The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-10-20

. auction house outside New York is
n sending out notices to its patrons
1 u stating that ION account of the ad-
vance in the cost Of printing (inerease OF
rs per cent in the last two years) we shall
be Obliged to reduce the number of copies
Of our catalogue which have been sent to
our customers free of charge" They pro-
posc to charge 81 for all catalogues up to
July, 1919, and say: "We know that the
purchase of few books at auction prices
will save our patrons more than the amount
of tie subscription, Us booksellers prices
are much higher"
This statement should not have been
made, because it lacks verifcation; and for
the further reason that no auction house
can hope to continue its existence that does
not cater to and support the rare book trade
of the country, which buys more than half
of what Is sold in this and other auction
rooms. The withdrawal of dealers business
would bankrupt every auction house in the
country in short order. Bidding commits
sioners and dealers win watch the outcome
Of this scheme with considerable interest.
A Valedietory.
Mr. II. v. Jones has written this intro
duetion to q catalogue of books which Ander'
son s will sell in December:
"It is thirty years since I purchased
Browning s The Inn Album in first edition,
and entered the line as book buyer. l
bought 600 American first editions and sold
them many years ago to make way for vol
umes that covered the Dickens Thaekeray
period. These went in turn. because 1 had
caught the spirit of the Elizabethan eollec.
tor, and it became my desire to oFn rep
resentative number of the worlds great
volumes.
81 decided to collect about 1000 books,
which were TO be sold when / should reach
90 years I have not quite the full number
of volumes called for in my forecast and
few months are lacking in the age limit, but
both volumes and years will serve.
~ planned my library to be representa-
tive. At no time did endeavor to buy all
the books by any writer, but rather to in
ehde the rarer of them, or the more notable,
as the case might be, in the opportunities
that came to me
Il wanted my books to have historical
background. While they were TO stand as
literature, they were to serve also az ex-
amples in the development of printing, OF
binding, of illustration and. of feathers.
The tenth century is represented by a
are also represented in manuscript Ny
book of earliest date is Fust and Schoffer
of l460, only ten years after printing. /
WAS able to secure several rare and notable
books to cover the first fifty years printing
period, two Of them presentations, one by
PanneItz, the first printer of Italy. the other
BY Zainer, the first printer of Augsburg.
There are included several volumes from
Italy, the rare Serbian liturgy, examples of
Spanish, Montenegro, Russian and Turkish,
a considerable number of French and Dutch,
some German and many very rare English
volumes.
~ While many Of these rarities-some of
them nomenclature come to me from
direct sources in Europe, it is my great
pleasure TO acknowledge obligation to the
dealers of the United States: Edmund d.
Brooks, James L. Drake, Walter NJ. Hill,
Lathrop c. Harper, A. S. W. Rosenbaeh,
George ID. Smith, ". NJ. Voynjeh and Gabriel
Wells. These men have secured for Amer
ica by their painstaking work the literature
OF the past centuries. 1t is the plain duty
Of this nation to leave the way open and
free to the incoming of such treasures, that
they may be forever at hand for the benefit
Of the students in our schools and colleges.
For me the time of parting has come
bid these volumes an affrctionate fare.
well. "HEEscBrr Y Joyro >,
News Of the Trade.
Receiver Kingsley reports that the an
uOHneed sale Of the French books and
copyrights of W. r. jenkins Company is
premature.
The first bookseller of whom mention Is
made was Peter of ElOis, who engaged in
the trade in Il7U
The Vesey Street Bargain Book Shop has