The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-25
BOOKS DE LUXE FOR RICH
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1 fesses he does not. All that he is sure 1 about them is that they are extremely
 valuable. and that should, perchance. 1 the opportunity arise for her to buy them
 she should seize upon 1t instantly. ] Having thus spent pleasant afternoon
 he takes his departure, leaving the widow l to reflect upon what polished gentleman
 he is And his engraved card remains
 behind as a reminder of his parting l words:
 If I can ever be of any service in l advising you as to your library do not restate to let me know"
 Three, four, or perhaps, six months l later, in which time the widow has had no particular occasion to recall her caller to
 memory, another stranger calls. He, too. l is well dressed and affable, But instead 1 of posing as a bookworm he bluntly ad- l mits that he Is a book agent and having l obtained entrance to the house by wles peculiarly his own, he brings forth from
 a silk lined case a volume of unusually handsome workmanship.
 l Teh widow sees at once that it is one ] of the very set she lacks. Observing her l interest, the agent places the book in her :, hands that the desire to possess it may be
 sharpened Perhaps she frankly confesses I that it is Just what she has been looking
 for, but she hesitates to purchase 1t be- fore consulting with a friend-a gentle
 man, she tells the agent, who first told her about the books.
 Outwardly disappointed at not closing | the contract, but inwardly rejoicing that io if tba I agent assures the widow that 1t is right that she should not act hastily, and re- 1 turns to his hotel to await her answer.
 But before going he suggests that it were
 best to send a telegram to her literary
 adviser
 | This she does, and though she mentions
 the fact that the price asked for the books Is $500 Or 5000 a volume. as the
 case may be, that gentleman replies: | "A bargain. If you should wish to re-
 sell them I have friend who will take them off your hands at an advance of
 $2OO each"
 | If she is still unsuspecting, the widow l probably sends a note to the book agent | at his hotel, and he again calls, but not too quickly. Presently contract is
 drawn up calling for the purchase of a set of books, of which only 10 copies have been published, at an enormous price per volume for many volumes. By the terms of the contract the widow makes a sub stantial cash payment and gives her notes for the balance, the books to be delivered few volumes at time until the full sums have been paid.
 If she is not an inquisitive person, she continues to believe that she has pur- chased rate set of books, and she will probably make sacrifices to complete her payments On the other hand should a real judge of books drop in and, after | an examinat tion of the new addition to !! her library, have the courage to inform her that the books are not worth more 1 than a tenth of the price she Is paying l for them, the widow sheds a few tears 1 and then consuts a lawyer as to the best 1 means to keep from paying the balance l on her contract
 l Usually compromise is made, for l these contracts with book agents are cev l erly and legally drawn. Controller Her man A. Metz, so his friends say, chose
 this way out of a bad bargain though Ii 1 cost him s20,0OO to do 1t. Others like ! Mrs. Hoxie and Mrs. Patten. wife of
 James Patten, the Chicago speculator anu
 former mayor of Evanston, H., prefer to
 fight the case in the courts. 1 But long before either of these steps i is taken the book agents, meeting at head l quarters in New York, have divided the
 spells already gathered in-