Evening star., 1946-08-11
Library of Congress Rore-Book Expert
Solves Mystery of Auction Prices

PAW, 1tC uCSidIeS, ana lIlEH, Ill
contrast, We have the sale of Lewis
Carrolls Alice Underground man
uscript bringing S50,000 when only
few years ago it went for SIS ,000."
Sale of Frank Hogan Books
Another example of a big drop
was recorded last April % and "a,
when the library of Frank j. Hogan,
late Washington attorney, was auc-
toned off at the Parke-Bernet Gal
leries, Inc, in New York City.
A perfect copy Of the famous
Manley- Earl of Roseberry first folio
of Shakespeare, with a fine impress
sion of the bard's portrait by Mar
tin Droeshout, was knocked down
to an unknown bidder for $4,000.
1t had sold at auction for $72 500
when the library Of the Earl of
Roseberry was dispersed at Sothe-
by's, the famous London rare-book
auction house. in 1888.
But, curiously. one or two of the
higher priced books are not taking
that kind of drop. Only a few
dollars of deviation from a previous
sales price was noted when the
Bemis copy of Millions paradise
Lost" printed by Samuel Simmons
in London in 1867, went during the
Hogan sale for $500. The same
day the rare first edition of Chau-
GERS Canterbury Tales" was bought
for $4,000, an average price level
this fine work has consistently main
tanned through the years.
These Are Real Puzzlers
Among some $4,000 rare books sold
at 102 sales in 1914, an old perennial
cropped up for the 51st time to drive
price analysts to the showers. This
item, rare copy of Milton's poems,
first went for $370 in 1895. At ap-
proximate five-year intervals since
then, the following prices have been
recorded:
1900, s490: 1907, $500: 1912, $40;
1917, $3.50; 1920, $3.50; 1925, s1,450;
1880, $1,65O: 1886, s3,10O, and in
1941, copy went for paltry $625.
Another item that can't seem to
maintain a level price over the years
is a copy of Poe's '"Tamerlane" which
went for $1,450 in 1895, s2,050 in
1901, 800 in 1919 and for but
$4,000 in 1899. However, Mr.. Goff
points out that in 1919, when the
S11 600 price was realized, there was
a much greater demand for this
book among wealthy collectors, and
diminishing of this demand might
explain the drop to $4,000 in 1889
Also in this class is a. copy of
Hawthorne's "Fanshawe" which has
been auctioned off 81 times in the
last so years. 1t has run the gamut
from low of $l55 in 1895 to high
of $500 in 1880, has gone up and
down innumerable times, and prom
ises similar capers in future sales.
1t was the general opinion that
fine collection of early Italian
printed and illustrated books which
sold last June II and Is at Sotheby's.
went at substantial increases al
though comparative prices for previ-
Gus years are lacking because many
of the books have rarely changed
t hands.
A Few Good Examples
Approximate prices in American
dollars, based on the pegging of the
British pound at about 81 during
June, follow on few selected items:
"Aesop's Fables" in Latin, with
Italian translation. Printed in 1895,
with 88 woodcuts; $4,000. (The cuts
have been described by Lippman in
his Wood Engraving in Italy" as
holding a position of commanding
| importance among the works of
their era.)
Savonarola, by Girolamo, pub
lished in 1895; $4,000.
Biblia Italica. the version of Mic
colo de Mallermi, printed in Venice
in 1494. One of only six perfect
copies known and considered exceed
ingly rare; $4,000.
Epistole E Evangelii, in Lingua
Toscana, containing a full-page
woodcut and 169 other cuts. Printed
in Florence in 1495. Only two copies
known; $29,600
Ovid-Metamorphoses, translated
and allegorized by Giovanni Bonsig-
more, containing SO large woodcuts.
Printed in Venice in 1897; $6,4O0.
Even the housewife has become
involved. If she has $875 she might
be able to buy copy--now being
offered-of the first printed cook
book, with Latin text, entitled "De
Honesta Voluptate." 1t was written
by Bartelomeo de Sacchis Platina
while he was librarian of the Vati-
can and printed in Venice in 1475.
A search of several records reveals
no recent prior sale, but even if the
price has increased, the missus will
get some new recipes for spaghetti.
MYSTERIES.