ormity of entry. The nomenclature and standard of booksizes is still an uncertain and unsettled question in America. The standards set by the American Library Association are not exactly suited for the description of old books, and have not been adopted by the trade generally. The sizes, therefore, as given here are, in general, the sizes as given in the original descriptions. A few obvious errors and some misleading statements have been corrected. It has not been possible, in many cases, to verify the titles with the books themselves, or with accurate transcriptions, so that, no doubt, many errors in spelling and wording of titles have been allowed to stand, not to speak of the new errors which have crept in, and from which no catalogue ever yet printed was absolutely free. These will not, we believe, detract to any great extent from the usefulness of the book. Should this volume meet with the necessary financial support from the trade and book-buyers generally, the compilation will be published annually, and it is hoped that this, our first effort, will be much improved upon in future issues. Although the number of sales and aggregate value of books sold at auction in the United States fall below those of England, nevertheless the past year has seen dispersed several collections which, in the character of the volumes offered and in the sums realized, will compare favorably with any recent London sales. Some absolutely unique books, and others practically so, have been put upon the auction record, while new records have been established upon some of the world's great classics for which the competition is keenest. The books most in favor with collectors in this country, much as in England, are early English literature, first editions of English and American authors, and the rarer Americana. For a few of the rarest and most esteemed volumes in each of these classes there seems to be no limit in price to which they may not attain. Prices which even five years ago would have been called exorbitant, are to-day considered moderate. The demand exceeds the supply, and at each sale some buyer is prepared to pay, for a fine copy, a little more than the book has ever brought at any previous sale. This can be said of the rarest books only, for commoner books, and especially inferior copies, have not shown any marked increase in price. This remarkable advance in prices in recent years was exemplified most strikingly in the second Foote sale. Mr. Foote's copy of Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield," first edition, cost him $75.00 about ten years ago. It sold for $340.00. His copy of "Paradise Lost," first edition and with the first title, cost him $65.00 about twelve years ago, and sold for $525.00. His copy of Lamb's "Tale of Rosamund Gray," first edition, uncut, cost him only $25.00 about twelve years ago, and sold for $350.00. His copy of Herbert's "The Temple," one of two known copies of the first edition, cost him $250.00 about eight years ago, and sold for $1,050.00. A few others showed an almost equal advance. S The publications of the Grolier Club of New York and of William Morris' Kelmscott Press represent another class of books for which astonishingly high prices have been paid. These modern books, beautifully printed and issued in very limited numbers, appeal very strongly to collectors. The first publication of the Grolier Club, "A Decree of Star Chamber Concerning Printing," of which 150 copies were printed a sued to members in 1884 for about $4.00, has sold at auction for $125.00. "The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám," issued the next year in the same number, has sold for $150.00. The later publications of the Club, issued in larger numbers, have not increased to an equal extent, though all bring much advanced prices. A complete set, including the etching by Flameng of Grolier in the House of Aldus, sold on March 18th at prices which aggregated $941.00. The original subscription prices to members would aggregate about $165.00. The publications of the French "Société des Amis des Livres," a number of which were sold in Boston in April, brought very moderate prices, in some cases not more than covering the cost of the bindings, which were very elaborate. The taste of the majority of American collectors does not run towards French books, though the French are, without question, more than either the English or Americans, masters of the noble art of book-making. Books having an added personal quality, making them to an extent unique, naturally bring much increased prices. Thus, if a book is a presentation copy, with inscription, or if it has be longed to some famous person, and has his book-plate, or manuscript notes, or special binding, its value is greatly en hanced. The highest price realized during the year on a single lot was $1,650.00, at which price George Washington's own copy of his "Official Letters," London, 1795, with his autograph on the title-page of each volume and his book-plate in the first volume, was sold at Philadelphia on May 10th. The year has seen come to the hammer two copies of Lamb's "Tale of Rosamund Gray," two copies of Robert Browning's "Pauline," the author's first publication, and of which only some nine copies are known, one of the three known copies of Mrs. Browning's first book, "The Battle of Marathon," one of the two known copies of Charles and Mary Lamb's "Poetry for Children," a copy of Shelley's "Address to the Irish People," a copy of Ruskin's "Poems," first edition, and many others of hardly less interest. Of the first editions of American authors, sales of which find record in this volume, the most important is Edgar Allan Poe's "Tamerlane and other Poems," Boston, 1827, which sold on April 25th for $1,450.00, with one exception the highest price realized during the year. It was the same copy which in April, 1892, sold for $1,850.00. The book was then in the original paper covers, whereas, this time it appeared in a handsome Parisian binding, which cost upwards of $300.00. When put up in 1892 only a single other copy was known, the one in the British Museum, which is without the covers. For a year or more another copy has been on the market, in private hands, and this accounts, in part, at least, for the lower price now realized. Among rarissima books by other American writers we may note Hawthorne's "Fanshawe," and Whittier's "Moll Pitcher." No great collection of Americana such as the Barlow, Ives or Brinley, have been put upon the market during the year. There were a number of good items of Americana in the Livermore collection, and others in a lot of duplicates from the Lenox Library. The highest priced piece of Americana in each of these sales was an Indian Primer. In the Livermore sale an Indian Primer, printed in Boston in 1747, the only other known copy of which is in the Lenox Library and imperfect, brought $825.00, and in the sale of Lenox duplicates a copy of the second edition of Cotton Mather's "Wussukwhonk," or "Epistle to the Christian Indians," Boston, 1706, sold for $450.00. Many desirable pieces of less value will be found distributed among other sales. Several good collections of manuscripts and autographs have been dispersed. The most interesting item sold was a frag. ment, 33 pages, of the original manuscript of Dickens' Pickwick Papers, which brought $775.00 in the second Foote sale. There were some remarkable autographs in the Maxwell collection, including specimens, indubitably genuine, of Michael Angelo, Lucretia Borgia, Vittoria Colonna, Louis Elzevir, Marguerite de Valois, and others. His rare foreign autographs were for the most part from the great Pfass collection, dispersed in Berlin about three years ago. They sold in Boston at prices considerably below the prices realized there. In the Philadelphia sale of May 8th and following days, there were some important historical pieces, including Benedict Arnold's original commission as Major General, a number of autographs of the signers, etc., as well as some fine literary pieces, such as orig. inal autograph copies of "Home Sweet Home," "The Old Oaken Bucket," "The Star Spangled Banner," "John Brown's Body," etc. While the prices which rare books bring at auction are a guide to their value, the result of a single sale must not be taken blindly. Much depends upon the condition of the copy and of its binding, but other factors also affect the matter. Books which are sold in some well-known library will bring better prices than if the same books were offered in a miscellaneous lot of items of less interest. Even the season of the year and the state of the weather on the day of the sale often affect the prices realized. It is, therefore, where possible, advisable to compare and average the prices received for the same book at several different sales. The general depression in business through which the country has just passed, has affected to only a slight decree, if at all, the prices of the rarest books, though it has thrown several collections into the auction mart. The few abbreviations used hardly require any explanation. A. L. S. is Autograph Letter Signed; L. S. is Letter Signed; |