The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-03
Frederick Haskin's Letter
Secondhand Book Marts.

than the fiction even We second
hand dealers carry"
Some fabulous tales are told enn-
corning the bargains ALWAYS IN he
found in secondhand book shons
but it is probable that such a.
lightful instances are rare. Moe
OF the dealers are good Judges NJ
literature, as well as shrewd bpsi-
ness men. and they are not likelv
to part with literary gem for
price below its worth. The Drost
on used textbooks and on the hesf
sellers of yesteryear is very slight
it is said, but that on first editions
books that are out of print and
books of a sensational nature i
immense. Volumes which recaiva
the official taboo of the Society for
the Suppression of Vice are sIsn
given a cordial welcome by manv
of the dealers, who find it easv to
sell them at a fat price. Il il "a
ported that one downtown dealer
made enough profit on the sale n
James Branch CabeFs "Jurgens
alone to open another bookshon nm
town.
1t is not surprising, therefore. IN
find most of the secondhand bool,-
sellers strongly in favor of a rigiJ
censorship of our literature In
fact, their only criticism of the
Anti-Vice society is that it is too
lenient. One such admiring deaIar
on the West Side even has a photo
graph of the late Anthony Com
stock conspicuously in evidence on
the wall above his desk.
"The world is getting worse and
worse" lamented this gentleman re-
Gently, echoing the views of New
Tork's much discussed preacher. DIR.
John Roach Straton, especially in
it's taste for books. The movies
bave ruined it You can't sell the
good, sweet love stories our moth
ers used to read any more. The new
girls want something snappy. To-
day, a young girl not any older than
my daughter came into the store
drew me over in the corner there
where none of the other customers
could hear her, and asked me if I
had in stock a copy of Ulysses
that's the book the society suppress
ed in this country last year. All.
you know it? Hmm'-here he paus-
ed and gazed at the customer a trife
SuSpiciOuSly, but at last seemed
to be treasured by what he saw
have you seen the latest Lawrence
novel? I happen to have one there
on the back shelf. And here is an
other that is likely to be suppress
ed soon" He held up a brand-new
copy of a book and added irrelev-
antly, Il am getting in a large stock
of this book tomorrow, although,
of course, it is little late for the
Society TO act now after nearly eT-
erybody has read the work"
The great majority of the books
sold in the secondhand shops are
obtained by the dealers at auction
sales of large estates and from
other sales Of private libraries, but
a good many are also bought up at
a low price from European dealers
and shipped to this country. To one
who is a close observer it is also
apparent that at least a few Of
the dealers Tor perhaps the people
from whom they have purchased
rely upon the public libraries for
a certain percentage of their STOCK
Indeed, in the past the libraries
have suffered so many losses TO the
secondhand book trade that they
recently secured an amendment to
the penal code of the state of New
York, protecting them from such
depredations.
"At one time" declares a library
official, sit was possible to go out
and find whole pushCarts full OF
library books, bearing library
names and marks. Some years ago
found a whole circulating sub
scription library full of them. They
were all library books. which had
been rebound to make identitica-Gii
less easy, the 50-cent bindings re-
moved and replaced by 1S-ceHt
bindings. This was a subscription
library where people paid SO mleh
week to take out a book. we
don't have many cases of this KIND
now, however"
If the dealers are occasionally
guilty of selling a library b0ok
which somehow WandeTs into tier
possession, however. they thLm--
selves are the victims of much bold
thievery. They are constantly los
ing valuable first editions in this
way. Only the other day, a book
seller on the East Side lost two
volumes worth at least $500 TO
clever and distinguished looking
old bibliophile. who moves in the
best society. and is said to earn a
handsome income by supplying
coveted first editions to millionaire
collectors.