The Detroit times., 1914-11-27
BUNCO DE LUKE
WAS RESALE OF
DE LUKE BOOKS
Clever People Who Would In
stinctively Shy at a Gold
Brick" Fell For il
BUT A FEDERAL COURT
PUT CRIMP IN INDUSTRY
How the Game Was Played by
Farmer and Hartley, Both
Now Under Sentence

NEW YORK, Nov, 2G. Write dowI
among the lost industries vi the
Lnited States the resale sales OF
eultions de luxe.
1t was real industry while II
la.led, anu tor uye years lls captains
y.oh III all average OF Sl,OOOUUO a
ear on an investment OF 100000
ihey lOuhu a InaTKet. wherever there
MS a DOOk shelf, and Wnen one looks
over the names OF the victims JnaI
ia,e become o. record II may DC saiu
,..a, l-el~ Wa as none too sophisticated
~ ulLAstand them,
Some weeks ago James j. Farmer
anu N, .Iliam J, Hartley, oi the Anglo
american Authors association OF No
10 tiitL-ave., New York, We're con.
ylctea IN the United States district
court OF naUns used the mails 20
deiraud TIN 0ugh the sale OF rare
ediIlons lney nave taken an appeal
nom tue sentences OF two years in
Atlanta penitenrldTy which Judge
roster ihiposc4 on them, but Assist
ant DIstriCt-AttOrnCy Frank NJ.
nocsa u no prosecuted them, said:
There will still be plenty OF
places GGerc one can turn TOR editions
ae lu!.e, zeal or pretended, but think
IL Will De a long time before they are
again SOLD on the strength OF prom
ise5 OF lntimations that they can be
lssolu al handsome profits
Ihat is what constitutes resale"
sales, and the guises in which these
promls es or inumations were convey
Ell are all but numbeTless. During
the trial Of Farmer and Hartley some
very picturesque ones came to light
First OF all there was the million
are collector" When he was needed
TO clinch sale in New England for
instance-the millionaire collector,
lived in Baltimore or Chicago, or,
perhaps, on the Pacific coast He
lived In New England when The sale
was pending in the west or SOUTH.
and when there was al, especially
choice sale TO be made he had just
gone abroad.
Under such circumstances as these
the bait letter would be used. AT
the Farmer Hartley trial there was IN,
troduced one OF these letters that had
been composed by the two men in
collaboration and written on the let
terhead OF a smart London hotel and
actually mailed from there. II read:
My Dear Colonel--We arrived here
today after a very disagreeable pass
age. Rain and high winds prevailed
from the time We left New York until
We landed in Southampton. | am now
resting and figuring out a plan for
our library. AS | informed you. in
tend making some purchases on this
SIDE, but | will positively take from
you, If you can supply them, the bulk
OF what | purchase
Fifteen thousand dollars is alto
gether too much money TO put into
one set OF books, but must have that
ex hbris monograph copy of the
"Oriental Series. the Napoleanc.
Dickens, Thackeray, Scott. "Beaux
Arts Classics" Days of the Dan.
dies, Wilde, Balzac. Hugo, Immor-
tails, Roosevelt, Trollope. Carlyle,
Hogarth, Whitman, Fielding. Shake.
speare De Faublas and the British
Poets"
These can procure for me and have
them ready by the time my house Is
finished. We expect to return in
Few months, when | will give you
1ull list OF what my wife and self have
selected for our library
We have put aside sl50,000 to in
vest in books and few library pic
lures. Don't you think we ought 70
get nice home library for that
amount?
OF course, We don't anticipate any-
thing like the one Morgan has bur
with your assistance, old chan. we
should get something nice
Faithfully yours,
p. S-My wife wants copv OF
"Fads and Fancies.' Can YOU secure
Il?
This letter would be used after
sales mad been made OF few. say. or
the books listed in the letter. The
agent would come back gsefully with
the letter-and knowledge OF place
where some others on the list could
be picked up at half the price the
millionaire' would pay. Who could
resist such an opportunity? The gov.
eminent has evidence that very Few
could, once they had been approached
IL was a popularity OF this mil.
lionaire' that he would not do m,si.
ness with an agent or publisher He
wanted his books to come from a
library probably from the library 81
one who knew and loved books. This
accounted for the fact that while Tho
agent might tell him where the books
he wanted could be found, the agent
could have no other part i'm the trans.
action than that or mutual intro
ducing friend
Sometimes these bait" letters
cnme not from "millionaires, but
from countesses or baronesses. who
had heard of the wonderful advances
I'm the art OF book-making that had
come In the United States. or who
were interested in exhibitions /of
beautiful books to be held in London
or Paris. They were always just
starting for America to buy books or
TO gather them for these shows. OF
course, they couldn't 20 TO shops or
be bothered by statesmen or accept
products mat were not privately
owned.