Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-05-30

This Ia the price recently PAID NJ tne
Anser.on Galleries here In New fork
for one little yolums OF WIN SNAKE
.ncores complete works. WIN
T'hondler's portrait, dated 1921. IL was
orst edition. or course. In remark
ahlv rood condition considering ns
ya.t arc. and considered by the srau-
oed nuychaser TO be n great bargain
M first editions 20.
rIero Ia something well worth re-
,nenobcrinx the next time you ieei I'M
noscd upon at having TO pay sz'oo LOT
;he latest product Of your faVorNe
author. You never can tell--in tew
year, his works may be worth soou
deoI more. Some Of Joseph Conraas
already bring az much ae &e5 per copy
| ,,hile n frst edition OF Walt Wnit-
man. Leaves Of Grass" recently soio
for $3.50.
But first editions, like all other an
tiaues. grow more valuable a. they
got older, An author has TO De oe"u
a long time before his books VIII DRINK
as much as 81 900 apiece, ana few VI
the books published nowsdays are
capable OF surviving through severai
centuries. Not that some OF them are
! not Of lasting merit, but the materiais
$ of which they are made are 100 Ir"-
3 GLE.
{ The EiIabethan literature was print |
|, Oh on strong, thick paper. mace Dy
hand from rags. and In many cases re-
2 mains whole and hrrn TO-DAY. Inc
shekeepeare volume mentioned above
: for instance, is in Ga perfect condioon
as 4, Was in the seventeenth century
q except for n front page. where an eS-
= merit eve can detect a break in the
!, ,vatermark the old paper, showing
Il that II has been mended.
:, "a rood many Of tho old books have
20 be doctored," explained Mr.. a. Baoe
q, of the Anderson Galleries, as ne point
: ed ont to us the almost imperceptibie
- aaw I'm the precious Shakespeare vol
" ,roa There are OF course, experts
who specialize in this restoring Work.
II Some Of the books have been wasneo
md ironed in which case II Is always
y apparent. Many have been virtually
ruined in the big English libraries
where they remained for centuries
20 without proper care. and now nave 10
N be extensively repaired.
II "Othere fell into tho hands OF care
10 full collectors, and have been psesen
l. down in surprisingly nne trim we can
usuallv tell from the owners label In
he the front OF a book Just what 10 er-
" pect To mention one example, oooSe
I'd from the library Of the late Revert Hoe
which up until 1911 was the largest
r. prIvate library In this country, are az
rc ways in good shape Mr.. Hoe evil
T. IDENTIFY took elaborate pains with then
vs. Then we have several volumes here
r. from George Washington'e library
at which are in astonishipgly good con-
TX dition. Washington was a great cot
Is lector for his day, and took excellent
o. caro- Of his books. Fortunately. 80 dc
g those who later acquired then.
IN Americans Are ColIeehsrs-
~ Americans have always displayed an
unusuai interest in collecting rare
hooks, according 20 Mr.. Bahe' al
-. Thought they have not been given mucn
n cr.dit for Il. There were book cata-
,orues al far back AZ 1880. Fortunately
many OF these early collectors took q
- ratriot.c interest in the development o'
The United States and carefully col
lected all material relating 20 its his
VI toric growth Thus there is n grce
deal of valuable historical data scat
"S ,ered about the various private il
~ braries of the country, which some da'
will doubtless be turned over to uni
ds yercities or otherwise made availabi
W to the public.
by In one case a wealthy American col
st, lector financed the preparation OF
complete history OF all the variou
tribes Of American Indians. Severa
Of the finished volumes, containin
minuteiy exact historical details an
accompanied by large numbers of re
markabie Photographic plates, were re
r." Gently brought to the Anderson Gal
of ! leries and placed on exhibit. They wi
10, have 70 be sold because unfortunatei
raj ! the wealthy collector died before IN
monumental work was completed, N
,ad his heirs have not the same interef
nh in supporting II. The library {
rar Congress. which is an extensive buye
=, at these rare book auctions. is sa!
10 be interested in obtaining the ma
terial.
BY the way, gentle reader. If yo
should suddenly come across any ar
'ae cient historical data packed away
~ your garret or cellar, don't give It
ne Wne- the ashman, but look it over CAREFUL
IN and then consult a book expert.
les may turn out TO be extremely Walt
able. like your sreat-aunts old burea
I'm, which you foolishly sold TO the se'
cry ond-hand man only later TO discovt
aid it was a true product of Il
the brothers Adam. Not long ago
man sent in 10 the Anderson Callers
a few historical pamphlets hand'
ot- down by his grandfather. estimatir
ids their worth at IS. In the auction Wink
mic occurred few days later. tbs
ng. brought s1.400. The subject Of Il
the pamphlets was the early developmeI
he- of the American West.
. Rare Books Coming Here.
The majority OF the hish-pric'
volumes which are handled by Il
,,,. Anderson Galleries. however con
- from European. instead OF AmericG
IN private Libraries. This has been e
10Y pecially true since the war. Gradual
Ielh the worlds greatest book treasur
tne In the English language are comiI
eai- 10 this country, as the result OF q
dwindling fortunes of the English n
bility. No man can enjoy luxury viii
he is hungry, so. in spite of the
l. -