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

issue Is stated, the magazine will likely be
issued every little while, as occasion de
msnds. The editor declares its purpose "to
be to serve honestly and faithfully the in
terests Of booksellers, booklovers, and book
makers by aiding and supplying their mu'
tual wants.
Catalogues Received.
From the Book Corner, 25l Fifth ave
me, a catalogue Of Americana, natural his
tory, travel and exploration, &C.. ! $50 titles
Included in the catalogue is q magnificent
set of Audubon g Birds in the folio edi
ton, with case especially made for hold
ing it
Sales at Auction.
At Henkel s, Philadelphia, were sold Oct
8 important and early law books.
At Libbie's, Boston, was sold Oct. 1917
4 large collection Of books on scientific sub
jects.
At de vries's Amsterdam, Holland. were
sold Oct. 8. the occult books of F. G. Waller.
The Anderson Galleries open their season
with the sale of the fine library of the late
William Temple Emmet, containing 3 great
deal of interesting and valuable material,
including a first folio of Beaumont and
Fletcher, fourth folio Shakespeare, Kill
marnock Burns, much rare Americana, with
other items of equal Importance. Sales on
the afternoons of Oct. 81, % and 90.
On Oct. $3.50, Part Two of the Shakes
peare collection, the first part of which was
sold last season, will be sold at the Andcr-
son Galleries.
z. W. P. de Vrics, Amsterdam, viii sell
Nov. 81 the library of Baron Van S Graves
loot, containing manuscripts, alba amicorum,
heraldry, early travels, &C., with items that
are seldom listed.
The Anderson Galleries announce the fol
lowing sales: William Temple Emmett, C.
Z. Gunther, Oct. 81; Mrs. NJ. II. Norton of
Los Angeles, Nov. Is; Robert II. Dodd,
Nov. 1922; +. B. Clare Avery Of st. Louis,
Nov. %; Herschel V. Jones, Dee. So;
Chauncey I. Blair. of Chicago, Dee. ll-lo.
Replies to Questions.
Mas. L. C. r., BRooKLVN-You have fallen
into the error common To many, that be-
cause 4 book is old it must necessarily
have value There are a great many books
that date back pretty nearly to the infancy
OF printing from movable types that are to-
day worth much less than the cost of the
paper and binding that make them up.
Ioa ask what makes book rare if age
does not. You should distinguish between
rare and valuable, because many are no
doubt rare but lack the other qualification.
book is usually considered valuable by
reason of the small number of copies issued
or existing; the fame of the author; the
Importance of the contents, and the num-
Der of copies available. Many books pub
hshed within the past ten years are rare
for one or another of the above reasons.
1t is said that 4 book entitled Twenty Years
Among Our SdrGGc IndtanS, printed in 1899,
was burned up in the printing Office, the
only two copies spared being those sent to
the Library of Congress for copyright pur-
poses. This, of course. would have made
that edition excessively rarc-if it had
been q fact, which it was not. Many more
copies of that particular edition than tho
two mentioned can be traced. But Just the
same the story got about and the book
sold for pretty stiff figures.
Often books which have been suppressed
have come into the rare class; and we may
call attention to q story that has been
current among book people for many wears
to the effect that publishers have been
known to suppress book in order to en-
nance the value Of the copies they put out
through other hands. In the class of SUP
pressed books may be- included such as
have been placed under Governmental or
ecclesiastical prohibition.
Books may be rare in America that are
only passably scarce in England; therefore,
all the markets Of the world must be taken
into account when passing Judgment upon
rarities.
But rarity alone does not make value, for
there are many books of which few copies
are in existence that are worth no more
than their value rs waste paper.
Among other causes that make for rarity
books have at times been published in out
of the way places m limited editions, and
where these have been narratives of travel
and exploration, Indian captivities and
Others of that special class they invariably
become rare from the destruction that &C