are Messrs. Puttick and Simpson; Christie, Manson and Woods; and Hodgson
and Co. The first-named have since December, 1858, occupied the greater
portion of the house in Leicester Square in which Sir Joshua Reynolds
lived throughout his brilliant career, and where he died in 1792. The
auction-room was formerly the artist's studio; the office was his
dining-room; the upper portion of the house is occupied by Mr. H. Gray,
the topographical bookseller. The place has been altered since the
distinguished painter resided there, but in this age of iconoclasm it is
pleasant to wander in the passages and rooms where all the wit, beauty,
and intellect of the latter part of the last century congregated--where
Johnson and Boswell, Burke, Garrick, Goldsmith and Malone met in good
fellowship. The founder of the firm was a Mr. Stewart (see p. 112), who
started in Piccadilly in 1794, and who continued here until about 1825,
when he took into partnership Benjamin Wheatley, who had been at
Sotheby's, and a son of the printer, Adlard; for a while the firm was
John and James Fletcher, but early in 1846, the two and only partners
were Mr. Puttick and the present Mr. William Simpson; the former died in
1873, and the business is now in the hands of Mr. Simpson and his son.
The most important sale held at Puttick's was that of the Sunderland
Library from Blenheim Palace, which, commencing on December 1, 1881,
occupied from that date up to March 22, 1883, fifty-one days, the 13,858
lots realizing the gross total of £56,581 6s. On April 21, 1884, and ten
following days, the exceedingly fine topographical library of the Earl
of Gosford was sold at Puttick's, the total of the sale being £11,318
5s. 6d.; the most remarkable item in the sale was a fine large copy of
the first volume of the Mazarin Bible in the original binding, which was
knocked down to Mr. Toovey for £500; and next in interest to this was a
copy of the First Folio Shakespeare, 1623, measuring 12-7/8 inches by
8-3/8 inches, quite perfect, but with the title and verses mounted, and
the margins of two leaves slightly mended, and this sold for £470. The
extensive library of L. L. Hartley (see p. 87) was also disposed of at
Puttick's, 1885-87, and realized the total of £16,530; and other
important libraries dispersed there during the last half-century include
the Donnadieu books and MSS., 1847-58, £3,923; a portion of the Libri
Collection, 1850-68, £8,929; Dawson Turner's books and MSS., 1859,
£9,453; Edward Crowinshield's (of Boston, N.E.) books and MSS., 1860,
£4,826; Sir Edward Dering's books and MSS., 1861, £7,259; the Emperor
Maximilian's Mexican Library, 1869, £3,985; John Camden Hotten's stock,
1873, £3,751; Sir Edward Nichols' (Secretary to Charles I., whose state
papers were sold privately to the British Museum) books, 1877, £977; the
library of J. Duerdin, consigned from Australia, 1884, £1,140; books
from William Penn's Library, 1872, £1,350; the library of Señor Don Jose
Fernando Ramirez, 1880, £6,957; and many others. Literary property forms
a comparatively small portion of Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's business,
a very important part of which consists in the sale and private
dispersal of musical property of every description, as well as pictures,
prints, porcelain and jewels.
The firm of Hodgson and Co. dates its origin from the twenties of the
present century, the late Edmund Hodgson (who died in May, 1875, aged
81) starting in partnership with Robert Saunders at 39, Fleet Street, as
an auctioneer of literary property, the premises having been originally
the Mitre Tavern (see p. 222). In the interval the place had been
christened the 'Poets' Gallery.' When the property passed into the hands
of Messrs. Hoare, the partnership between Saunders and Hodgson
terminated, and the latter removed to 192, Fleet Street, at the corner
of Chancery Lane (on the site now occupied by Partridge and Cooper),
where Mr. Hodgson remained for many years. The march of improvement
again overtook him, and the business was once more removed, this time to
its present site at 115, Chancery Lane, which was specially erected for
the peculiar requirements of a book-auction house. The late Mr. Hodgson
for many years officiated in the rostrum of nearly all the chief trade
dinner sales, and literary property to the value of some £50,000 would
frequently be disposed of by him during an evening. His son, the present
head of the firm, officiated in a similar capacity for some years,
until, in fact, the pleasant custom of trade dinners became almost
obsolete. The firm has dispersed, in its time, many important libraries
and stocks of books, among which we may specially mention the valuable
collection of books of the College of Advocates, Doctors' Commons,
London, Monday, April 22, 1861, and seven following days (2,456 lots);
the stocks or superfluous stocks of books of Charles Knight, Owen Jones,
G. Cox, R. Bentley, 'Standard Novels'; Bradbury and Evans's, April, 1862
(eight days); Arthur Hall, Virtue and Co., November, 1862; Darton and
Hodge, 1863, 1866, and 1867; Lionel Booth, May, 1866; Day and Son, 1865,
1867, and 1868; Sampson Low and Co., in consequence of the death of
Sampson Low, jun., 1871; Moxon and Co., October, 1871, when a four days'
sale resulted in over £12,000; Cassell and Co., in consequence of the
removal to Belle Sauvage Yard, September, 1875, five days' sale (4,400
lots); and very many others.
[Illustration: _Mr. James Christie, 'The Specious Orator.'_
Engraved by R. Dighton, 1794.]
The firm of Christie, Manson and Woods dates its establishment from
1762, but its fame is almost exclusively built upon its picture-sales.
During its existence, however, the firm has sold several more or less
important libraries, such as those of James Edwards, the bookseller,
'the library of a gentleman of distinguished taste,' April, 1804; Rev.
L. Dutens (four days), February, 1813; the Earl of Gainsborough, March,
1813; the Hon. C. F. Greville, 1809; Sir William Hamilton, C.B., and
Viscount Nelson, 1809; Sir James Pulteney (eight days), February, 1812;
the Earl of Aylesford, 1879; Earl of Clarendon, 1877; C.
Beckett-Denison, 1885; Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1785; J. P. Knight, R.A.,
1881; Earl of Liverpool, 1829; W. Macready, 1873; Rev. W. Bentinck L.
Hawkins, in three parts, 1895, and others.
II.
The step from book-auctioneers to book-prices is a very easy one to
take, but the subject is far less easily disposed of. A book is worth
just as much as its vendor can get for it, and no more. Rarity is not
synonymous with high commercial value. There may be only four copies of
a particular book in existence, but if the only three people in the
world who want it have provided themselves with a copy each, the fourth
example is not worth twopence. We have seen this kind of thing
illustrated within the past few years. Very small poets are published in
very small editions, but nobody buys them, and the books therefore have
no market value--in fact, they are superfluous. Hundreds of rare books
are superfluous. The auction-room is the great leveller of all manner of
unmerited fame, and it may be taken, as a general rule, to be an
infallible guide.
We have but little information concerning the prices paid for
second-hand books during the seventeenth century. The retailer's safest
possible guide, of course, would be the price at which he acquired a
particular book, or, if more than one, by the very simple process of
averaging. One of the earliest and fullest illustrations we can cite
occurs in connection with some of the prices paid for books for the
Chetham Library of Manchester in 1663, and these are curious as well as
interesting. Thus, Holland's 'Heröologia,' 1620, a good copy of which
now realizes from £20 to £30, was purchased for 14s. Purchas's 'His
Pilgrimes,' 1625-26, which now sells at auction, if in good condition,
at about £50, was obtained for £3 15s. Dugdale's 'History of St. Paul's'
cost 12s., and the same author's 'Antiquities of Worcestershire,' 1656,
£1 7s. 6d.; the former now sells at prices varying from £5 to £10, and
the latter, when in good condition, is not expensive at 18 guineas. In
and about 1740 several book-sales occurred at or near Manchester, when a
large number of rare items realized painfully small prices. For
instance, the 'Treatise concernynge the fruytfull saynges of Davyd the
Kynge and Prophete in the seven Penytencyall Psalms,' 1508, by Fisher,
Bishop of Rochester; the 'Nova Legenda Sanctorum Angliæ,' 1516, both
printed by Wynkyn de Worde, were purchased together for 5s. 6d.!
Parsons' 'Conference about the next succession to the Crowne of
England,' 1594, cost 1s.; and the same Jesuit's 'Treatise of Three
Conversions of England,' 1603-4, 15s. A few months ago these two
publications realized close on £10 at auction. Tyndale's 'Practyse of
Prelates,' 1530, was obtained for 1s. 6d.; and his 'Briefe Declaration
of the Sacraments,' 1550, for 1s. 7d.; the former is now valued at 9
guineas, and the latter at 4 guineas. The English edition of Erasmus'
'Enchiridion Militis Christiani,' 1544, cost 6d., and is now worth
perhaps as many pounds. The bargain of the period, however, occurred in
connection with Sir Thomas Smyth's treatise 'De Republica et
administratione Anglorum,' 1610; Raleigh's 'Prerogative of Parliaments'
(?) 1628; and Burton's 'Protestation Protested,' which, together,
realized 4d.! Each of these books is now extremely rare.
Thirteen years after the above-mentioned books changed hands at prices
which can now only be described as heartbreaking, the first auction-sale
took place. It is noteworthy--as Mr. Lawler has pointed out--that 'the
first libraries which were sold by auction were those of Puritan divines
who had lived and worked under the Commonwealth Government; these
libraries were consequently composed of books suited to their calling,
consisting almost entirely of theological and historical books.' Life
was too awful a thing with them to indulge in a 'roguish' French novel,
a Shakespearian play, or one of the many dramatic works which seemed for
a time to kill all religious activity. A few of the items dispersed in
the first sales will not be without interest. Dr. Seaman's copy of the
_editio princeps_ Homer in Greek, 1488, sold for 9s.; the Crawford copy
realized £135--true, the latter was bound by Trautz-Bauzonnet. In the
former sale a copy of Dr. Eliot's Indian Bible sold for 19s.; if it
occurred at auction now it might realize anything from £100 to £600. At
the Restoration everything in the way of books of prayers was discarded,
and sold for a few pence; they would now readily sell almost for their
weight in gold. There is a startling uniformity about the prices
realized for books at the early book-sales, and one feels almost
inclined to suppose that our forbears were influenced chiefly by the
size of the volumes. It is interesting to note that the great folio
editions of the Fathers realized in the end of the seventeenth century
pretty much the same prices as at the end of the nineteenth, and these,
it need hardly be said, are very small indeed.
From the sale of the library of Sir Kenelm Digby at the Golden Lion, in
Paternoster Row, in April, 1680, we get a few highly interesting facts.
This sale comprised 3,878 lots, and realized the total of £908 4s. Here
are a few of the items:
£ s. d.
Æschylus, Stanley, London, 1664 1 0 0
Ascham's 'Toxophilus,' 1545 0 1 4
Barclay's 'Ship of Fools,' 1570 0 4 4
Bible of the Douay Translation, with the Rhenish Testament,
3 vols., 4to., 1633 1 5 0
Chaucer's Works, folio, 1597 0 12 8
Dugdale's 'Monasticon Anglicanum,' 3 vols., 1655, etc. 6 6 0
Fabyan's 'Chronicle,' London, 1559 0 7 4
Hollinshed's 'Chronicle,' London, 1577 0 8 0
Homerus cum comment. Eustathii, 4 vols., folio, corio turcico
et folio deaur. Romæ, 1542 7 0 0
Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' London, 1668 0 2 1
'P. Plowman's Vision,' London, 1550 0 1 7
Purchas's 'Pilgrims and Pilgrimage,' 5 vols., 1625-66 3 5 6
Shakespeare's Works, London, 1632 (second edition) 0 14 0
A comparison of the foregoing prices with those which the books would
realize to-day will suggest some interesting conclusions; but as the
means of doing this are in the hands of everyone, it is not necessary to
discuss them here. In the Bodleian Library there is an exceedingly
interesting letter from R. Scott, the bookseller, to Samuel Pepys, dated
June 30, 1688. Scott writes: 'Having at length procured Campion, Hanmer
and Spencer's Hist. of Ireland, fol. (which I think you formerly
desired), I here send itt you, with 2 very scarce bookes besides, viz.
Pricæi Defensio Hist. Britt. 4{o} and old Harding's Chronicle, as alsoe
the Old Ship of Fooles in verse by Alex. Berkley, priest; which last,
though nott scarce, yet so very fayre and perfect, that seldome comes
such another; the Priceus you will find deare, yett I never sold it
under 10s., and att this tyme can have it of a person of quality; butt
without flattery, I love to find a rare book for you, and hope shortly
to procure for you a perfect's Hall's Chronicle.' With the books Scott
sent his statement of account as follows:
£ s. d.
Campion, Hanmer and Spenser, fol. 0 12 0
Harding's 'Chronicle,' 4to. 0 6 0
'Pricæi Defens. Hist. Brit.' 0 8 0
'Shipp of Fooles,' fol. 0 8 0
--------
1 14 0
Whether Scott obtained these items at the Digby sale or not, we cannot
say; it is by no means unlikely, and if so, his desire to do Mr. Pepys a
good turn may be estimated by the fact that he made a profit of 3s. 8d.
over the last item in the bill, and the profit on the others would
doubtless be arranged on a similar scale. The second and the fourth
items, however, would be now worth from 15 to 20 guineas. Both Sir John
Price's 'Historiæ Britannicæ,' 1573, and the histories of Ireland by
Hanmer, Campion and Spenser, 1633, are very rare and very important
books, and would not be dear now at as many guineas as Scott has charged
shillings.
Book-auctions were not, however, unmixed blessings, and, as a fact, they
provoked a good many curses from the poorer collectors. Here is one
phase which concerns the sale of the library of John Bridges,[121:A] the
Northamptonshire historian, in 1726. This auction is interesting, not so
much on account of the books which were knocked down, or of the prices
which they realized, but as being the genesis of the knock-out system.
We have, fortunately, a very vivid picture of this sale from the pen of
Humfrey Wanley, who wished to obtain some of the items for the library
of Lord Oxford. In his 'Diary,' under date February, 1726, we read:
'Went to Mr. Bridges' Chamber [No. 6, Lincoln's Inn] to see the three
fine MSS. again, the doctor, his brother, having locked them up. He
openly bids for his own books, merely to enhance their price, and the
auction proves to be, what I thought it would become, very knavish.' And
again: 'Yesterday, at five, I met Mr. Noel, and tarried long with him;
we settled then the whole affair touching his bidding for my Lord at the
roguish sale of Mr. Bridges' books. The Rev. Doctor, one of the
brothers, hath already displayed himself so remarkably as to be both
hated and despised; and a combination amongst the booksellers will soon
be against him and his brother the lawyer. They are men of the keenest
avarice, and their very looks (according to what I am told) dart out
harping irons. I have ordered Mr. Noel to drop every article in my
Lord's Commission when they shall be hoisted up to too high a price.'
We get another interesting view of the subject a year later. Hearne, the
antiquary, writing to Dr. R. Rawlinson, the well-known book-collector,
November 27, 1727, observes: 'I wanted much to hear from yourself how
matters went in your auctions, and was glad at last to have one
[letter], though I am very sorry to find you have had such bad usage,
when you act so honourably. But I am too sensible, that booksellers and
others are in a combination against you. Booksellers have the least
pretence of any to act so. Your brother (whom I shall always call my
friend) did them unspeakable kindness. By his generous way of bidding,
and by his constant buying, he raised the value of books incredibly, and
there is hardly such another left. The booksellers (who go so much by
him) owe him a statue, the least they can do. But instead of that, they
neither speak well of him, nor do you (as I verily believe) common
justice.' In a letter from Benjamin Heath, the well-known
book-collector, to 'Mr. John Mann, at the Hand in Hand Fire Office in
Angel Court, on Snow Hill,' dated March 21, 1738, we get yet another
glimpse of some phases of book-auctions in the earlier part of the last
century. Fletcher Gyles, a bookseller of Holborn, published a catalogue
of a book-auction which he purposed holding at his own place of
business. 'Mr. Gyles,' writes Heath, 'has offered himself to act for me,
but as I think 'tis too great a Trial to his Honesty to make him at the
same time Buyer and Seller . . . I have been able to think of no Friend
I could throw this trouble [of buying certain books] upon but you.' For
this service, the collector 'would willingly allow 3 guineas, which, the
Auction continuing 24 Days, is 3 shillings over and above half a Crown a
Day.' The 'Auction requires the Attendance of the whole day, beginning
at Eleven in the Morning, and Ending at two, and at five in the
Afternoon, and Ending at Eight.'
[Illustration: _Benjamin Heath, Book-collector, 1738._]
A chronological account of the book-sales of London would be an
important as well as an interesting contribution to the history of
literature. But our space is limited, and only the chief features of
such a history can be dealt with in this place. If one were asked to
name the most famous book in the annals of book-sales, the answer would
be at once forthcoming and emphatic--the Valdarfer Boccaccio, otherwise
'Il Decamerone di Messer Giovanni Boccaccio,' printed at Venice by
Christopher Valdarfer in 1471, and published, it is thought, at about
10s. In stating that this book is the most famous one, it is almost
unnecessary to explain that the Roxburghe copy is understood. By what
means it got into the hands of a London bookseller (about the middle of
the last century) is not known. It is certain, however, that even at
that period he knew of its excessive rarity, for he offered it to the
two great contemporary book-collectors, Lord Oxford and Lord Sunderland,
for 100 guineas, an amount which at that time must have 'appeared
enormously extravagant.' Whilst these two collectors were deliberating,
an ancestor of the Duke of Roxburghe saw and purchased it. Shortly after
this event the two noble collectors were dining with the Duke, and the
subject of Boccaccio was purposely broached. Both Lord Oxford and Lord
Sunderland began to talk of the particular copy which had been offered
them. The Duke of Roxburghe told them that he thought he could show them
a copy of this edition, which they doubted, but, to their mortification,
the Duke produced the identical copy, over which both realized that he
who hesitates is lost. Beloe, in relating this anecdote, which was told
him by G. Nicol, the royal bookseller, predicted that if this copy came
under the hammer it would produce 'not much less than £500.' As a matter
of fact and of history, at the Roxburghe sale in 1812 it realized the
then huge sum of £2,260, the buyer being the Marquis of Blandford, who,
it is said, was prepared to go to £5,000. There were three noble
candidates for this choice book, the Duke of Devonshire, Earl Spencer,
and the Marquis of Blandford, whilst an agent of Bonaparte was known to
be present. The Rev. Mr. Dibdin has given a very highly-coloured and
vivid account of this famous incident in his 'Bibliographical
Decameron,' and we need do no more than refer to the fact that 'the
honour of making the first bid was due to a gentleman from Shropshire,
who seemed almost surprised at his own temerity in offering 100
guineas.' It is a curious commentary on even the fame of rare books that
this copy of the Valdarfer Boccaccio came again into the sale-room in
1819, when the Blandford library was sold, and when it became the
property of Earl Spencer for £918. 'I will have it when you are dead,'
was the savage retort of a defeated book-lover at an auction sale, and
such perhaps was Earl Spencer's mental determination when his rival
carried off the bargain--by waiting seven years he saved £1,242, as well
as possessing himself of one of the greatest of bibliographical
rarities.
[Illustration: _Specimen of type of the Mazarin Bible._]
Although far before the Valdarfer Boccaccio in every point except that
of sensationalism, the first printed Bible, the Biblia Latina of
Gutenberg, 1455, commonly known as the Mazarin, has had an exciting
history in the way of prices. It is not only the first, but one of the
most magnificent books which ever issued from the press. It is not at
all a rare book in the usual sense of the word, for there are in
existence nineteen copies on paper, and five on vellum, the majority of
which are in this country. The most celebrated example of this splendid
book is now in the British Museum. The earliest record of this is its
possession by M. L. J. Gaignat, at whose sale in 1768 it became the
property of Count McCarthy for 1,200 francs; and from his sale, in
Paris, in 1815, it passed into Mr. Grenville's library for 6,260
francs--in other words, it had advanced in value in forty-six years from
£48 to close on £250. It subsequently passed into the British Museum.
Early in the present century, Nicol, the King's bookseller, obtained the
copy on vellum, formerly in the University of Mentz; at his sale in 1825
it was bought by H. Perkins, the book-collecting brewer (Barclay,
Perkins and Co.), for £504, and at the sale of his library it fetched
£3,400, Mr. Ellis purchasing it for Lord Ashburnham. In 1824 Mr. Perkins
bought Sir M. M. Sykes' copy of the same book on paper for £199 10s.,
and this copy in 1873 fetched £2,960. James Perry, of the _Morning
Chronicle_, had a copy on paper, which, at his sale in 1822, the Duke of
Sussex purchased for 160 guineas; and this copy, at the Duke's sale in
1844, brought £190. The record price for the 'Mazarin' Bible was not
reached until December, 1884, when the Syston Park library of Sir John
Thorold came under the hammer at Sotheby's, and this particular Bible on
paper sold for £3,900 to Mr. Quaritch, or £500 more than the practically
unique one on vellum. In June, 1887, the Earl of Crawford's copy, which
was not a particularly good one, realized £2,000, Mr. Quaritch having
purchased it about thirty years previously for rather more than a
quarter of the amount. In 1889 yet another copy turned up at
Sotheby's--it came from the Earl of Hopetoun's library--and this sold at
the same figure. We may also refer here to the second edition of the
Bible, 1462, but the first printed book with a date. The Edwards copy on
vellum of this sold in 1815 for £175; in 1823 a very fine example was
sold for £215; in 1873 the Perkins copy, which had cost its owner £173,
sold for £780; and eight years later the Sunderland example on vellum
for £1,600.
[Illustration: _A Corner in the British Museum._]
The palm of the highest price ever paid for a single book must be
awarded to the 'Psalmorum Codex,' printed, like the last, by Fust and
Schoeffer in 1459. By the side of this the Gutenberg Bible is a common
book, and Sir John Thorold's example is the only one which has occurred
in the market for almost a century. This particular copy realized 3,350
francs in the McCarthy sale, and 130 guineas in that of Sir M. M. Sykes;
but at the Thorold sale, in 1884, it fetched £4,950. Of the 'Codex'
there are only nine copies known, all of which slightly differ from one
another. We may also include here a mention of a copy of the Balbi
'Catholicon'--'Summa Quæ vocatur Catholicon, sive Grammatica et Linguæ
Latina'--1460, for which Sir John Thorold paid £65 2s., and which at his
sale fetched £400. The British Museum copy of this book belonged to Dr.
Mead, at whose sale it was purchased for £25 for the French King; the
copy subsequently became the property of West, at whose sale it became
George III.'s for £35 3s. 6d. The Balbi 'Catholicon,' of 1460, is the
fourth book printed with a date, and is one of the few indubitable
productions of Gutenberg's press. It is an indispensable volume in a
collection of books printed in the fifteenth century. Its literary merit
is very considerable, and the London editor of 'Stephani Thesaurus
Latinus' has pronounced it the best Dictionary for the Latin Fathers and
Schoolmen. In addition to the copies just mentioned, a fine example,
bound in russia-extra by Roger Payne, occurred in the Wodhull sale,
January 12, 1886, and realized £310. This or a similar copy was priced
in Quaritch's 'Catalogue of the Monuments of the Early Printers,' at
£420.