_Written for_ The Collector’s Guide _by Mary A. Benjamin_
[Illustration: _Allied News-Photo_]
Frequently I am asked, “What is a safe investment in autographic
material over a long period of years?” The answer may well come from my
experience gained in this field during the past decade. The boom years
of 1928 and 1929 sent many items of a literary, historical and musical
character sky-rocketing, although subsequently they shot down just as
suddenly, 1938 seeing prices at probably their lowest level in 25 years.
And yet, just as in the case of rare books, some forms of autograph
material suffered less than others. The knowledge thus gained, helps
materially to light the pathway as to what is the best sort of
autographic material to consider for future investment.
Today, the safest buy seems to be good Presidential letters written
either before or during their terms of office, preferably the latter.
These letters must have worthwhile contents. Uninteresting documents of
our Chief Executives are all too common and sell at nominal figures.
Signers of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution are
also excellent, that is, if the contents measure up. In the literary
domain, authors’ letters about their works are always sought for,
although prices are more inclined to fluctuate than on historical items.
Of late, increased interest has been evinced in the “War between the
States,” or, as it is called up North, the Civil War. An added lure is
that prices for this sort of material, are almost at rock-bottom, as
collectors are just beginning to wake up to its importance. The years
will see good war letters of famous Federal and Confederate Generals go
very high. The upward swing has already begun.
A new field which has sprung up recently is that of State collections.
The country has heretofore been too young to care much for the
historical records of individual localities. But with the development of
the nation, this interest has steadily grown, and today, all letters
relating to internal politics of individual states or cities are being
sought, the competition having a healthy effect upon prices.
Early Mormon material, and records pertaining to Texas, Michigan,
Colorado, Virginia, California, etc., are in active demand, thus
enabling the average dealer to place them without difficulty almost as
fast as received. Furthermore, whereas a collector may become
discouraged in buying a complete set of Signers because of the
super-rarity of a few names, there is little difficulty in obtaining the
two or three Signers belonging to the collector’s home state, to say
nothing of famous Generals, literary lights, composers, etc.
The one, almost unchanging code of the collector should be to buy
hand-written letters of good date, and of unusual, historical, or
otherwise excellent content. Fine items seem to hold their value pretty
well, even in times of financial stress, and with the years should edge
upwards in price. Less desirable items will fluctuate considerably. To
sum up, good autographs provide the best expectation for at least a fair
dividend on the money invested. On the other hand, common items that
have little to recommend them except cheapness, are almost invariably a
disappointment as far as the hope of satisfactory returns, are
concerned. There are occasional exceptions but this rule holds true 98%
of the time. In closing, may I also stress the importance of being sure
that what you purchase is genuine. Unless you are an expert yourself,
the safest way is to acquire your pen treasures only through a dealer on
whose reliability and experience you can absolutely depend.
Walter Hart Blumenthal, rare book specialist at 1775 Broadway, New York,
is frequently called upon to contribute articles on odd books, such as
for example a Shorthand Bible, a Latin Life of Washington, “Alice in
Wonderland” in Esperanto, and a book bound in human skin. Shortly THE
COLOPHON will present an article by Mr. Blumenthal on books in which the
text and illustrations are pierced into the vellum, letter by letter,
the pages being backed by colored silk. In all the world, only seven
such early volumes are known, he states.
Rare book dealers should make good chiropractors because they know so
much about “spines”.... To make Book Week successful, avoid displaying
Weak Books.... It requires no earthquake to produce “shaken” books.
WANTED
AUTOGRAPHED
FREE FRANKLED ENVELOPES
WARREN L. BARR
420 21st St., N. W. Canton, Ohio
THE BOOM IS ON
_THE_
COLLECTOR’S GUIDE
_formerly a Quarterly, is now_
Published Monthly
_except July and August_
ADVERTISING RATES
The Collector’s Guide
Full page $15
½ and ¼ pages pro rata
Less space, $1 per inch.
Discount
On three insertions, 10%;
Six insertions, 15%.
For rates on front and back cover spaces when available, please address
publisher.
_A Book Stamp Innovation_
[Illustration: {uncaptioned}]
As Flodden W. Heron aptly observed in a recent issue of the ARGONAUT, it
is estimated by the Postal Department that one person out of every
fifteen is interested in stamp collecting. There are over twenty-five
journals issued exclusively for stamp collectors, and three hundred and
two American newspapers maintain stamp departments. In addition
sixty-four radio stations conduct regular stamp broadcasts. Book
collectors constitute a much smaller group, and to date there has been
no connection between these two enthusiastic armies of “acquisitioners.”
To bring these two groups into closer cooperation, Mr. Heron recently
suggested to the Pacific Philatelic Society of San Francisco the use of
postage stamps of authors as association items for collected books.
Investigation disclosed that postage stamps had been issued in honor of
nearly one hundred authors.
He states that the idea occurred to him when coming into possession of a
Stamp Case, invented by Lewis Carroll of “Alice in Wonderland” fame. It
contained twelve pockets for stamps of different denominations.
Progressively this gave birth to the thought of using stamps as
association items in connection with first editions, artistically
affixing them to fly-leaves, inside covers, or occasionally to title
pages. Time will increase the scarcity or rarity of the stamps, and in
some instances, as with certain bookplates, greatly enhance the value of
the books to which they are affixed. Of course we must bear in mind that
the number who collect stamps exceeds greatly those whose interest is in
rare books. At the same time, many high school and college students and
other groups, would like to collect books but cannot afford the prices
of first editions. However, if postage stamps are classified as
association items, thousands can buy books not first editions, but good
reading copies. The inserting of proper stamps, will permit of book
collecting on an inexpensive scale, because it is only necessary to
watch dates, and acquire first-day “covers” for merely the regular price
of the stamps. And as time goes on, these first issues will have
increased value for book insertion, quite aside from their desirability
to stamp collectors. For example, a copy of “Leaves of Grass,” issued by
the Modern Library, with a first-day Whitman “cover” laid in, should
fetch over double the cost of the book within a year after the stamp was
issued. And this, in spite of the fact that a postage stamp in
connection with a book can not be compared with an author’s inscription
or presentation. It can be more likened to a bookplate, which has been
added to the volume by some one other than the author. Two of Mr.
Heron’s favorite authors are Lewis Carroll and Sir Walter Scott, and as
he could find of them no existing postage stamps, he had two made, for
his personal use, which serve as illustrations for this article. We feel
certain that Mr. Heron will be glad to answer any question pertaining to
book stamps on the part of those interested, if they will address their
inquiries to him at Mills Building, San Francisco.
Temple Scott, rare book expert, died on Sept. 30th. in Edinburgh. Among
his many activities, he had been adviser in the assembling of some of
the notable private libraries of this country, including those of Jerome
Kern, and the late William H. Woodin, former Secretary of the Treasury.
The Kern collection was considered one of the most valuable ever gotten
together in America, and in 1929 was sold at auction for $1,300,000.
Also remembered are some of Mr. Scott’s outstanding purchases including
the letters of Lord Chesterfield for which he paid $75,000, and the
original text which Sir Walter Scott prepared for a definitive edition
of his novels, and which set him back $150,000.
The first volume of Dr. Greg’s “Bibliography of the English Drama to
1640” is reported as ready. Information regarding it can be obtained
from R. B. McKerrow, Picket Place, Wendover, Bucks, England.
Mrs. Nellie Dumont, widow of the minstrel king, Frank Dumont, died
several months ago at her home, 1207 Green St., Philadelphia, Penna.,
where she had resided for 60 years. Mr. Dumont in his lifetime,
possessed an unusually fine collection of theatrical material, and to
this day, as far as we know, it has never been definitely established,
just what became of it.
“COLLECTING
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
MAGAZINES”
The only book on the subject. 72 pages, 4 pp. illustrations, 10
Chapters. Lists values of all issues, special numbers, supplements.
Information on reprints, binding, maps, formats, bibliography.
$1.00
EDWIN C. BUXBAUM
Box 327 Swarthmore, Penna.
Wanted to Buy: Geographics before 1907
_We are always anxious to buy_
Rare American
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
_of every description_
PEGASUS BOOK SHOP
144 East 61 St. New York, N. Y.
HISTORY OF THE BOOK
COMBINATION OFFER
SIX ORIGINAL LEAVES: (1) Manuscript leaf on vellum; (2) Chinese Block
Printing, 1440; (3) Nuremburg Chronicle Leaf with woodcut 1493; (4) Leaf
of Justinian printed in red and black by Bautista de Tortis, Venice,
1496; (5) Sallust leaf by J. Ibarra, Madrid 1772; (6) Kelmscott Press
leaf with woodcut initial printed by William Morris, 1893.
_The group sent postpaid for $5.00_
DAWSON’S BOOK SHOP
627 So. Grand Avenue
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Catalog of early printing sent free on request.
Mail Bidders Wanted
Catalogues Free
ALBERT SAIFER
Book Auctions
Correspondence Address:
142 S. 11th St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Consignments Solicited—Rates on Request
A list of old magazines and newspapers that are worth real money, in the
February issue of THE COLLECTOR’S GUIDE.