Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-12
Tom Days Column



"Shackamaxon," and once we went
| without our dinner and walked twenty
odd blocks to trade Dele ware" for an
Arctic" in the days when the business
| cards of local ice companies were treas
ures in Boyville; but that was as far as
we ever got as a collector.
If you can remember the pretty picture
cards given out so sparingly by the Grand
Depot, Cooper G. Conard. Marks Broth
ers, Partridge & Richardson, and other
such, it may merely mean that you are a
little older than we are. You probably
| didn't amount to much either
But when 1t comes to the real busi-
| ness and pleasure Of collecting, we must
all take our hats off to Hon. John NJ.
Patterson, Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas No. /.
JUDGE PATTERSON owns what some
authorities consider the most complete
set of Dickens first editions in all the
four quarters of the world, and the get
ting of it has been succession of ex-
hilarating adventures. And he, too be.
gan his career as q collector OF ice cards
But it was one Brad" a hobo, a squat
ter on a public dump, who first tickled
young Pattersons appetite for rare
books. Brad" had shack on the flats
that then lay along the west bank of the
Schuylkill River above Callowhill street
bridge, and one day a copy of Popes
translation of the Had came into his
hands. Little Johnny Patterson, happen.
ing along later. was endowed, Carnegie
wise. by Brad" who liked him. The boy
slipped the book into the pocket where
he had put his days bag of garter
snakes; and that was the beginning of
one of the finest private libraries in the
State.
YOU sometimes hear of sudden-m
lionaire acquiring q library by telephon-
ing to book shop: sen me up about
$40 900 worth o. leather-bound books In
mahogany cases" but there's no fun in
that. Judge Pat erson has made his
book collecting n life adventure.
When the Judge was a young law stu
dent, little less than "A quarter of a
century ago, he bought of Charles Sess-
Ter first edition Of Edwin brood" 1t
cost him $3.50, and it wasn't worth much
more. but it was the beginning of spend
ing that has run into many thousands,
and is worth every cent Of ii. The first
book was rebound" and not ''in parts"
as the desirable Dickens should be. But
it was the best he could afford. and his
next buy was another 'rebound"--
"pickwick Papers"-for which he paid
s25. The same work, in the original
parts, was bringing from 5000 to $4500;
much too rich for his young blood. But
the ambition to own a real original was
strong in him. and it wasn't long be-
fore he satisfied it. The book was BLEAK
House." and after that only the best
would interest him. He soon replaced his
pinchbeck "Drood" and "Pickwick" with
pieces of rarer coinage and went gayly on
his way in search of other treasures.
BY THIS TIME he was confirmed
Dickens bug, and he began, on the side,
to pick up autograIL letters presenta.
tion copies. manuscripts, o inal draw.
ngs and every other sort of thing classed
as "Dickensiana."
His wfe---for books were not the
only lovely things he had acqured-re-
buked him occasionally for his extrava-
gance. "Extravagance?" said he. These
things, madame. are as valuable as dia-
monds and as readily changeable into
money" To prove this he sold for 5000
a presentation copy of american
Notes." for which he had only paid 5000.
Having Guieted the threatened domestic
uprising, the collector mounted again
upon his hobby and rode off furiously in
all directions" He spent his vacations in
stuffy London book shops and the haunts
of his favorite author; he let it be known
that he was out for an intellectual spree
and that he was fair game for any honest
traflicker in treasures of the sort he most
desired. He ran about from place to
place in search of bargains, and his
scouts were everywhere. 1t was upon
one of these vacations of his three years
ago that he brought to a triumphant
close his long hunt for the perfect set
of Dickens first editions.
The Judge was broke IN London, in
August, 1914, when the first yelpings Of
the dogs Of war We're echoing upon the
startled air But his credit was good and
he needed it, for he had found there the
perfect first" of Nicholas Nickleby." dis
tinguished from nearly all others because
on page 1913, line II, the word visitor"
appears instead of sister" This makes
the copy very valuable because there is
in existence letter written by Dickens
to the proofreader for Bradb Iry & Evans
publishers, calling attention to the mis-
take and asking that It be corrected. In
most other copies now extant the correc-
tiop was made.
BUT the big thing that happened in
London in August, 1914, and made the
collectors head swim, was not the declar-
alton of war and the consequent difficulty
in securing passage home. but the discov-
cry Of a small pamphlet bearing the pub
lication date of 1852. Justthat little thing
made his set of Dickens absolutely first"
in the envious opinion of many.
In 1852 Dickens had had hand in the
writing of an appeal for a children's
hospital. He only edited the work of
some unknown writer, adding but a few