THE REASONS WHICH MAKE A BOOK VALUABLE--SCARCITY--SUPPRESSED
WORKS--SOME BOOKS WHICH HAVE BEEN BURNED BY THE HANGMAN--WORKS
PRIVATELY SUPPRESSED--WORKS OF LIMITED ISSUE--TRANSACTIONS OF
LEARNED SOCIETIES--DEFECTS--"UNCUT" WORKS--IMPERFECT
COPIES--"MADE-UP" COPIES--FAC-SIMILE LEAVES--LAYING DOWN--BOOKS
PUBLISHED IN PARTS--LARGE-PAPER COPIES.
The reasons which contribute to make up the pecuniary value of a book
depend on a variety of circumstances by no means easy of explanation. It
is a great mistake to suppose that because a given work is scarce, in
the sense of not often being met with, it is necessarily valuable. It
may certainly be so, but, on the other hand, plenty of books which are
acquired with difficulty are hardly worth the paper they are printed
upon, perhaps because there is no demand for them, or possibly because
they are imperfect or mutilated.
One of the first lessons I learned when applying myself to the study of
old books was never, on any account or under any circumstances, to have
anything to do with imperfect copies, and I have not so far had any
occasion to regret my decision. It is perfectly true that no perfect
copies are known of some works, such, for example, as the first or
1562-3 English edition of Fox's _Book of Martyrs_; but books of this
class will either never be met with during a lifetime, or will form, if
met with, an obvious exception to the rule. Fragments of genuine
Caxtons, again, sometimes sell by auction for two or three pounds a
single leaf, and even a very imperfect copy of any of his productions
would be considered a good exchange for a large cheque; but these are
exceptions and nothing more--exceptions, moreover, of such rare
practical occurrence as to be hardly worth noting. In the vast majority
of instances, when a book is mutilated it is ruined; even the loss of a
single plate out of many will often detract fifty per cent. or more from
the normal value, while if the book is "cut down" the position is worse.
This lesson as a rule is only learned by experience, and many young
collectors resolutely shut their eyes to the most apparent of truisms,
until such time as the consequences are brought fairly home to them. It
is exceedingly dangerous to purchase imperfect or mutilated books, or to
traffic in them at all. This position will be enlarged upon during the
progress of the present chapter.
To return to the reasons which contribute to the value of a book, it may
be mentioned that "suppression" is one of the chief. This is a natural
reason; others are merely artificial, which may be in full force to-day
but non-existent to-morrow, depending as they do upon mere caprice and
the vagaries of fashion: with these I have, in this volume at any rate,
nothing to do.
De Foe, in his _Essay on Projects_, observes: "I have heard a bookseller
in King James's time say that if he would have a book sell, he would
have it burned by the hands of the common hangman," by which he
presupposed the existence of some little secret horde which should
escape the general destruction, and which would consequently rise to ten
times its value directly the persecution was diverted into other
channels. This is so, for where an edition has been suppressed, and most
of the copies destroyed, the remainder acquire an importance which the
whole issue would never have enjoyed had it been left severely alone.
The Inquisition has been the direct cause of elevating hundreds of books
to a position far above their merit, and the same may be said of Henry
VIII., who sent Catholic as well as Protestant books wholesale to the
flames; of Mary, who condemned the latter; of Edward VI., who acquiesced
in the destruction of the former; and of Elizabeth and the two
succeeding sovereigns, who delighted in a holocaust of political
pamphlets and libels.
The Inquisition, with that brutal bigotry which characterised most of
its proceedings, almost entirely destroyed Grafton's Paris Bible of
1538, with the result that the printing presses, types, and workmen were
brought to London, and the few copies saved were completed here, to be
sold on rare occasions at the present day for as much as L160 apiece.
There is nothing in the Bible more than in any other; it is not
particularly well printed, but it has a history, just as the Scotch
Bassandyne Bible has, though in that case the persecution was directed
against persons who _declined_ to have the book in their houses, ready
to be shown to the tax collector whenever he chose to call. One Dr.
James Drake, who in the year 1703 had the temerity to publish in London
his _Historia Anglo-Scotica_, which contained, as was alleged, many
false and injurious reflections upon the sovereignty and independence of
the Scottish nation, had the pleasure of hearing that his work had been
publicly burned at the Mercat Cross of Edinburgh, a pleasure which was
doubtless considerably enhanced when another venture--the
_Memorial_--shared the same fate in London, two years later. Drake had
the honour of hearing himself censured from the throne, of being
imprisoned, and of having his books burned, distinctions which some
people sigh for in vain at the present day. As a consequence, the
_Historia_ and the _Memorial_ are both desirable books, and Drake's name
has been rescued from oblivion.
William Attwood's _Superiority and Direct Dominion of the Imperial Crown
of England over the Crown and Kingdom of Scotland_ (London, 4to, 1705)
is another book of good pedigree which would never have been worth the
couple of guineas a modern bookseller will ask for it, had it not been
burned by jealous Scotchmen immediately on its appearance.
The massacre of St. Bartholomew produced a large crop of treatises, and
any contemporary book on the Huguenot side is worth preservation, for a
general search was made throughout France, and every work showing the
slightest favour to the Protestants was seized and destroyed. Among them
was Claude's _Defense de la Reformation_ (1683), which was burned not
only abroad, but in England as well, so great an ascendency had the
French Ambassador acquired over our Court.
Bishop Burnet's _Pastoral letter to the Clergy of his Diocese_ (1689)
was condemned and burned for ascribing the title of William III. to the
Crown, to the right of conquest. The _Emilie_ and the _Contrat Social_
of Jean Jacques Rousseau shared the same fate, as did also _Les
Histoires_ of d'Aubigne and Augustus de Thou.
Baxter's _Holy Commonwealth_ went the way of all obnoxious books, in
1688; the _Boocke of Sportes upon the Lord's Day_, in 1643; the Duke of
Monmouth's proclamation declaring James to be an usurper, in 1685;
Claude's _Les Plaintes des Protestans_, in 1686.
Harris' _Enquiry into the Causes of the Miscarriage of the Scots Colony
at Darien_ (Glasgow, 1700); Bastwicke's _Elenchus Religionis Papisticae_
(1634); Blount's _King William and Queen Mary, Conquerors_, &c. (1692);
the second volume of Wood's _Athenae Oxoniensis_ (1793); De Foe's
_Shortest Way with the Dissenters_ (1702); Pocklington's _Sunday no
Sabbath and Altare Christianum_ (1640); Sacheverel's _Two Sermons_
(1710); and Coward's _Second Thoughts concerning the Human Soul_ (1702),
were all burned by the hangman, and copies destroyed wherever found.
Perhaps the most extraordinary instance of a work being destroyed for
positively nothing at all is furnished by Cowell's _Law Dictionary_,
which was sent to the flames by order of King James the First himself.
This dictionary, and indeed every one of the books mentioned as having
been subjected to the purification of fire, are now rare historical
landmarks, and consequently both extrinsically and intrinsically
valuable. Hence the reason of the high prices frequently demanded for
them and for other works of this class.
The remaining copies of editions which were suppressed by their authors,
or which have escaped accidental destruction, are frequently of
considerable value. In the former class, Rochester's _Poems_ and Mrs.
Seymour's _Account of the Origin of the Pickwick Papers_ are prominent
examples; in the latter, the third folio edition of Shakespeare's Plays
(1664), almost the entire impression of which was destroyed in the Great
Fire of London. Dugdale's _Origines Juridiciales_ (London, folio, 1666)
was also almost entirely destroyed at the same time. Books coming under
one or other of these classes are to be met with, and the note-book
should always be at hand, so that a memorandum can be jotted down before
the reference is lost. This course is adopted by the most experienced
bibliographers, as well as by the amateur who wishes to become
proficient in a study which is pleasant and profitable when
conscientiously undertaken, but difficult and worse than useless to
those who will not take the trouble to learn the rudiments of their
science.
Works of limited issue are sometimes, but not always, nor indeed often,
of especial value. It has been the practice for some years among
publishers to issue works on what is nothing more nor less than the old
subscription plan; but, unlike the hungry poets of old, who trudged the
streets taking the price of copies in advance, the publishers keep faith
with their subscribers. The edition is limited to a given number of
copies, after which the type is distributed, and the plates--if the work
is illustrated--broken up. Many speculators in books have endeavoured
from time to time to "corner" editions so limited in quantity, buying at
the published price, and subsequently selling again at an increased
amount. In this way considerable sums have been _lost_, for works
published on this plan have a decided tendency to fall in the market,
and when this is the case they seldom if ever recover their former
position. Hogarth's works, published in 1822, by Baldwin and Cradock, is
a very good example of this tendency. The work was originally issued at
L50, and the impressions, taken from Hogarth's original plates,
restored, however, by Heath, are consequently of full size. There is a
secret pocket at the end containing three suppressed and highly indecent
plates, which considerably add to the value. I myself have many a time
seen this large and sumptuous book knocked down in the auction room at
sums varying from L3 to L5, and once bought a good copy by private
contract for L4 10s. Ottley's _Italian School of Design_ is another
example. This work when on large paper, with proof impressions of the 84
tinted fac-similes of original drawings by Cimabue, Giotto, Guercino,
and other famous painters, is worth about L3 by auction. The published
price in 1823 was no less than L25 4s. The issue of each of these works
was limited, but neither have succeeded in retaining its position in
popular favour, and in all probability will decline still further in the
market as time goes on.
The lesson to be learned here is that such phrases as "only 100 copies
printed," or "issue strictly limited to 50 copies," frequently to be
observed in publishers' and auctioneers' catalogues, should be taken
_cum grano salis_. The description may be accurate, but it does not
follow that the limitation necessarily increases the value of the book.
On the contrary, it may be well imagined that the publisher hesitated to
launch the book entirely on its own merits, seeking rather the
extraneous inducement of a "limited number". The earlier editions of
Ruskin's works are an exception to the rule, for that author's
reputation is deservedly great, and he is, moreover, master of his own
books, which from choice he has, until the last year or two, preferred
to render difficult of access.
Volumes of transactions and proceedings of learned societies usually
have a market value, which fluctuates much less than is usually the
case. These being supplied to members only, and rarely published for
purposes of sale, may be said to be both privately printed and limited
in issue at the same time. As a rule they increase proportionately in
value as the series becomes more complete, and a point once reached,
they generally maintain it. Hence works of this character are safe
investments--perhaps the safest of any.
The result of every investigation into the causes which regulate the
value of books has shown conclusively that no publication is of great
worth merely _because_ it is scarce. The scarcity is a secondary and not
a primary cause. Highly appreciated English publications of the
sixteenth and two following centuries may be counted by thousands; but
the number of inferior treatises, which have long ago sunk into eternal
oblivion, which never were of any value, and never will be, are as the
sand on the sea-shore.
However scarce and valuable a book may be, it must be remembered that
the element of perfection has yet to be taken into account. It does not
by any means follow that, because a copy of one of Shakespeare's 4tos is
worth L300, another copy of the same 4to edition will be of equal value.
It may be worth more or less, and here it is that the critical eye of
the _connoisseur_ and dealer tells. Defects, such as a tear in the cover
or any of the leaves, stains, worm-holes, and the like, detract from the
value; if these are entirely absent, the value may, on the contrary, be
raised above the average. The fact of a rare book being "uncut," and in
the original sound binding, clean, and free from blemishes, considerably
add to its value.
The first part of a book to get worn out is the binding, for some one or
more of its previous owners are almost certain to have ill-treated it
either by bending the covers until they crack, or by leaving the work
exposed to the rain and damp. When the volume is coverless, and usually
not before, it will have been re-bound, and the binder will, in
ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, have trimmed the edges, that is
to say, planed them smooth with a machine he has for the purpose.
Sometimes he will have cut as much as half-an-inch from the top, and
nearly as much from the other edges; on other occasions, he may have
been more merciful; but the result is the same, the book is damaged
beyond hope of redemption, and the only question is as to the extent of
the injury. The term "uncut," so often seen in catalogues, is,
therefore, a technical term, meaning that the edges are left in the same
condition as they were when the book was originally issued. It does not
mean that the leaves are "not cut open," as so many people appear to
think, but simply that the binder, with a fine sense of what is due to a
volume of importance, has for once kept his shears in his pocket. The
value of a book which has been cut is reduced to an extent proportionate
to the quantum of injury inflicted: from 50 to 75 per cent. is the usual
reduction, but many works are altogether destroyed. If a scarce book is
sent to be re-bound, the binder should have the clearest instructions,
in writing, that he is not to trim the edges. Should he do so,
notwithstanding the direction, a by no means impossible contingency, he
will do it at his own risk, and can be made to suffer the consequences.
Imperfect volumes are always a source of great inconvenience to the
collector. First-class bookselling firms will not allow an imperfect
book to leave their hands without notice to the purchaser, and, as a
consequence, they charge a higher price than would be the case if the
latter exercised his own judgment. There are mutual advantages to be
gained in dealing with first-class people, for, if a mistake is made on
one side or the other, there is usually no difficulty in rectifying it
afterwards. Fine old crusted book-worms of the John Hill Burton type
prefer, however, to exercise their own discretion in these matters,
looking upon that as no inconsiderable part of the pleasure to be
derived from the pursuit of their favourite occupation. They do not care
to pay for being taught, at least not directly, and make it part of
their business to find out for themselves whether a copy offered for
sale is perfect or the reverse. As each page is usually numbered, there
is no difficulty in ascertaining whether any are missing; not so with
the plates, for, unless there is an index to these, the loss of one or
two may hardly be noticed until the book comes to be collated with
another copy known to be complete. This is a risk which the book buyer
has to run, though, as a matter of practice, he protects himself when
the purchase is an expensive one, and the dealer a man of credit.
In buying books at a cheap rate, or, in other words, when making a
bargain either at a shop or an ordinary street-stall, the purchaser will
have to observe the maxim, "Caveat emptor," and it will probably not be
until he arrives home with his treasure under his arm that he will have
the satisfaction of ascertaining that his bargain is a real one, or the
mortification of adding another imperfect book to the long row already
on his shelf.
Imperfect books are frequently what is called "made up," that is,
completed from other copies, themselves imperfect in other respects. One
complete book is worth more than two incomplete ones, and many desirable
specimens, in the public libraries and elsewhere, are made up so well
that it is frequently impossible to detect the hand of the renovator.
So long as all the leaves of a made-up book are of the same measurement,
there would not seem to be much objection to this practice, but there
certainly is when the paper of the interpolated leaves is different from
the rest, or smaller in size, which it will be if cut down by the
binder. Great care must be taken to see that neither of these defects is
present, especially when, from the value of a book offered for sale, it
may have been worth anyone's while to perfect it.
Another point to be observed in the purchase of very expensive and
valuable works is, that none of the leaves have been fac-similed. These
fac-similes are done by hand, and frequently so well that they cannot be
detected without the aid of a strong glass. The late Henry Stevens tells
a good story of a customer of his--Mr. Lenox, of New York, the founder
of the Lenox Library, and a most indefatigable collector up to the last
hour of his life. "Mr. Lenox was," says Stevens, "principled against
raffles, wagers, lotteries, and games of chance generally, but I once
led him into a sort of bet in this way, by which I won from him L4. I
had acquired a fair copy of that gem of rare books, the quarto edition
of _Hariot's Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginea_
(London, Feb., 1588), wanting four leaves in the body of the book. These
I had very skilfully traced by Harris, transferred to stone, printed off
on old paper of a perfect match, the book and these leaves sized and
coloured alike, and bound in morocco by Bedford. The volume was then
sent to Mr. Lenox to be examined by him _de visu_, the price to be L25;
but, if he could detect the four fac-simile leaves, and would point
them out to me without error, the price was to be reduced to L21. By the
first post, after the book was received, he remitted me the 20 guineas,
with a list of the fac-similes, but on my informing him that two of
_his_ fac-similes were originals, he immediately remitted the four
pounds, and acknowledged his defeat."
This Harris, whose name is prominently mentioned, was probably the
greatest adept at this species of imitation who ever lived, and many
important but defective works, now in the British Museum, left his
hands, to all appearance, in first-rate order and condition.
"Laying down" is a technical term used to express the process of
re-backing a torn plate or engraving. Many of the Shakespeare folios
have the portrait and verses by Ben Jonson laid down or "re-laid," as
the catalogues generally describe it. This, of course, can be detected
at a glance, and it may be stated positively that a laid-down plate,
frontispiece, or title is looked upon as a serious blemish, inferior
only to the entire absence of one or more of the three.
Worm-holes, stains, fox-marks, and other flaws also detract from value;
but as many of these may be removed by a judicious application of proper
remedies, a special chapter will be reserved for their consideration.
The market value of a book is thus composed of many elements, the chief
of which is "condition"--above all things, a broad margin, and next, to
that, leaves of spotless white.
I have already stated that where editions of the works of famous modern
authors containing plates were originally issued in parts, such parts
should, on no account, be bound up in volume form. The result of such a
course cannot be better illustrated than by taking the well-known
_Pickwick Papers_ as our example, and studying the following prices, all
realised at auction quite recently:--
_Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_, original ed., with
illustrations by Seymour & Browne, and the Buss plates, _complete in
numbers_, 1837, 8vo, L8 10s.; L12 14s.; L8 10s.; L6 5s.; L11 5s.
_Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club_, original ed. (_bound_), with
illustrations by Seymour & Browne, and the Buss plates, 1837, 8vo, L1
(half calf), L1 1s. (half calf), L3 (calf extra), L2 12s. (half morocco
extra), L2 5s. (half calf extra), L1 7s. (half morocco extra), L3 10s.
(calf, gilt, an unusually clean copy, recently sold at the Mackenzie
sale). The evidence furnished by these quotations is conclusive, and
illustrates the principle better than anything else can do, that, in the
present state of the English book market, it is the height of folly to
bind up original parts of this nature. If, however, it must be done, the
depreciation in value may be reduced to a minimum by binding in the best
style, and taking care that not only all the covers, but even the pages
of advertisements, are bound up also. On no account must the edges be
cut, or in any way tampered with, or the value will sink from pounds to
shillings on the instant.
I shall conclude this chapter by calling attention to the expression
"large paper," so often noticed. It has been the practice for many
years, on publishing certain classes of books, to print off a limited
number of copies on "large paper," or paper of a larger size than that
used for the ordinary copies. Thus, the second edition of Bewick's
_Birds_, in 2 vols., 1804, is found in no less than three sizes,
ordinary copies in demy 8vo, large paper copies in royal 8vo, and
largest paper in imperial 8vo. The text is in each instance precisely
the same, but the books themselves are larger in size as we ascend the
scale. The well-known _Badminton Library_ of sports and pastimes is
printed in two sizes, and as large paper copies are invariably limited
in number, their value is always greater than that of their more humble
brethren. Whether they maintain their original published value is
another question which can only be solved by reference to particular
cases as and when they arise.