New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-04-29
HOE TOTAL NEARS$5OO,0OO|
"HeIyas, Knight of the Suzanne, "
Brings $21, 900 in Afternoon.
IRVING ORIGINALS POPULAR
Lively Bidding for Works of
American Author Sends
Prices Soaring.

Prices Soaring.
With total OF s1l1s54 in bids for the
two sessions. yesterday took third place
among the days in the salo of the Robert
Hoe library. which started last Monday
afternoon at the Anderson Auction Rooms
Madison avenue and 10th street. Counting
only the number Of books selling for 1.0ot
or more. yesterday was second. with
eighteen books. as against Tuesday with
twenty-three. The grand total taken In to
date on the 1,947 lots disposed Of Is 1852,
100 50. The bids Of one man have made ur
more than half this figure. George D.
Smiths Indebtedness to the auction stood
last night at s276,22o 90 H, is doing most
Of his bidding for n. F. Huntington
There was rivalry last nisht among the
bidders to see who could carry away the
greatest number Of works by single au-
thor Washington Irving offered the best
opportunity, being down for twenty-seven
different items on the catalogue. His
works. however. were widely scattered
and could only claim the distinction OF
bringing the highest price of the evening
paid by G. S. Helman. a dealer. of this
city. for the original manuscript Of THE
Life Of Oliver Goldsmith" bound In brown
morocco. The amount was $3.50
Three other lots Of Irving sold FOR more
than $1,000, the original manuscript copy
used for the revised edition of the His
tory of New York" containing mere than
$50 closely written pages inserted opposite
the text, which went TO Mr. Smith for
5000; the original manuscript copy Of that
portion of The Life of Washington re-
latins to the treason Of Arnold. which also
went TO Mr.. Smith for the sum Of $500
and the authors revised edition of The
Sketch Book" for which +. D. North. a
New York dealer. paid $3.50.
Mr.. Smith, nevertheless. forged to the
front In this little game of capturing com
plete sets by carrying away the six lots OF
King James / which were offered and the
eleven lots of Ben Jonson. For the first
Of these he paid total of $3.50, being
forced by the bids Of Dodd & Livingston 10
offer s1,035 for single volume. 81 first edi-
ton Of The Essayes Of Premise in the
Divine Art Of Poesie." The other set com
manded his purse to the extent of 81 .055
four of the eleven leaving the 1000 mark
behind. The highest of these. which was
also the second highest price of the even
ing. cost him $3.50. 1t was for the first
folio edition OF Jonson's collected works
known as Jonson's own edition. Mr.. Hoe
obtained the two volumes for $1,000 in 1894
from Dodd. Mead & Co. and expended $3.50
francs in having them rebound by Cuzin.
With the end of the evening session the
sale was adjourned until Monday after
noon. Next weeks session will run until
Friday, when a vacation will he taken
until next fall. After that there will he
two more sessions before the library Is
wholly disposed Of.
Heavy Afternoon Sale.
The afternoon session was marked by
more than one interesting incident. Not
only was the second highest price Of the
sale reached, but the total Of s66ss6 30 has
been exceeded by only one other afternoon
session, that Of last Tuesday. when more
than 81 900 poured into the treasury. The
bidding for the twenty-four Illuminated
"Hore,' the collection of which was one
Of Robert Hoes particular hobbies. was eX-
ceptionally spirited. every one of them
bringing more than 500 The whole lot
brought $4,000 of which amount George
d. Smith contributed Sll,37 carrying on
seventeen Of the twentyfour volumes.
Mr.. Smith, however. was beaten in the
race for the prize book OF the afternoon
"Helyas, knight Of the Suzanne" is the
title of this little volume. and in 1t APP
pears the first English version Of the
legend Of Lohengrin. 1t was printed by
Wynkyn de Worde In London In 1872. is
the only known copy OF this production OF
Wynkyn de Worde's press, and is said IA
he the only book printed by him on vel
lum. It bears the name Of Edward
Gwynne, a book collector Of the early
seventeenth century, stamped in gold on
the cover and a book plate Of Sir Paul
Methuen, who lived in the later part of the
same century, on the inside. Mr.. Hoe
bought It from Bernard Quaritch. of Lon
don, for something under $500 shortly after
Mr. Quaritch had acquired 1t at the Hope
Edwards sale in 1872. for little more
than 400.
Walter NJ. Hill. of Chicago. who had
pressed Mr.. Smith closely on several other
occas ions, won the right 10 II with bid OF
s21 900 II was not without a fight that Mr..
Smith gave up. He was on hand with a
bid Of $500 when the auctioneer first an
nounced it's appearance. Immediately he
was raised TO 81 .oN0 by Miss Belle de Costa
Green, j. p. Morean's librarian. Then the
race began in earnest.
DR.. a. 6. w. Rosenbach, Of the Phila-
dephia Company, was the next one 10
enter the arena, but both he and Miss Green
quit when Mr.. Hill and Mr.. Smith reached
$1,000 and began to raise each other In
jumps of $3.50 and $500. Finally Mr.. smith
shook his head when the auctioneer sug-
eested that he make II $1,000 The
volume went to Mr.. Hill for what IL said
to he the third highest price ever paid for
a book. For the first time since the Guten-
berg Bible was sold, on the first night
there was applause as the hammer fell.