The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-01-19
MORGAN Gets
TWO RARE BOOKS
Copy on Paper Of The Famous
Gutenberg Bible.
FROM The HUTA LIBRARY.
Other Book Is Also a Bible on Vellum
and the First Printed With q Date.
Treasures Cost Him Nearly Fifty
Thousand Dollars.


Thousand Dollars.
Two OF the three highest priced
books in the Huth library sale recent
ly held In London, are now in J. Pier
pont Morgan's library In New York.
Bernard Quaritch, the rare book deal
er of the English metropolis. brought
these two treasures and gave them to
Mr.. Morgan's librarian. 1t was Mr..
Quaritch, acting as Mr.. Morgan's
agent, who obtained the books at the
Huth sale.
One of them is a copy on paper OF
the famous Gutenberg Bible. For this
Mr.. Quaritch had to pay 500 1000 at the
Huth sale. Adding his commission to
the purchase price makes the cost to
Mr.. Morgan about S31 300.
The other treasure was also a Bible
printed by John Faust, or Fust, and
Peter Schoiffher. or Schoeffer, at
Mainz. or Aayence. in 14G2 This
copy Is on vellum. 1t is the first Bible
printed with a date. Mr. Quaritch
paid S15250 for 1t. With his commits.
sion added. 1t costs Ar. Morgan about
$1G,775.
The Huth paper copy of Gutenberg's
Bible is said to be the finest in ex-
istence. 1t Is the editio princeps of
the Latin Vulgate. commonly known as
the Mazarine Bible from the fact that
the copy in the library of Cardinal
Mazarin was first recognized as a Bi-
BILE to be specially distinguished as the
production of Johann Gutenberg. At
a later period another copy was found
in the national library at Paris, bear
ing a manuscript subscription by the
illuminator, which approximately fix
es the date OF the book 1886. Some
fragments Of the grammatical treat
Use by Donatus and a letter of indul-
gence, both, like the Bible, printed
with movable types by Gutenberg. are
in existence, but the Bible is beyond
dispute the first important effort of
the great inventor Of the art Of print.
ing.
A note by Bernard Quaritch on the
cover reads This is the finest copy
ever beheld, or anybody else" 1t is
bound in blue morocco and has double
columns of forty-two lines to the page
There are several fine decorative bor-
ders in blue and red penwork. large
pen letters, with marginal decorations,
and painted capitals in blue and red
1t is perfect copy, clean and for the
most part uncut.
An interesting point about it Is that
1t contains manuscript memoranda of
signatures and numbers Of chapters at
the foot and on the margins of pages, |
and these are presumed to be in the |
handwriting Of Johannes Gutenberg
himself. The association value Of the |
Bible is therefore great. About $50 cop
les were probably printed on paper by
Gutenberg, and Of these only about
twenty-seven copies have been traced. |
Twenty-three are complete sets of the |
two volumes. Nearly all are in public |
libraries. The four sets in private ,
hands are the Huth-Morgan, the Hoe,
the Duke Of Devonshire and the James
Ellsworth. Among the pubic library
copies are two in this city, the Lenox
or New York public library and the
General Theological society. New York,
therefore, has six Of the known TWEEN
ty-three complete sets. more than any
other city in the world. The price paid |
by Mr. Quaritch for the Huth copy is
the British record for an early printed
book.
The first dated Bible is also the
Latin Vulgate. 1t consists of two vol
umes, folio. double columns of forty
eight lines 10 the page There is a
finely painted and Illuminated decora-
tive border to each volume, a fine
large painted decorative initial, with
marginal elongations, to each book
and painted capitals In blue and red.
1t is in thick, boarded brown morocco,
extra covered with elaborate blind
and gilt tooling by f. Bedford. This
Bible was printed by Fust & Schoeffer
after Fust had taken for debt nearly
all the machinery, types, etc, of Gu
tenberg and with Schoelfer continued
the printing business at Gutenberg's
old shop.
This Huth- Morgan vellum copy ap-
peared in Paris In 1868. The fact that
It was on sale there was reported to
Henry Huth by the late +. S. Ellis OF
London, who thereupon was sent to
Paris by Mr.. Huth with drafts for
$1,000 to obtain the work. He return
I'd to London with It, Only about five
copies on vellum have been sold dur
ng the last forty years, and those five
included one which was successfully
n the Watson Taylor (1s23, $1,O75);
Dent qS27, $500; II. Perkins QS73,
$4,000, and Earl OF Crawford QSS7,
S5,l25), sales. The Sunderland copy
n 1881 sold for $4,000 and the Thorold
,opy In 1884 for $4,000. The price
paid by Mr.. Quaritch for the Huth
'opy was far In advance of any pre-
Tious one.
There was also in the Huth sale a
'opy on paper OF the first dated Bible.
md Mr.. Quaritch paid $4,000 for 1t.
I cost Henry Huth In 1868 S1,375. :
IN the Gutenberg and the two first
lated Bibles alone the profit to the
auth estate was something like $l5,-