. In the British Museum.
The first five editions Of @Venus and
Adonis" are all n English libraries, one
oopy being known OF the first edition, 1893
three copies Of the second edition. 1904;
two copies OF the third; 1895; one copy Of