BOOK-PRICES CURRENT ALPHABETICAL ARRANGEMENT Being a Record of the Prices at which Books have been Demy 8vo. bound in buckram, and printed on good paper, with fine margin for notes, price £1 12s. 6d. net each. Opinions of the Press. "We acknowledge, with much pleasure, that Book-Prices Current' is now the most carefully edited work of its kind published in this or any other country."-Athenæum. "With the present season of book auctions, 'Book-Prices Current' reaches its 25th year, and it is, we believe, the only purely bibliographical periodical in existence which has continued to appear for a quarter of a century regularly, uninterruptedly, and with a promptitude which is a credit to those who produce it and a boon to those who use it. It has had many rivals and imitators, both at home and abroad; but the only effect of this rivalry has been many improvements in matters of detail."-The Times, Sept. 29th, 1911. "It exhibits all those good qualities of accurate record which have raised the publication to such a position of universal esteem."-Publishers' Circular. Uniform with BOOK-PRICES CURRENT, INDEX ΤΟ BOOK-PRICES CURRENT 1907-1916. Constituting a Reference List of Subjects and, incidentally, a Key to Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature. "If money, as Anthony Trollope neatly put it, be the reward of labour, too much is certainly not asked for the labour which has 'marshalled into order a manuscript involving 33,000 distinct titles and considerably over 500,000 numerals.' The typographical arrangement of the volume will receive praise from those who can understand the difficulties of the printers' task."— The Guardian. A RECORD OF THE PRICES AT WHICH BOOKS HAVE BEEN SOLD AT AUCTION, FROM OCTOBER, 1921, TO AUGUST, 1922, INDEX TO Book-Prices Current Volumes XXI. to XXX. For the Years 1907-1916, FORMING A KEY ΤΟ BOOK PRICES CURRENT, AND, INCIDENTALLY, ΤΟ ANONYMOUS, PSEUDONYMOUS, AND SUPPRESSED LITERATURE, WITH A SUPPLEMENT OF BIBLIOPHILES AND BIBLIOPOLES. Uniform with "Book-Prices Current." Demy 8vo. The Clique says :—--' "In the course of testing a great number of references, to see whether we could discover any errors, we are glad to say that we can find none. This is high praise when the author says in his preface, 'This Index contains about one hundred thousand entries, while the numerals employed, which closely approach a million, almost defy counting.' Among the great advantages of the Index may be mentioned the promptitude with which the reader may now find and compare the relative value of any book during the decade covered (bringing to a point the various copies sold), enabling him to ascertain whether its value has increased or dimished during the period. . . . The Second Index is so superior to the former one that the permanent value of 'B.P.C.' as a bibliographer's guide is increased fourfold. This index is one of the largest ever compiled, and it represents three years' work." The Library Association Record says:-"These volumes are indispensable to every reference library, and add considerably to the reputation of English Bibliography." LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 7, Paternoster Row, E.C. INTRODUCTION. ALTHOUGH this, the 36th volume of BOOK-PRICES CURRENT, consists of a smaller number of pages than that of last year, it is not in any sense less interesting and important. The great sale of the season has again been a further selection from the once incomparable library of Mr. Christie Miller, formerly at Britwell Court, its total of £80,259 18s. od. being nearly double that of the previous year. Including the further portion dispersed in March, 1923, whilst these pages were passing through the press, the various sales (some of which have been anonymous) of the Britwell Library have produced about £400,000 the highest auction total of its kind in this country or the United States. The Hoe Sale in New York produced $1,932,056 (£386,411), whilst the Huth Sale in London realised £278,498; but this amount does not include the price paid for the Shakespeare collection sold by private treaty, nor the approximate value of the 50 books selected by the British Museum. It is believed that one, or possibly two, other important selections from the Britwell Court Library yet remain to be sold, in addition to the residue of the collection. Another sale of the season which attracted a great amount of public attention was that of the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts, with its "record " Shakespeare folios and Dickens items. Whilst such sales as that of the Britwell Library give a zest to book-collecting, and produce much readable "copy for the daily press, the backbone of each issue of BOOK-PRICES CURRENT is made up of books which occur in much smaller and less famous libraries, largely formed by one generation of book-collectors and dispersed by those who, with different tastes, or perhaps no taste at all in books, inherit them. Selections from old and entirely unknown libraries in country mansions still continue to come into the market from the most unexpected sources, and these often contain unexpected rarities of more than ordinary importance. A glance at the list of sales reported in this volume will show how very varied have been the libraries dispersed during the season 1921-2. Two special Dickens collections, those of Dr. Jupp and the late Mr. W. G. Wilkins, have been sold in New York, as was also that of Thackeray, formed by Mr. H. S. Van Duzer. The "Dance of Death" collection formed by Miss Minns, of Boston, was unrivalled in extent and variety. The sales of the libraries of such well-known and accomplished bookmen as Austin Dobson, Elkin Matthews, and William Sharp ("Fiona Macleod") are also reported in this volume, with many others, all interesting from many and divergent points of view. Again, throughout the season a very large share of early English rarities have fallen to Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach and other buyers for the United States. Very few of these will ever again find their way back to these shores; but it is well to record the interesting and important fact that, whilst Mr. Huntington and most other great book-collectors in the United States spare no cost in purchasing rarities and unique books, they are equally ready in placing these books, by means of photographic facsimiles, at the disposition of English students—a magnanimous action which cannot but help to compensate for our losses and to cement the friendship between the two great English-speaking nations. 18, KING'S AVENUE, S.W.4. W. ROBERTS. May, 1923. |