ii i!i 1 
 
 THE GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE LIBRARY 
 
 Halsted VanderPoel Campanian Collection 
 
 
Rare Books 
 
 and their Prices 
 
T(are Boofo 
 
 *Their ^Prices 
 
 With Chapters on 
 
 ^Pictures lottery ^Porcelain 
 
 and 
 
 ^Postage Stamps 
 
 BY 
 
 W. ROBERTS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 1896 
 
THE GETTY RESEARCH 
 INSTITUTE LIBRARY 
 
Preface 
 
 The first portion of the chapter on 
 Books and the second Chapter on Pic- 
 tures have appeared in the Nineteenth 
 Century ; the second portion of the 
 chapter on Booh, and also those chap- 
 ters dealing 'with Porcelain and Postage 
 Stamps, were first published in the 
 Fortnightly Review, to the respective 
 'Editors of which important periodicals 
 I desire to express my thanks for their 
 permission to reprint these papers. Each 
 article has been most carefully revised, 
 and very considerably amplified. 
 
 W. R. 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE ...... v 
 
 INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 RARE BOOKS AND THEIR PRICES . I 
 
 PICTURES ..... 53 
 
 POTTERY AND PORCELAIN . . 105 
 
 POSTAGE STAMPS .... 129 
 
 INDEX 153 
 
 vn 
 
Introductory 
 
 ACCORDING to La Bruyere, Curiosity, by 
 which is meant the passion for collecting 
 objects of art or interest, is not a taste for 
 that which is good or that which is beautiful, 
 but for that which is rare, or that which 
 nobody else has. It is not (the same philo- 
 sopher goes on to say) an attachment for 
 that which is perfect, but for that which 
 is county and that which is a la mode. It 
 is not an amusement, but a passion often 
 so violent, indeed, that it takes precedence 
 of both love and ambition. There is much 
 that is true in La Bruyere's generalisations, 
 but there is also much of the suggestio 
 falsi. Every man and boy collects some- 
 thing, and therefore possesses the collecting 
 instinct more or less deeply grained in their 
 natures. As with every other phase of 
 human life, the collecting instinct is largely 
 a matter of environment and associations, 
 tempered undoubtedly by individualism. 
 There is the same hunger, for example, 
 with the picture-collector as with the boy 
 ix 
 
Introductory 
 
 who collects postage stamps or tram-tickets, 
 the chief difference indeed being a mere 
 question of taste and of money. 
 
 The enthusiasm which is inevitably born 
 of the collecting spirit too often develops 
 into a mania for the infinitely little, the 
 excrescences, in fact, of the particular hobby. 
 " C'est elle," exclaims the Bibliomaniac in 
 " Les Loisirs " 
 
 " C'est elle . . . Dieux, que je suis aise ! 
 Qui . . . c'est ... la bonne Edition ; 
 Voilk bien, pages neuf et seize, 
 Les deux fautes;d'impression 
 Qui ne sont pas dans la mauvaise." 
 
 It is not, however, with those whom 
 Voltaire, in "Le Temple du Gout/* has 
 classified as 
 
 " L'amas curieux et bizarre 
 De vieux manuscrits vermoulus, 
 Et la suite inutile et rare 
 D'dcrivains qu'on n'a jamais lus," 
 
 that we purpose dealing either in this 
 Introduction or in the book itself. It is 
 a hopeless task, moreover, to attempt to 
 draw a hard and fast line between what 
 ought to be collected and what ought not. 
 The person who has a thirst for relics of 
 criminals and murderers generally can justify 
 his peculiar taste with a logic and perhaps 
 with an aggressiveness which will make the 
 x 
 
Introductory 
 
 collector of objects of art think that at all 
 events there must be something in his rival 
 collector's hobby besides gruesomeness. 
 
 Everything is " collected " nowadays, from 
 railway engines and men-of-war ships to ani- 
 malculas. Almost everybody collects the 
 poor man as well as the rich, the man with 
 taste and artistic instinct, and the man with 
 neither. Any attempt, therefore, at group- 
 ing the various things which are collected, 
 or at classifying the people who collect, must 
 inevitably fail. There are, and always will be, 
 people who are vetera extollentes^ recentium 
 incuriosi) and who pass from youth to old 
 age amid Us infiniments pet-its. But who 
 shall decide as to what is old and what is 
 new, or as to an acceptable definition of the 
 infinitely little ? The passion for collecting 
 is unquestionably one of the greatest safety- 
 valves of modern civilisation, and one of the 
 greatest conceivable preventatives of wrong- 
 doing. It is also unquestionably a species 
 of selfishness, but it is a selfishness which is 
 harmful to no one. 
 
 The antiquity of collecting is almost as 
 great as that of the world itself. It has 
 flourished or declined according to the state 
 or condition of the society in which we 
 search for it, but it has always had a tangible 
 potency a force which the disasters and 
 xi 
 
Introductory 
 
 falls of various nations have never suc- 
 ceeded in obliterating. " Why," it has been 
 asked, "should an Egyptian of the time 
 of Sesostris, or an Athenian in the days 
 of Phidias, have collected the works of the 
 barbarians ? They could teach him nothing 
 which he cared to know, and such art as 
 they might display would have appeared to 
 him contemptible, if not hateful." The 
 collecting passion of the Greeks appears to 
 have been well developed, but their acquisi- 
 tiveness was rather with a view to the adorn- 
 ment of the temple and the agora than their 
 individual houses. This exceedingly patriotic 
 spirit is not yet dead, for the many national 
 collections of objects of art, of literature, 
 and so forth, are, to a great extent, due to 
 private munificence. In by far the majority 
 of instances these collections do not become 
 public until after the owner's death a fact 
 which in no way impairs the value of the 
 bequest. 
 
 A writer in the Quarterly Review for 
 October 1880, has much that is interesting 
 to say concerning the great collectors and 
 collections of the past. The books upon 
 which this admirable article is founded are 
 an anonymous work, " Les Collectionneurs 
 de 1'Ancienne Rome," 1867; M. E. Bon- 
 affe's book with the same title, issued in 
 1873 ; and " Les Arts a la Cour des Papes," 
 xii 
 
Introductory 
 
 by Eugene Muntz, 1879, each of which is 
 a valuable contribution to the History of 
 Collecting, and from each of which several 
 of the statements in this introductory chapter 
 are derived. The reviewer points out that 
 "the public place of many a Greek city, small 
 in size as in most cases it was, must have 
 had all the aspect of a museum." Even in 
 the time of Vespasian (A.D. 9-79), 3000 
 statues remained at Rhodes (Pliny, xxxiv. 
 17), and there were not fewer at Delphi, 
 Athens, and Olympia. It is stated that an 
 approximate calculation of the statues and 
 images plundered by the Romans from 
 Greece places the number at a hundred 
 thousand. The temples were filled with 
 statues and pictures which had very little 
 relation to the divinity to whom they were 
 " offered." Although these larger objects 
 of art appear to have been regarded as 
 the prescriptive property of the community, 
 it is very certain that the richer citizens 
 were great collectors of such things as vases, 
 engraved gems, sculptured ivories and coins, 
 and perhaps to some extent of pictures. The 
 four first-named species of the collector's 
 desire were undoubtedly very keenly sought 
 after, as many perfect and beautiful ex- 
 amples still existing prove beyond question. 
 
 The men of old Rome had a great con- 
 tempt for collectors of objects of art. 
 xiii 
 
Introductory 
 
 Cicero, in his second oration against Verres, 
 speaks of such things as contemptible, and 
 says that the forefathers of those whom he 
 addressed allowed the people whom they 
 had made tributary to retain them as an 
 amusement and consolation in their slavery. 
 In the " Paradoxia " (V. 2), the great orator, 
 enraged probably at seeing that the taste for 
 these puerilities grew and increased around 
 him, brings forward the argument that as 
 in a house the slaves who were intrusted 
 with the care of the objects of art held 
 the lowest rank, so those who passionately 
 loved such objects were in the lowest depth 
 of slavery. Verres, whom Cicero holds up 
 to public scorn as the type of the selfish and 
 unscrupulous collector, undoubtedly was one 
 of the most celebrated collectors of antiquity, 
 and no crime deterred him from obtaining 
 the art treasures on which he had set his 
 mind. Verres, as governor of Sicily, had 
 opportunities beyond the reach of his fellow- 
 collectors and they loved him none the more 
 for that. Verres voluntarily exiled himself 
 after Cicero's first oration (actio primd] 
 and so made any defence of his actions 
 impossible ; he, however, lived in great 
 affluence in one of the provinces, doubtless 
 surrounded by the magnificent collection of 
 objects of art of which he had plundered 
 the Sicilians. 
 
 xiv 
 
Introductory 
 
 But Cicero himself was not only a lover of 
 the fine arts; he was also a collector. He 
 ornamented his villas with statues and paint- 
 ings, and is said to have spent a million of 
 sesterces (about ^8000) in the purchase of 
 a table of " citrus " or thuya wood. Being 
 a collector himself, Cicero was fully cogni- 
 sant of the collector's vulnerable points, and 
 was, therefore, the best possible " devil's 
 advocate." We have only Cicero's attack, 
 which is not necessarily a proof that all the 
 charges he brought to bear against Verres are 
 true. Verres apparently made no defence, 
 which, so long as he retained his treasures, 
 would be a superfluous undertaking. When 
 the collecting hunger seizes a man, obstacles 
 only give zest to his acquisitiveness ; and 
 this was precisely the case with Verres. 
 Nothing came amiss to him he " even 
 ventured to appropriate to himself the 
 colossal candelabrum of gold enriched with 
 precious stones which the son of Antiochus 
 was conveying as a present to the Republic." 
 Verres made an ostentatious display of his 
 various trophies. The entrance-doors of his 
 house were those of the Temple of Minerva 
 at Syracuse, covered with bas-reliefs in ivory 
 incrusted with gold. His halls were filled 
 with statues in marble or in bronze, which 
 had been " conveyed " from the countries 
 of Sicily, Asia, or Greece the Cupid of 
 xv b 
 
Introductory 
 
 Praxiteles, the Hercules of Myron, the 
 Sappho of Silanion, and a crowd of other 
 chefs-d'oeuvre of Greek sculpture. His 
 various collections were rich in pictures, 
 statues, ivory, candelabra, vases, armour, 
 engraved gems, and vessels of gold and 
 silver all doubtless obtained in the same 
 impartial manner. 
 
 Caesar also was a collector. He " was not 
 governed by the narrow ideas of his day. 
 His collections were not exiled to country 
 villas ; he had higher and wider views. He 
 caused temporary porticoes to be constructed 
 at the Capitol in order to exhibit his works 
 of art to the public. His cabinets of 
 engraved gems and of these he possessed 
 six were sent to adorn the temple which 
 he built in honour of Venus Genetrix ; 
 he settled the plan of a vast library, of 
 which Varro was to have the management ; 
 ,in fact, he opened to the people his fine 
 gardens on the banks of the Tiber, and 
 placed there his gallery of pictures and 
 statues." It was, the Quarterly reviewer 
 tells us, there that a fine statue of Venus 
 was discovered in the year 1860. 
 
 The list of Roman collectors includes 
 many illustrious names, e.g., Sallust the 
 historian, in whose garden the Dying Gladia- 
 tor was found ; Asinus Pollio, the orator, 
 poet, historian, and friend of Augustus, 
 xvi 
 
Introductory 
 
 who once owned the Toro Farnese, now at 
 Naples ; whilst even Anthony and Brutus 
 stand before the world clearly convicted of 
 the crime of collecting. The spirit of the 
 collector has in reality undergone very little 
 change during the past two thousand years. 
 The objects of his attention have certainly 
 greatly increased in number, and can be no 
 longer stolen with a due regard for per- 
 sonal convenience ; but there are still many 
 " touches " of nature which demonstrate the 
 uninterrupted current of human curiosity 
 in the matter of objects of art. To both 
 Martial and Juvenal the collector appealed 
 with an irresistible force. We learn of 
 Eros, who weeps because he cannot afford 
 to buy all he sees ; of Mamurra, who 
 spends his day in examining tables of ivory, 
 couches of tortoiseshell, murrhine cups, 
 golden vases set with emeralds and ends 
 by buying two cups for a halfpenny ! If 
 a census were taken of the various types 
 of collectors in London, it would probably 
 be astonishing to find what a large number 
 of Mamurrians there are ! The census- 
 maker need not go far beyond Holywell 
 Street, Strand : the booksellers there would 
 supply him with enough information to fill 
 a large " Returns." 
 
 M. Bonnaffe, in the work already men- 
 tioned, gives us a pen-picture of the con- 
 xvii 
 
Introductory 
 
 tents of the curiosity shops in Rome when 
 Britain was still an island of barbarians. 
 The contents were as delightfully varied 
 then as now, as the following inventory 
 proves : " Statues, pictures, bronzes of the 
 school of ^Egina, made famous by Myron ; 
 of that of Delos by Polycletus ; invaluable 
 rarities of Corinthian brass, marvels of 
 modern chasing, pieces marked with the 
 name of Boethius or of Mys, gigantic 
 candelabra from the workshops of JEgina 
 or Tarentum ; farther on, the shops of 
 the engravers, the jewellers, the dealers in 
 vessels of murrhine, of rock-crystal, of 
 amber ; delicate works in coloured glass 
 cut on the wheel, or chased up like a 
 piece of silver plate ; chefs-d'oeuvre in 
 miniature, in ivory, in terra-cotta ; the 
 beautiful pottery of Rhegium and of Cumae ; 
 tapestries, furniture in bronze, in ivory, in 
 thuja, in maple, &c." 
 
 What, it may be asked, has become of all 
 these treasures of the ancients ? Probably 
 only one in a thousand has survived the 
 decline, fall, and destruction of Greece and 
 of Rome, not to mention the score of other 
 national collapses and national disasters. A 
 large number of those which have come 
 down to us are only shadows of their former 
 selves, mere caricatures of their pristine 
 beauty. The howling demagogue, the igno- 
 xviii 
 
Introductory 
 
 rant iconoclast, and the vandal to whom 
 nothing is sacred : each of these has con- 
 tributed his share to the destruction or muti- 
 lation of the works of antiquity. 
 
 When the glory of Greece became levelled 
 into dirt and death, and the grandeur of 
 ancient Rome became humbled, the collector 
 suffered a collapse which threatened to prove 
 fatal. But from the ruins there evolved a 
 new order of things, a new race of collectors. 
 Collecting, as a fine art, can scarcely be said to 
 have had a great vogue until the Renaissance. 
 "In the fifteenth century the mediaeval schools 
 of art were dying exhausted by their very 
 fecundity, and aged before their time. This 
 was the hour of reaction, antiquity issues 
 from the earth. Men were dazzled. Statues, 
 monuments, bronzes, medals, engraved gems, 
 fragments of ancient art a desire to see and 
 possess all these became general. The Re- 
 naissance is the golden age of collections." 
 
 It is to Italy, and perhaps to Italy alone, 
 that we must look for traces of the art 
 collector as we know him to-day. One of 
 the earliest on record is Cardinal Giordano 
 Orsini, who is said to have formed a choice 
 collection of the antique things of Rome at 
 the latter part of the twelfth century, and 
 to have built an edifice to receive them. 
 About a century later, Pope Boniface VIII. 
 xix 
 
Introductory 
 
 better known for his disputes with the 
 kings of England and France than as a col- 
 lector possessed fifty cameos, and doubtless 
 other objects of art. M. Eugene Mtintz, 
 in " Les Arts a la Cour des Papes," prints 
 a most interesting memorandum, drawn up 
 in 1335 by Oliviero Forza of Treviso, when 
 about to visit Venice, in which he notes the 
 various acquisitions of sculptures, paintings, 
 embroideries, books, medals, designs, and an 
 ivory chessboard, which he proposed to make 
 in the city. And here we have a distinct 
 and tangible reference to one of the earliest 
 bric-a-brac hunters on record. Petrarch 
 was a collector of MSS. and ancient medals. 
 Pietro Barbo, afterwards Paul II., from early 
 youth pursued the hobby of collecting with 
 an enthusiasm and energy quite refreshing in 
 the history of Popes. He was an ostenta- 
 tious, profligate, and illiterate priest, who 
 persecuted letters and science with a bitter- 
 ness almost unparalleled. He hated the 
 Medici even more than men of learning. 
 That such a person should have a taste for 
 the fine arts is a mystery, and no one has ever 
 sustained in his favour a charge of possessing 
 any of the finer feelings of humanity. 
 
 Paul's successor, Sixtus IV., was a dis- 
 
 perser rather than a collector, inasmuch as 
 
 he sold many of Paul's rich jewels and 
 
 objects of art to the different princes of 
 
 xx 
 
Introductory 
 
 Europe, Lorenzo de' Medici securing some 
 of the treasures. The collecting passion 
 was strongly inherent in the Medici family. 
 Cosmo, son of the founder of the family, 
 was an ardent collector of manuscripts in 
 every language and on every subject; and 
 to him is due the " Bibliotheca Mediceo- 
 Laurentiana." Lorenzo, the brother of 
 Cosmo, was also an assiduous collector, not 
 only of books, but of works of art generally. 
 But just as the fame of Lorenzo, the grand- 
 son of Cosmo, and known universally as il 
 Magnifico, greatly exceeds that of any other 
 member of the family, so did his collecting 
 proclivities entirely outvie those of any of 
 his relations. An entire volume would be 
 necessary to do adequate justice to the col- 
 lections formed by the various members of 
 the Medici family. Roscoe's " Life of Lor- 
 enzo de' Medici" deals pretty fully with 
 the subject, and it is to this work that the 
 reader is referred for further details. 
 
 The example of this great family was 
 enthusiastically emulated by many con- 
 temporaries. Poggio, for example, was an 
 ardent collector. "My chamber," he says, 
 " is surrounded with busts in marble, one 
 of which is whole and elegant. The others 
 are indeed mutilated, and some of them are 
 even noseless, yet they are such as may 
 please a good artist." Other distinguished 
 xxi 
 
Introductory 
 
 Italian collectors, from the latter part of the 
 fifteenth to the seventeenth century, include 
 Count Balthasar Castiglione, Pietro Aretino, 
 Don Ferrate Carlo, and Commendatore Cas- 
 sino del Pozzo. 
 
 From Italy the collecting spirit passed to 
 France. One of the most distinguished of 
 the early collectors was Florimond Robertet, 
 treasurer of Charles VIII. , Louis XII., and 
 Francis I. Of his collection an inventory 
 has been published by the French Society 
 of Antiquaries (vol. xxx.); and one of the 
 most notable of the items is a collection 
 of " 400 beautiful glasses of all colours, and 
 other vessels of crystal of Venice, beautified 
 with the prettiest conceits which the Venetian 
 glassmakers could invent." In a curious 
 book, quoted by M. BonafF6 in "Les Col- 
 lectionneurs de 1'Ancienne Rome," " Blasons 
 domestiques pour la decoration d'une 
 maison honneste," 1539, the author, Gilles 
 Corrozet, describes in verse the contents of 
 the cabinet in which were preserved both 
 the artistic and useful treasures of the house. 
 The lines are as follow : 
 
 " Cabinet rempli de rich esses 
 
 Cabinet de tableaux remply 
 Et de maintes belles ymages 
 De grandz et petis personages, 
 
 xxii 
 
Introductory 
 
 Cabinet pare" de medailles 
 
 Et curieuses antiquailles 
 
 De marbre, de japhe et porphire. 
 
 Cabinet-oil est le buffect 
 
 D'or et d'argent du tout parfaict, 
 
 Cabinet garny de ceinctures 
 
 De douvres et de bordures 
 
 De fers d'or, de estocz, de tableaulx 
 
 De chaisnes, de boutons tres beaulx 
 
 De moucherons, de braceltz, 
 
 De mux plus cher qu'or de ducat 
 D'ambre fin, de sauon muscat 
 
 Et parmi tant du dieurs joyaulx 
 Sont les riches et gros signeaulx 
 Les patenostres cristallines 
 De perles et fins rubis 
 
 Puis les mignons et bons cousteaulx 
 Les forcettes et les ciseaulx 
 Le miroir, le gente escriptoire 
 Le chappeau, 1'eschiquier d'yvoire." 
 
 The religious and other wars which began 
 towards the close of the fifteenth century, 
 and ceased only at the accession of Henri 
 IV. nearly a century later, killed for a time 
 the collecting sentiment, which, indeed, can 
 only live and flourish in time of peace. It 
 was not, however, until the middle of the 
 seventeenth century, when Louis XIV. 
 succeeded to the throne, that it entered 
 upon what may be termed its best period. 
 Collectors soon became numbered not by 
 xxiii 
 
Introductory 
 
 units, but by scores and hundreds. At the 
 head of them all comes Cardinal Mazarin. 
 
 The English taste for collecting objects 
 of art was undoubtedly the outcome of 
 foreign travel on the part of English gentle- 
 men. The Englishman who might have been 
 the greatest collector of his age Henry 
 VIII. unfortunately developed into the 
 greatest disperser. It is useless now to 
 bewail the wholesale destruction or mutila- 
 tion of works of art and antiquity which 
 followed the dissolution of the monasteries. 
 Had these objects been carefully preserved 
 and placed in the custody of sympathetic 
 men, the museums of this country would 
 have been richer by far than any other in 
 Europe. Long before this cataclysm Eng- 
 land possessed a genuine collector in the 
 person of Cardinal Wolsey. It is said of 
 him that if Quentin Matsys had a picture 
 on the easel, Wolsey was ready to purchase 
 it ; if there was a curious clock, it was 
 secured for him. His fondness for tapestry 
 amounted to a passion. His agents ran- 
 sacked the Continent to procure choice sets 
 of arras, new and old, for his palace. His 
 magnificence generally is so much a matter 
 of history that it need not be entered into 
 here. The one redeeming feature in the 
 public acts of Charles I. is that he was a 
 xxiv 
 
Introductory 
 
 great collector, and the dispersion of his 
 collection of works of art has been gene- 
 rally regarded as one of the great national 
 calamities of the period. The Tradescants, 
 Elias Ashmole, and other distinguished col- 
 lectors are part and parcel of the history of 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
 Sir Hans Sloane, who was born in 1660 
 and died in 1752, was one of the great col- 
 lectors of his time, and his collections formed 
 the nucleus of the British Museum. Sir 
 Charles Hanbury Williams, being asked by 
 Sir Hans Sloane to send him what curiosities 
 he could find in his travels, sent him an 
 amusing poetical catalogue of " rarities," of 
 which the following is a specimen : 
 
 " From Carthage brought, the sword I'll send 
 Which brought Queen Dido to her end. 
 The stone whereby Goliath died, 
 Which cures the headache, well apply'd. 
 A whetstone, worn exceeding small, 
 Time used to whet his scythe withal ; 
 The pigeon stuff'd which Noah sent 
 To tell him where the waters went. 
 A ring I've got of Samson's hair, 
 The same which Delilah did wear : 
 Saint Dunstan's tongs, which story shows 
 Did pinch the devil by his nose. 
 The very shaft, as all may see, 
 Which Cupid shot at Anthony ; 
 And, which above the rest I prize, 
 A glance of Cleopatra's eyes ; 
 
 This my wish, it is my glory, 
 To furnish your nicknackatory." 
 XXV 
 
Introductory 
 
 Probably the greatest collector of the last 
 century was Sir Andrew Fountaine, of Nar- 
 ford Hall, Norfolk. He was born in 1676, 
 and was knighted in 1699 for his classical 
 attainments. In 1701 he paid an official 
 visit to Hanover with Lord Macclesfield, and 
 went thence to Italy, buying anything scarce 
 and curious which came under his notice. 
 He succeeded to Narford on the death of 
 his father in 1707; seven years later he 
 made a long sojourn in Paris, going thence 
 to Italy, and spending nearly three years at 
 Rome and Florence. > In 1727 he succeeded 
 Sir Isaac Newton as Master of the Mint. His 
 collection, which was considerably augmented 
 by the late Mr. Andrew Fountaine, who 
 died in 1873, comprised the rarest and most 
 beautiful works of cinquecento ceramic art 
 ever formed by a private individual, many 
 of the examples being absolutely unique. 
 The sale of this magnificent collection 
 at Christie's in 1884 realised a total of 
 ^96,278, whilst a further portion of the 
 collection produced nearly ; 15,000 in July 
 1894. 
 
 Horace Walpole, who was born in 1717 
 and died in 1797, was a very celebrated col- 
 lector of objects of art, and is said to have 
 formed his passion for the Fine Arts while 
 in Italy on the Grand Tour. It was not until 
 April 1842 that the contents of Strawberry 
 xxvi 
 
Introductory 
 
 Hill were sold by auction ; the proceeds of 
 the sale, which lasted twenty-four days, 
 amounted to over ,33,450. In no respect, 
 however, can Horace Walpole be compared to 
 William Beckford, either as a man of taste 
 or as a collector. Beckford was an excellent 
 scholar, and possessed a fine judgment of 
 almost every branch of art. He formed one 
 of the choicest and most extensive libraries 
 in England, and his galleries of pictures and 
 antiquities were almost unequalled. In May 
 1844 Phillips, of New Bond Street, sold a 
 quantity of furniture, &c., from this collec- 
 tion, the amount realised by a thirty-seven 
 days' sale being over ; 8 0,000. The sale 
 of his library, in 1882-83, realised over 
 ;86,ooo. 
 
 Ralph Bernal formed a collection of ar- 
 ticles of rare excellence, and of an age 
 exceedingly rich in ornamental art, extend- 
 ing from the Byzantine period to that of 
 Louis XVI. At the dispersal of this col- 
 lection in 1855, some extraordinary prices 
 were realised, which have been attributed 
 to the artistic character of the articles them- 
 selves, rather than to their extrinsic value 
 as historic relics. Mr. Bernal's collection 
 had a world-wide celebrity, and his judg- 
 ment was acknowledged all over Europe. 
 In a few introductory lines to the catalogue 
 of the sale, J. R. Planch6 thus speaks of the 
 xxvii 
 
Introductory 
 
 friend with whom he had been associated for 
 thirty years : " Distinguished among Eng- 
 lish antiquaries by the perfection of his 
 taste, as well as the extent of his knowledge, 
 the difficulty of imposing upon him was 
 increased by the necessity of fabrication 
 being fine enough in form, colour, or work- 
 manship to rival the masterpiece it simu- 
 lated to be, in fact, itself a gem of art, 
 which it would not pay to produce as a 
 relic of antiquity." The entire sale realised 
 close on ,71,000. Very many of the ar- 
 ticles sold for far more than Mr. Bernal 
 had paid for them a proof not only of his 
 skill as a collector, but as showing that the 
 purchase of articles of vertu, guided by 
 correct taste and judgment, generally proves 
 a very profitable means of investment. For 
 instance, about 400 lots of Majolica ware, 
 which cost Mr. Bernal 1000 guineas, realised 
 at his sale upwards of ^"7000 ; Sir Thomas 
 More's candlesticks, bought by Mr. Bernal 
 for twelve guineas, realised 220 guineas; 
 King Lothaire's magic crystal, bought by 
 Mr. Bernal for ten guineas, sold for 220 
 guineas. Many similar instances might be 
 quoted. 
 
 During the last few years a number of 
 
 celebrated collections of works of art have 
 
 come into the market ; first and foremost, 
 
 the Hamilton sale of 1882, when 2213 lots 
 
 xxviii 
 
Introductory 
 
 brought a total of .397,562, or about 
 .100,000 more than was anticipated by 
 those best qualified to judge. The Beckett- 
 Denison collection of 1885 realised close 
 on "70,000, a total which, as a whole, shows 
 a very great loss on the original outlay. 
 The renowned collection formed by the late 
 Hollingworth Magniac realised, in July 
 1892 (eleven days' sale), the large sum of 
 .103,000. But the particulars of this and 
 many other recent sales of famous collec- 
 tions of works of art are too easily accessible 
 to require any further reference in this place. 
 
 Collecting has long since taken its stand 
 as a fashion to what extent, indeed, may 
 be gathered from the fact that during the 
 past season the gross proceeds of the sale 
 of objects of art at one place in London 
 is understood to be about 1,000,000. It 
 will be inferred from this that the hobby 
 of collecting is one that requires a well- 
 filled pocket. That is undoubtedly true so 
 far as the chefs-d ' ceuvre of the various 
 objects of art are concerned. But much 
 good sport, and an infinite variety of 
 charming and interesting, as well as decora- 
 tive, objects of art may be acquired at a 
 very small cost by the collector who pos- 
 sesses a fair share of taste and common- 
 sense. 
 
 xxix 
 
Rare Books 
 
 and their Prices 
 
 THE origin of the English taste in books 
 is to be sought out of England, where our 
 forefathers found it imperative during many 
 centuries to go in order to complete, not 
 only their accomplishments, but their educa- 
 tion. The schools and academies of the 
 Continent provided English gentlemen with 
 the culture which they were long unable 
 to obtain at home, and with the culture 
 naturally came the feeling for the books 
 which were collected by Italian, German, and 
 Hollander. These were mainly the Classics, 
 and at first the insular purchaser satisfied 
 himself with the current editions produced 
 at Amsterdam, Leyden, Antwerp, or Leipsic. 
 But of course there arrived a season when 
 certain more inquisitive or enthusiastic minds 
 began to call for the texts which sprang into 
 existence at the dawn of typography, and 
 united with their literary pretensions archaso- 
 logical claims. Collectors kept their standard 
 
Rare Books 
 
 editions for use, and bought editiones prin- 
 cipes as curiosities and treasures. The de- 
 mand for the Greek and Roman writers was 
 wide and lasting; that it was not more so, 
 was due in large measure to our universities 
 and to men who had received university 
 trainings. In the earlier half of the last 
 century, Englishmen are found turning for 
 the first time seriously to the consideration 
 of the question whether, beside the foreign 
 classics, England and Scotland had none of 
 their own. The movement may be thought 
 to have commenced through a sentiment of 
 which the germ is traceable to such spirits as 
 Jonson and Dryden in a prior age in favour 
 of the neglected genius of Shakespear, while 
 a Dutch Elzevir cost forty times as much as 
 a first quarto, and an edition of the Fathers 
 was worth more than all the early English 
 poets. 
 
 It was such men as Sir Thomas Hanmer, 
 Theobald, Pope, Steevens, Malone who fos- 
 tered the tendency to turn to the authors 
 born on English ground, the predecessors 
 and contemporaries of the Stratford bard, 
 and to treat the ancient verse and prose 
 writers as a subsidiary feature in their libraries, 
 if not in their thoughts. But the yet more 
 powerful influence, perhaps, in winning round 
 our countrymen to a study and appreciation 
 of their native literature, was the appearance 
 2 
 
and their Prices 
 
 about 1 20 years ago of Warton's "History 
 of English Poetry," a work in many respects 
 imperfect and unsatisfactory, as we view it 
 to-day, but which nevertheless opened the 
 eyes of thousands by degrees not merely, not 
 even so much, to the beauties of the English 
 school, but to the existence of such a thing ; 
 and what a marvellous change came over us 
 from that time forward ! Warton, in addi- 
 tion to his account of our poets, incidentally 
 referred to our typographical monuments and 
 to the precious MSS. which our public and 
 a few private libraries possessed ; and then 
 there was Joseph Ames, who in 1749 g ay e 
 to us his " Typographical Antiquities," 
 another stimulus in the same direction, and 
 another blow to the foreign classics. 
 
 We are just working in bare outline. We 
 wish simply on the present occasion to point 
 out some of the phenomena and motives 
 attendant on the modern modes of book- 
 collecting, where men of fortune, men of 
 rank, men of business, emulated each other 
 in forming libraries, from which the classics 
 were not excluded, but where due homage 
 was paid to the vernacular literature of Eng- 
 land. Such were James West, Topham Beau- 
 clerk (Johnson's friend), Major Pearson, the 
 Duke of Roxburghe, David Garrick, George 
 Steevens, the Rev. Jonathan Boucher, among 
 hundreds of others belonging to all walks of 
 3 
 
Rare Books 
 
 life. Above and beyond them all towered 
 the incomparable Heber, not only a collector 
 and bibliomaniac, but a scholar and a reader 
 of what he bought a man who, from about 
 1810 to 1833, absorbed everything within 
 reach or to be got for money, and some of 
 whose acquisitions constituted the gems and 
 stamina of the Miller and Daniel collections. 
 The histories of the more recent libraries in 
 England are for the most part genealogical ; 
 a certain number of unknown books or edi- 
 tions have been brought to light since Heber's 
 time, but in turning over the pages of the 
 Corser or Huth catalogues, for instance, you 
 see clearly enough that the provenance is the 
 same ; the books are in other keeping ; and 
 in the case of the Britwell collection it is not 
 too much to affirm that it is what it is prin- 
 cipally by virtue of Heber. 
 
 The greater part of books do not die, but 
 exist in a state of suspended animation, while 
 they happen to be the class of literature for 
 which the rulers of the market are not im- 
 mediately calling. As with old china and 
 old coins, the danger is that a more or less 
 prolonged interval of neglect may involve 
 the partial destruction of a not very large 
 surviving residue, and that when the passion 
 for the love of other days at length returns, 
 the means of satisfying it are more limited 
 and the number of competitors more con- 
 4 
 
and their Prices 
 
 siderable. Yet this condition of affairs ought 
 not to be unwelcome to the true bibliomaniac ; 
 it should suit him down to the ground. The 
 only exceptions to the freedom of old books 
 from mortality are to be looked for in the 
 regions of science and theology; and there 
 the form often conspires with the subject- 
 matter to harden the hearts of men against 
 a restoration to favour. Volumes in folio, 
 though they be of that mitigated type called 
 pot, require a very powerful brief to save them 
 from the kitchen-grate or the paper-mill. 
 
 We have it on the authority of Leonard 
 Fairfield's friendly bookseller in "My Novel" 
 that " those who buy seldom read," and there 
 can be very little doubt about the fact that 
 the collector's reading does not often get 
 beyond what printers term the " preliminary 
 matter." His disinclination to read is, how- 
 ever, to be regarded as a virtue, as, if in times 
 past the fraternity had been consumed with a 
 craze for reading as pronounced as that for 
 acquiring, there would be no fine or spotless 
 copies of anything now in the market. Who 
 would at present think of reading a perfect 
 Caxton, a first quarto Shakespear, or even 
 an editio princeps of " Modern Painters " ? 
 We can get all we want out of facsimiles 
 or cheap reissues. It is a sufficient satis- 
 faction to reflect that the books we collect 
 were at one time readable. 
 
Rare Books 
 
 The motives of no two collectors are 
 precisely identical. The object may be 
 every known publication of certain authors 
 or subjects, and the aim may either be com- 
 mercial or intellectual. Speaking generally, 
 the specialist who rigidly adheres to one 
 phase does not exist, for when once a man 
 has been bitten with the incurable disease of 
 book-collecting, he does not take up one 
 subject without trenching upon at least a 
 dozen others. But every collector, what- 
 ever his particular weakness, has a sneaking 
 regard for a black-letter book, a tall copy, 
 an Elzevir when it is of the " right " date 
 and for an editio princeps when it is 
 to be had cheap. (Even Mr. Gladstone 
 himself has confessed to a weakness for a 
 tall copy.) 
 
 Again, two men may each form a collec- 
 tion on lines as nearly as possible identical, 
 and yet the intellectual results may bear no 
 comparison one with another. The books of 
 the one may have no extraordinary interest, 
 while those of the other may possess marks 
 of distinguished previous owners, or may have 
 been bound by an eminent binder, or be 
 copies perfect down to the minutest particular. 
 There is a very subtle difference between a tall 
 copy and a short one, as the owner quickly 
 finds out when he wants to sell ; and in the 
 case of " Paradise Lost " it has been dis- 
 6 
 
and their Prices 
 
 covered that no less than nine different title- 
 pages were issued with the first edition in the 
 course of three years. It would seem that the 
 sale of "Paradise Lost " was exceedingly slow, 
 and the publisher could only work off the stock 
 at considerable intervals, each new bookseller 
 naturally demanding a fresh title-page ; hence 
 the number of issues of the first edition. 
 Fortunately this is a very unusual contingency 
 even in the history of rare books, for many 
 examples of this kind would render book- 
 collecting an almost impossible hobby. 
 
 The reproduction of first editions not long 
 since became a trade, and a somewhat prolific 
 source of trouble to the novice in book- 
 collecting ; whilst facsimiled leaves have the 
 questionable merit of too closely resembling 
 the missing ones, and make all the differ- 
 ence in the value of the book. 
 
 The dispersion during the past ten or a 
 dozen years of several of the most famous 
 private libraries in England has more than 
 sufficiently emphasised the vast difference 
 between books with and books without first- 
 class bindings. The Beckford and Sunder- 
 land collections may be cited as examples in 
 each class respectively; but they are both 
 extraordinary illustrations of the value of 
 books when collected with discrimination. 
 The Sunderland Library was formed in about 
 twelve years, at a time the beginning of 
 7 
 
Rare Books 
 
 the last century when books which are now 
 almost priceless were to be had for very small 
 sums. It came under the hammer, at Messrs. 
 Puttick & Simpson's, between December 1 8 8 1 
 and March 1883, occupying fifty-one days, 
 and showing a total of ,56,581, 6s. for about 
 14,000 lots, or an average of just over ^4 
 each. The majority of these books were in 
 anything but first-class condition, chiefly from 
 the fact that, for over a century after being 
 stored in the library at Blenheim, they had 
 been subjected to the devastation of a scorch- 
 ing sun beating down upon their backs through 
 the huge windows, and had been so completely 
 undisturbed that birds had built their nests 
 behind the rows of volumes. A provincial 
 binder, moreover, had in many instances exer- 
 cised his depreciatory influence on the mar- 
 gins, not content with spoiling the exteriors. 
 Apart from these very serious drawbacks, the 
 insides of the books were perfectly clean. 
 The average, and consequently the total, 
 would have been far higher, had the volumes 
 been in a better state of preservation. 
 
 At the Beckford sale, at Sotheby's in 
 1882-83, 9837 lots, spread over a period of 
 forty days, realised a total of ,73,551, i8s., 
 or an average nearly double that of the Sun- 
 derland collection. Beckford's books were 
 often splendidly bound, many having the 
 devices of kings, queens, and other distin- 
 
and their Prices 
 
 guished previous possessors. Indeed, Beck- 
 ford neglected no opportunity or expense in 
 obtaining books with pedigrees, and their 
 value was perhaps enhanced by the piquant 
 or sarcastic notes which this distinguished 
 collector made on the fly-leaves of the greater 
 number of his books ; for Beckford was an 
 omnivorous reader, and at the same time the 
 author of " Vathek " and a man of fortune. 
 But the value of rare books, finely bound, 
 was still further emphasised in the Syston 
 Park Library. This, coming under the ham- 
 mer at Sotheby's in 1884, and consisting 
 of about 2000 books, realised a total of 
 ; 2 8,000, or an average of ^14 each. Sir 
 John Thorold began to collect books during 
 the last quarter of the last century, and his 
 fine judgment and exacting taste have been 
 very amply vindicated. His bindings in- 
 cluded specimens by the two Eves, Le Gascon, 
 Monnier, Dusseuil, Boyet, Padeloup, Derome, 
 Roger Payne, and others. The Syston Park 
 sale has been described as the high-water mark 
 of English book-collecting, and this judgment 
 may be accepted as generally correct. But 
 the average is not the highest, for the total 
 amount of the five days' sale of Baron Seil- 
 liere's library at Sotheby's in February 1887 
 brought the average up to about 16 per 
 book 1147 lots realising ,15,000. This 
 is the highest average of any book sale. 
 
 9 
 
Rare Books 
 
 This library consisted of the finest collection 
 of early romances of chivalry and ancient 
 French literature which has ever come into the 
 market, to which may be added that the ex- 
 quisite taste displayed in the binding of these 
 books surpassed anything of the kind that 
 has ever come before the public notice. The 
 Grolier books in particular fetched very high 
 figures. 
 
 As a contrast undoubtedly an extreme 
 one to the foregoing libraries, the sale of 
 the first two portions of the stock of the late 
 Mr. Stibbs, bookseller, may be cited. In 
 eleven days during 1892 Messrs. Sotheby dis- 
 posed of lots which would show an aggregate 
 of about 50,000 volumes, with a net result 
 f ^334> I 5 5 - This stock was almost 
 exclusively made up of old books which at 
 one time formed the general run of private 
 libraries ; many of them were once much 
 sought after. But a fairer case of compari- 
 son undoubtedly occurs in the recent sale of 
 the Apponyi Library, which, formed at the 
 beginning of the present century by an accom- 
 plished scholar, Count Antoine Apponyi, of 
 Nagy Appony, Hungary, was transferred 
 from that place to Messrs. Sotheby's rooms 
 in London. In five days in November 1892, 
 1359 lots realised a total of ^3364, or rather 
 less than i y IDS. each. Identical editions 
 of many of the books in this sale occurred 
 10 
 
and their Prices 
 
 also in the Beckford and Syston Park libraries, 
 and an analysis of the prices realised at the 
 three sales would appear to demonstrate a 
 lamentable fall. But this is more apparent 
 than real, for the examples of fine bindings 
 in the Apponyi Library were exceptionally 
 few, and could bear no comparison with 
 those in either of the other two collections. 
 
 As a general rule, the editiones principes 
 do not sustain their old market value; but 
 a certain few, particularly the most ancient 
 typographical monuments, and some of the 
 important classic authors produced at Naples 
 and elsewhere before 1470, evince a ten- 
 dency, at all events, not to recede. It must 
 be admitted that there is something super- 
 latively attractive in a first edition, coming, 
 as it does, fresh from the author's mind, or 
 as a first triumph of typographical effort. 
 The very first works of the earliest printers 
 have never been excelled in the beauty of 
 their execution, and they will for all time 
 stand as an incentive as well as a reproach to 
 modern printers. It is of these incunabula 
 and other early printed books that many of 
 the great private English libraries have been 
 composed. The Sunderland Library, for 
 example, contained a bewildering number 
 there being an editio princeps of nearly 
 everything worth having, and a series of 
 other early editions, each of which possessed 
 ii 
 
Rare Books 
 
 some special feature. To take a few illus- 
 trations : there were 85 editions of Aristotle, 
 40 of St. Augustine, 75 of Ovid, 71 of 
 Petrarch, 45 of the elder Pliny, 79 of 
 Homer, and 1 8 1 of Horace. 
 
 The Mazarin Bible, printed by Gutenberg 
 and Fust circa 1450-55, may be taken as an 
 extreme instance of the enhanced value of 
 the editiones principes. At the Perkins sale 
 in 1873, the only vellum copy then known 
 outside a public library sold for ^3400, whilst 
 a copy on paper fetched ,2690. At the 
 Thorold sale a magnificent example on paper 
 realised the extraordinary sum of ^3900, or 
 ^500 more than the vellum one; in 1889 
 the Hopetoun copy, which was slightly dam- 
 aged, sold for ^2000; and in March 1891 
 the Ives copy, with fifteen leaves in facsimile, 
 for 14,800 dollars. In a book of this sort 
 the slightest stain or incompleteness of 
 any kind makes a difference of hundreds 
 of pounds. But up to and including the 
 first quarter of the present century its price 
 rarely exceeded ^100, and the highest figure 
 was 6260 francs paid for the M'Carthy copy, 
 whilst the Gaignat copy on vellum only 
 realised 1200 francs in 1769. The first 
 edition of the Latin Bible with a date, 
 printed by Fust and Schceffer in 1462, may 
 also be cited here. The Gaignat copy on 
 vellum, sold in 1769 for 3200 francs; the 
 
 12 
 
and their Prices 
 
 Edwards copy, also on vellum, in 1815 for 
 ^175; in 1823 a very fine example reached 
 ^"215; in 1873 the Perkins copy (which 
 had cost its owner ^173) sold for ^780, 
 and eight years later the Sunderland example, 
 on vellum, was knocked down for ^1600. 
 A still more notable illustration occurs in 
 connection with the Psalmorum Codex^ 
 printed by Fust and SchoefFer in 1459, and 
 this is remarkable as having been acquired 
 by Mr. Quaritch at the highest sum ever 
 paid for a single book, viz., ^4950. It is 
 the second book printed with a date, and is 
 undoubtedly the grandest specimen of the 
 typographic art in existence. It is one 
 of the rarest of the early monuments of 
 printing, and beside it the Mazarin Bible 
 is a comparatively common book; its rarity 
 will be clearly understood when it is stated 
 that this copy, which belonged to Sir John 
 Thorold, is the only one that has occurred 
 in the market. It sold for 3350 francs in 
 the M'Carthy sale, for ^136, IDS. in that 
 of Sir M. Sykes, and it still remains, we 
 believe, in Mr. Quaritch's hands. Another 
 of the earliest printed works may be here 
 cited : the Catholicon^ 1460, one of the few 
 indubitable productions of Gutenberg's press, 
 and for which Sir John Thorold paid ^65, 2s. ; 
 it realised at his sale no less than ^400. 
 The editions of the English Bible printed 
 
 13 
 
Rare Books 
 
 during the earlier half of the sixteenth 
 century maintain high prices, but anything 
 like a fair comparison is difficult, as the 
 copies which have come under the hammer 
 during the last fifty years vary very much in 
 the degree to which they are imperfect. The 
 theory that reading a book sometimes be- 
 comes a deadly sin, assumes a very practical 
 form in connection with the early English 
 Bibles; and the extreme rarity of perfect 
 copies is the best or, in the eyes of the 
 collector, the worst possible proof of its 
 extreme popularity with our forefathers as a 
 book to read. The editio princeps of the 
 complete English version, 1535, realised 
 ^400 at the Perkins sale, and was presum- 
 ably perfect ; an example with eight leaves 
 facsimiled, but offering one of the finest speci- 
 mens of Bedford's bindings, is now priced at 
 ^300; but an absolutely complete example 
 would probably bring over ^1000. 
 
 Among first editions of secular books the 
 Valdarfer Boccaccio of 1471 stands well 
 in the front rank. Of this excessively rare 
 book only one perfect copy is known, and 
 there are less than half-a-dozen imperfect 
 ones in existence. At the Roxburghe sale 
 in 1812 the enormous sum of ^2260 was 
 paid for a copy of this book by the Mar- 
 quis of Blandford. Seven years afterwards 
 the same copy went for ^918, 155. Even 
 
and their Prices 
 
 this figure is extremely high. It cost the 
 Duke of Roxburghe 100 guineas. A copy, 
 the tallest known, but with five leaves 
 missing, and several others mended, sold in 
 March 1891 for .230. Almost as rare as 
 the Valdarfer Boccaccio is the first edition 
 with a date of Virgil, printed by Vindelin 
 de Spira at Venice in 1470, the Sunderland 
 copy of which now figures in a catalogue at 
 ;iooo, while the Ives copy was knocked 
 down in 1891 for 3000 dollars both being 
 printed on vellum. Just a century ago, in 
 the Crevenna sale, a copy of this fetched 
 4150 francs, but for nearly fifty years after- 
 wards the few copies that turned up only 
 realised about half that amount, and in one 
 instance it went as low as 1301 francs. 
 Equally splendid, from a typographic point 
 of view, and equally interesting, though by 
 no means so rare, is the first edition of 
 Homer, printed in Greek at Florence in 
 1488. The Duke of Grafton's copy sold 
 in 1819 for ^69, and the highest figure 
 paid for one until lately was 3601 francs 
 for an uncut copy in the Cotte sale, 1804. 
 The copy one of the finest in existence 
 #for which Mr. Wodhull paid 15 guineas in 
 1770, realised ^"200 at the sale of his library 
 in 1886. The first edition of the first book 
 printed in Greek the Grammatica Grceca 
 of Lascaris, Milan, 1476, of which only 
 
Rare Books 
 
 about six copies are known, was sold at the 
 Heber sale, 1834, for the then high sum 
 of ^34, whilst in the half-century which 
 followed its value had increased threefold, 
 the Thorold example going for ^105. It 
 is one of the rarest books in existence, and 
 in the preface to the Aldine edition of 1494 
 it was even then stated that "no copies of 
 this edition could be procured after the 
 most diligent search." Dr. Burney's copy 
 of this valuable book is now in the British 
 Museum. The first edition of Ovid, printed 
 at Bologna, 1471, is perhaps the rarest of 
 all the editiones principes of the classics, 
 only one perfect copy being known, and 
 even the odd parts or volumes of this shew 
 a marked increase in value during the past 
 few years. The first edition of Pliny's His- 
 toria Naturalis^ Venice, 1469, of which the 
 Thorold copy sold for ^57, is far more easy 
 to obtain. 
 
 It is one of the phenomena in the annals 
 of book-buying that the productions of the 
 Aldine press, unless they are on vellum or 
 of some special character, should have at 
 all declined in popularity. The first edition 
 of the first book printed by Aldus, the* 
 Musczi Opusculum de Herone et Leandro^ 
 Venice, 1494, is worth from ^"36 to 
 ^42 ; fine copies rarely occur in the sale- 
 room, but, curiously enough, it is usually 
 16 
 
and their Prices 
 
 in good condition : here, again, the virtue 
 of the non-reading collector comes out in 
 bold relief. It is very different with the 
 first edition of the Aldine "Virgil," 1501, 
 notable as being the first book printed in 
 italic characters : it is practically impos- 
 sible to obtain a perfect copy, both the 
 Beckford and the Hamilton examples being 
 incomplete; a very good example is 
 priced at ^155 (the Ives example, which 
 was perfect, only fetched 250 dollars), 
 about one-fourth the value placed upon it 
 a quarter of a century ago. The Hyp- 
 nerotomachia Poliphili^ printed by Aldus 
 in 1499, is sought less on account of its 
 typographical than its graphic interest, the 
 engravings being of a peculiar type, which 
 recommends it to the collector. In this 
 case the tendency is distinctly an upward 
 one. Condition being everything, the copies 
 sold during the past few years shew con- 
 siderable fluctuation ; but a very inferior 
 copy now realises four times as much as a 
 perfect one fifty years ago, when several, by 
 no means poor copies, changed hands for 
 ^"5 each. Mr. Quaritch tells us that the 
 copy for which Mr. Cheney paid him ^"45, 
 sold six or seven years after for ^119 ; the 
 Beckford realised ^130, and the exception- 
 ally fine example in the late R. S. Turner's 
 library sold for ^137. 
 
 17 B 
 
Rare Books 
 
 Notwithstanding the perhaps permanent 
 fall in the estimation of normal Aldines, that 
 of exceptional copies is unaffected. For 
 example, ten or twelve guineas would be a 
 fair price for the first Aldine "Lucretius," 
 1500, but Grolier's copy of the second 
 edition realised, a few years ago, ^300. The 
 difference is purely external, and to a great 
 extent abstract, but it is there neverthe- 
 less. 
 
 It is the same with the Elzevirs. Even 
 the " best " editions of these frightfully 
 inaccurate but delightful little books are 
 now at a lamentable discount, and with 
 only their past reputations to commend 
 them. In January 1890 a parcel of twenty- 
 six Elzevirs realised a less average than is. 
 each. Almost the only exception to this 
 general downfall is Le Pastissier Fran- 
 fotSy 1665 (of which about forty copies are 
 known), of which, in 1780, a copy sold for 
 4 francs ; in 1819 the Marlborough example 
 went for i y 45.; in 1828 Sensier's realised 
 128 francs, and nine years later 201 francs; 
 then the old vellum binding was substi- 
 tuted for a very beautiful covering by 
 Trautz-Bauzonnet, and in 1870 it brought 
 2910 francs; and then, five years later, in 
 the Benzon sale, it advanced to 3255 francs. 
 But in 1877, when it once more came into 
 the market, it fell to 2200 francs. The 
 18 
 
and their Prices 
 
 highest price paid for Le Pastissier is 
 10,000 francs, at which absurd sum it was 
 sold a few years ago in Paris. 
 
 Turning from books issued in foreign coun- 
 tries to those of a more immediate English 
 interest, the works of Caxton naturally come 
 first. There are about 560 examples in 
 existence of England's first printer. Of this 
 number about four-fifths are in the British 
 Museum, at Cambridge and Oxford, in the 
 Duke of Devonshire's and the Earl of Dy- 
 sart's libraries, and in the Rylands (plim 
 Spencer) collection at Manchester. Out of 
 this total thirty-one are unique, and seven 
 exist only in a fragmentary form. It is 
 obvious, therefore, that whatever changes 
 may occur in the fashion, Caxtons cannot be 
 expected to decline in value. The prices at 
 which these books have been sold at different 
 times afford some striking comparisons. At 
 the Watson Taylor and Perry {Morning 
 Chronicle] library sales in 1823, five examples, 
 nearly all fine copies, of Caxton's books 
 realised a total of 291, 155. These books 
 were "The Life of Jason," 1476-77 (^95, 
 us.), "The Book called Caton," 1483 
 (^30, 195. 6d.), " Troylus and Cresside," 
 1484 (;66), and a very fine and perfect 
 copy of Virgil's "Eneidos," 1490 (^46, 
 143. 6d.). Of the first two there are only 
 six copies of each known ; of the third, 
 
 19 
 
Rare Books 
 
 twelve examples ; of the fourth, four copies, 
 and of the fifth eighteen copies. There 
 are no available records of any of the 
 first four having been sold during recent 
 years, and it is curious to note that of the 
 least rare, the "Eneidos," Mr. Quaritch 
 priced a copy in 1877 at ^300. Although 
 the increasing value of Caxtons is a fact 
 which does not need much demonstration, 
 it will be of general interest to quote a few 
 more illustrations in this connection. The 
 highest sum ever paid for a Caxton is 
 ^1950, at which the Harleian copy, and the 
 only perfect one known, of " King Arthur," 
 1485, was knocked down at the sale of Lord 
 Jersey's books in 1885. Unfortunately, and 
 to the lasting disgrace of England, it was 
 secured by an American collector, whose 
 widow, Mrs. Pope, has since parted with 
 his books more vzduarum. At the same sale 
 one of twenty examples (of which only three 
 are perfect) of the first book printed in 
 English, the "Histories of Troy," realised 
 ;i82o; in 1812 the Duke of Devonshire 
 gave ;io6o, I2s. for a copy wanting the 
 last leaf, which had belonged to the queen 
 of Edward IV., and for which the Duke of 
 Roxburghe had paid ^50 a few years pre- 
 viously ! In 1885 a very imperfect example 
 of Higden's Polychronicon^ 1482, realised 
 the high figure of ^66, but Mr. Quaritch 
 20 
 
and their Prices 
 
 values the best of the three perfect copies 
 known at ^500; the Perkins copy sold in 
 1873 for ^365, but the same example ap- 
 pears to have depreciated slightly in value 
 by crossing over to America, inasmuch as it 
 only realised 1500 dollars at the Ives sale in 
 1891. In 1868 the Rev. T. Corser's copy 
 of the "Dictes and Sayings," 1477, the first 
 English book which bears a plain statement 
 of place and time of its execution, sold for 
 ;no; the Earl of Jersey's copy in 1885 
 fetched ^350, whilst the Duke of Buc- 
 cleuch's copy, four years later, sold for 
 ^650. Neither of the first two was com- 
 plete. " The Mirrour of the World," 1481, 
 of which only sixteen copies are known to 
 exist, is also a book which shows a steady 
 rise in value. The Duke of Devonshire's 
 perfect copy many years ago cost ^351, ifs., 
 whilst the Syston Park example, which was 
 not quite perfect, sold in 1884 for .335. 
 The same may be said of " one of the rarest 
 and most intrinsically valuable " of Caxton's 
 productions, Gower's Confessio A mantis, 
 1483, of which only five perfect (and twelve 
 imperfect) copies are in existence, and of 
 these Lord Selsey's, in old calf binding, in 
 1872 fetched ^670, and Lord Jersey's in 
 1885, ;8io. A copy, imperfect only to 
 the extent of having one leaf in facsimile, 
 is catalogued at ^380. Lord Chancellor 
 21 
 
Rare Books 
 
 Hardwicke's imperfect copy of the " Game 
 and Playe of the Chesse" sold in 1884 for 
 ^260; a century ago a perfect example was 
 purchased for ^30, os. 6d. 
 
 The works of Shakespear, so far as the 
 original quartos and folios are concerned, 
 yield to no other in their advance in price 
 among book-fanciers ; at the time of publica- 
 tion theformerwere obtainable for a few pence. 
 At George Daniel's sale quartos which had 
 cost ^"40 realised between ^"300 and ^400. 
 But even at the Steevens sale in 1800 there 
 was a foretaste, amid low figures given for 
 many distinguished rarities, of what was 
 coming, and of what we still feel and see. 
 The same upward tendency is witnessed in 
 regard to the folios. A fairly good example 
 of the first, published under the editorship of 
 Heming and Condell in 1623, might have 
 been had fifty years ago for under ^"30; a 
 fine copy at the Roxburghe sale, 1812, went 
 for ;ioo, just a fifth of what many collectors 
 to-day would give for a similar one; the 
 Thorold example (13^ x 8| inches), was one 
 of the largest and finest known, and it sold for 
 ^590. A bookseller has priced "a match- 
 less copy" at ;i2OO. Mr. Locker-Lamp- 
 son's is an equally splendid copy, and is 
 scarcely inferior to that in the possession of 
 the Baroness Burdett - Coutts. Quite the 
 finest example known up to the present is 
 
 22 
 
and their Prices 
 
 in possession of Mr. C. J. Toovey, it being 
 both broader and taller than any recorded 
 copy, whilst very many of its leaves are 
 absolutely uncut. The second, third, and 
 fourth folios are also relatively dearer. The 
 second, dated 1632, varied, till within the 
 last twenty-five years, between $ and 1$, 
 at which latter sum the Roxburghe copy 
 was knocked down. Two examples (neither 
 absolutely correct), which have occurred in 
 the last two seasons, were the Cosens, ^62, 
 and the Ives (New York), 400 dollars. The 
 third folio, 1664, which is really the rarest, 
 sold forty or fifty years ago for about 
 .20 or ,30 ; the Ives copy, which for- 
 merly belonged to John Philip Kemble, 
 brought 950 dollars ; and another, Mr. Gais- 
 ford's, went for ;i68. A copy was sold at 
 Christie's in June 1894 among Sir J. Hay 
 Langham's books. The seven doubtful 
 plays, which are usually omitted in copies 
 of the first issue, were at the end of the 
 copy in question, and were preceded by the 
 title, dated 1664; its height was I3fx8|, 
 and it realised the record price of ^435. 
 
 Perfect copies even of the fourth folio, 
 1685, which at one time could have been 
 had in plenty for ^5, and which is of no 
 special interest or value, have sympatheti- 
 cally risen, the Gaisford copy realising 
 and the Ives 210 dollars. 
 
 23 
 
Rare Books 
 
 Of the miscellaneous early English writers, 
 especially those of high rank, the value is at 
 present far higher than it used to be, partly 
 from the augmented competition for a limited 
 supply. The earliest issues of Spenser and 
 Milton, for instance, have more than quad- 
 rupled in value within a few years. In some 
 instances this has been exceeded in a few 
 months. In June 1889, a copy of the ex- 
 tremely rare first edition of Richard Love- 
 lace's "Lucasta," 1649, sold by auction for 
 ;6, i2s. 6d. ; in May 1892 another example 
 realised ^44, and both possessed all the 
 beautifully engraved plates. It is the same 
 with the earliest impressions of Walton's 
 "Compleat Angler," 1653. Referring to 
 a catalogue published by Mr. Quaritch in 
 1879, we find a fine copy in red morocco 
 extra priced at ^52, with an apologetic foot- 
 note to the effect that it is twenty years since 
 a copy " last occurred for sale," excepting the 
 copy which was included in the set of five 
 editions sold at Tite's sale for ^68, and 
 afterwards at Crawford's for 100. Of that 
 set, the first edition constituted fully three- 
 quarters of the entire value. In 1889 one 
 realised .180, and in 1891 another (with 
 which went Cotton's " Complete Angler," 
 1676) for ^310, and a third in May 1892 
 for ;2io. 
 
 Certain eighteenth - century books fetch 
 24 
 
and their Prices 
 
 even more in proportion. The first edi- 
 tion of Goldsmith's " Vicar of Wakefield," 
 1766, a quarter of a century ago could 
 have been purchased for ^5 ; eight or nine 
 years ago almost twice that sum would not 
 have been considered excessive; in 1891 a 
 copy sold at Sotheby's for ^90, and in May 
 
 1892 another at the same place went to 
 ^"94. Gray's famous "Elegy," 1751, which 
 was originally sold for sixpence, jumped from 
 36 in 1888 to ^"59 in 1892, and when the 
 next copy came into the market in December 
 
 1893 it sold for ^74. The first editions of 
 Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, Swift, and Defoe, 
 (in " Robinson Crusoe " the set of three 
 volumes should be all of the first edition and 
 in good state) are good or bad investments 
 just as they happen to be acquired. The 
 " curious " class of printed matter in which 
 the last century was so prolific is in fairly 
 great demand just for the moment, and 
 notably the memoirs, real or imaginary, of 
 some only too well-known actor or actress. 
 As an example, " The Memoirs of his Life," 
 by Theophilus Keene, 1718, sold for 17 
 in 1889, whereas a quarter of a century ago 
 George Daniel's copy did not realise many 
 more shillings. The "Memoirs" and the 
 "Apology for her Life," 1785-86, of Mrs. 
 G. A. Bellamy, or the " Authentick," as well 
 as the " Faithful" Memoirs, 1730-3 1 , of Mrs. 
 
 2 5 
 
Rare Books 
 
 A. Oldfield, and similar records are " placed " 
 at high prices. 
 
 A development of another kind is in 
 " Americana." As a country gets richer its 
 taste for the extraneous attributes which go 
 to make life worth living becomes more and 
 more pronounced. This taste has been fos- 
 tered in the true scientific manner by such 
 distinguished bibliographers as the late Henry 
 Stevens of Vermont and by such liberal 
 patrons as the munificent founders of the 
 Lenox and other libraries. For anything of 
 real or supposed importance relating to the 
 country Americans will pay a fair price ; but 
 London is the next best market for " Ameri- 
 cana." Indeed, periodical consignments of rare 
 books, including "Americana," are shipped 
 to London for sale. Very many incidents of 
 the greatest interest might be cited in con- 
 nection with this development, but there is 
 space for one only, as indicating the high and 
 low water marks. This occurred when the 
 books of the late Lord Chancellor Hard- 
 wicke's library were sold at Christie's in 1888. 
 Among others there was an unprepossessing 
 small quarto volume consisting of a dozen 
 tracts bound up together. These tracts 
 chiefly related to American affairs, and were 
 published in London between 1583 and 1657; 
 and the lot was knocked down for the extra- 
 ordinary sum of $SS- O n tne tner hand, 
 26 
 
and their Prices 
 
 in 1886 the Somers tracts in 30 folio volumes, 
 containing some of the rarest " Americana " 
 in the finest state, fetched only ;6i. There 
 is no class in the world who in one respect 
 more implicitly obey the Scriptural injunc- 
 tion, " Look unto the rock whence ye are 
 hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence 
 ye are digged," than the Americans. Fortu- 
 nately they are in a position to pay for it. 
 For many years past American collectors have 
 been draining England of rare books and 
 manuscripts, and more particularly of works 
 relating to British genealogy and county 
 history. 
 
 The changes which inevitably occur in 
 every line of life, intellectual and material, 
 are also extended to book-collecting, and 
 extended in a very marked and significant 
 manner. The old loves have to a certain 
 extent been abandoned, and the new genera- 
 tion has gone in heavily for the first editions 
 of modern authors. 
 
 The attraction of a first edition over the 
 second or subsequent issues falls into the 
 category of things which are not explainable 
 on ordinary principles. The charm is so 
 much a matter of feeling, that any attempt 
 to justify it can nearly invariably be 
 seized upon and used, or rather turned 
 against it by the utilitarian. Book-buy- 
 ing has been described as one of the few 
 27 
 
Rare Books 
 
 passions which require neither apology nor 
 defence ; and of all the many attempts 
 which have been made to excuse this 
 most fascinating hobby, we have 'never yet 
 come across one which has either satis- 
 fied the collector or silenced the Philistine. 
 We do not propose, therefore, attempting a 
 justification which could readily be converted 
 into a condemnation. The cult of first 
 editions has nevertheless many tangible and 
 logical reasons which may be urged in its 
 favour, so long, of course, as the cult is not 
 carried to excess. A first edition often 
 possesses an attraction which is much more 
 than sentimental, for the very paper on 
 which it is printed may be no longer manu- 
 factured, the type used in its composition 
 may be no longer in vogue, and the cover 
 in which the book is bound may have been 
 manufactured out of a material which is not 
 only gone out of fashion, but which is no 
 longer possible to procure. These attributes, 
 singly or combined, are naturally esteemed as 
 bringing our sons or grandsons nearer than 
 any amount of written description to our 
 own " old " times. Even the old divines are 
 tolerable in their quaint typographic dress 
 of two or more centuries ago: the "Pilgrim's 
 Progress," "Paradise Lost," "Gulliver's 
 Travels," and Walton's " Compleat Angler" 
 are positively intolerable in their modern 
 28 
 
and their Prices 
 
 disguises; they are, indeed, as offensive to 
 good taste as a very old man rigged out in 
 the most modern of fin-de-siecle dress, and 
 aping the manners (such as they are) of a 
 period with which he has absolutely nothing 
 in common. A writer in the Speaker has 
 described the " mania " for first editions as 
 a "purely spiritual joy," and, as with all 
 spiritual joys, the experience thereof is a 
 thing of feeling and not of argument. 
 
 The first editions of Dickens and Thacke- 
 ray are no longer the rage of the collecting 
 public, and their decline to what may be 
 termed a common-sense value is a matter 
 for congratulation. The first editions of 
 these authors now realise very high prices 
 when they possess some extraneous matter. 
 It makes a wonderful difference, for example, 
 whether they possess the printed covers and 
 the advertisements of the original parts, or 
 whether they are minus these things. 
 
 If a copy of " Oliver Twist " possesses the 
 cancelled and the substituted plate depicting 
 Rose Maylie, Oliver, and others sitting in 
 front of a fire a plate which appeared in a 
 few copies of the earliest issue of the third 
 volume the result, when it comes to selling, 
 will be very different from what it would 
 be without that plate. The Memoirs of 
 Joseph Grimaldi, edited by Boz, is quite a 
 different book in the eyes of a collector when 
 29 
 
Rare Books 
 
 the plate of the "Last Song" is with the 
 pantomimic figures round the etching. So 
 also in the case of " Martin Chuzzlewit," of 
 which the more valuable copies of the first 
 edition have the transposed in the reward 
 on the engraved title. The first edition of 
 "Pickwick" may be taken as an illustration 
 of the intricacies of the science of editiones 
 principes. The " Pickwick Papers " origin- 
 ally came out in twenty shilling monthly 
 parts, commencing in April 1836, and ending 
 in November of the following year. After 
 Seymour had etched seven plates for this 
 work he committed suicide, and the task was 
 committed to Buss, whose two plates, " The 
 Cricket Match," p. 69, and " Arbour Scene," 
 p. 74, were not considered satisfactory. 
 Hablot K. Browne then took the place of 
 Buss, and etched thirty-six plates, so that 
 the total number of illustrations amounts to 
 forty-three, to which are frequently added 
 the Buss plates just mentioned, though they 
 only appear in the earlier copies of the third 
 number. While the parts were in course 
 of publication, the author addressed several 
 communications to his readers, and these are 
 found in Numbers 2, 3, 10, and 15; these 
 addresses are an important item in the make- 
 up of a genuine first edition. Good copies 
 of " Pickwick " in the original being scarce, 
 care must be taken to see that the contents 
 30 
 
and their Prices 
 
 are in every way perfect, special attention 
 being directed to the plates. The first seven 
 of these are, as already pointed out, by Sey- 
 mour, the following two (in a few numbers of 
 part 3) by Buss, and the remaining thirty-six 
 by Hablot K. Browne, or " Phiz." It must 
 be remembered that not one of these plates, 
 as originally issued, bore any title ; and 
 further, that the 8th, 9th, loth, and nth 
 plates in Numbers 3 and 4 are said to bear 
 Browne's first sobriquet, " Nemo," which he 
 then used for the last time. The two Buss 
 plates are, like the rest, destitute of any 
 lettering. If they are printed off on buff- 
 coloured paper they are probably spurious, 
 though there are facsimile reprints on white 
 paper as well, and great care must be taken 
 with regard to these. One peculiarity about 
 the first limited issue is that the name " Wel- 
 ler" on the signboard of "The Marquis 
 Granby," which appears as a vignette on the 
 title, is spelt " Veller," the W being substi- 
 tuted for the V in all subsequent issues. It 
 should also be pointed out that in some 
 copies of the original edition each plate has 
 its appropriate inscription at the foot, that 
 Browne's sobriquet " Phiz " takes the place 
 of that of " Nemo," and that the plates in 
 one copy may vary from the corresponding 
 plates in another ; all are genuine. These 
 distinctions arise by reason of alterations 
 
 31 
 
Rare Books 
 
 made in the plates by the artist as the pub- 
 lication proceeded ; and as issue followed 
 issue in rapid succession, each was marked 
 by some characteristic of its own. All may 
 be genuine, but it is only the earlier issues 
 that excite great competition, and only the 
 very earliest that sell for large sums of money. 
 An ideal copy may realise about ^30, good 
 copies 6 or ^"7, and ordinary copies ^"3, or 
 even less. We have condensed the foregoing 
 facts from Mr. Slater's excellent work on 
 " Early Editions," as showing how important 
 it is to fully understand the many minutiae 
 which go to make up an ideal first edition, 
 which, however, as with other things, may 
 sometimes experience a considerable "fall." 
 For example, the copy which sold in the late 
 F. A. Marshall's library in 1890 for ^31, 55. 
 only fetched ^21, los. when it again came 
 into the market in 1893. The remarkable 
 fact about ordinary first editions of Dickens 
 and Thackeray, as well as Charles Lever, 
 Ainsworth, and all the others of contem- 
 porary note, is their extreme commonness ; 
 there is nothing rare about them, for pro- 
 bably fifty examples of every one could be 
 purchased in London within a day's walk. 
 There are a few exceptions, but these 
 exceptions are not of great critical or 
 other value. They are exceedingly rare, 
 and perhaps that is about as much as can 
 32 
 
and their Prices 
 
 be urged in their favour. Nevertheless, 
 they are absolutely indispensable where a col- 
 lector desires to have a complete series of 
 the works written by the author or authors 
 to whom he devotes his attention. Some 
 months ago, for example, a copy of Thacke- 
 ray's Flore et Zephyr , 1836, realised ^90 
 at public auction ; true, it was a fine copy, 
 but that was the only intrinsic or other merit 
 which could be claimed. Another uncon- 
 sidered| trifle of little literary importance of 
 Thackeray's which fetches large sums when 
 it occurs in the market is "The Second 
 Funeral of Napoleon," 1841, a trifle which 
 Mr. Michael Angelo Titmarsh, in the quiet 
 seclusion of the shades, would be surprised 
 to hear realises over twenty guineas. 
 
 With " Vanity Fair," as with some other 
 celebrated books, there are what may be 
 described as two first editions, but the valu- 
 able one is that with the woodcut of the 
 Marquis of Steyne, which was suppressed 
 after the issue of only a few copies ; one, 
 when accompanied by the original wrappers 
 and advertisements, fetches about ^"16, or 
 about ten times as much as an ordinary first 
 edition, for which amount a splendidly bound 
 Edition de luxe copy of Thackeray's works 
 in 26 volumes, with 1500 wood engravings, 
 270 steel engravings, and 88 coloured illustra- 
 tions, can be obtained by those who want it. 
 33 c 
 
Rare Books 
 
 Naturally, copies which bear traces of having 
 belonged to their particular authors, or other 
 distinguished previous possessors, do not 
 come within the category of ordinary ex- 
 amples. For example, a first edition of 
 Thackeray's "Virginians," 1858-59, in the 
 original parts as issued, realises from a guinea 
 to 2^2, according to condition ; in April 1891 
 an uncut copy in the original boards sold at 
 Sotheby's for ^30, simply from the fact that 
 it contained the following " poetical " inscrip- 
 tion in the handwriting of the author : 
 
 " In the U. States and in the Queen's dominions 
 All people have a right to their opinions, 
 And many people don't much relish ' The Virginians.' 
 Peruse my book, dear R., and if you find it 
 A little to your taste, I hope you'll bind it. 
 
 Peter Rackham, Esqre., with best regards of the author." 
 
 To the lasting joy of the collector, and to 
 the extreme profit of the vendor, " dear R." 
 did not bind it. 
 
 Both Dickens and Thackeray have suffered 
 considerably at the hands of the too zealous 
 persons who feed their own vanity by hanging 
 on to the coat-tails of eminent men and claim 
 the title of public benefactors by "resurrect- 
 ing" from a well-merited obscurity some 
 worthless tract or obsolete and ephemeral 
 magazine article, and trumpeting it about 
 as a masterpiece. An author is not perhaps 
 the best judge of his own works. Milton, 
 for example, had a much higher estimation 
 34 
 
and their Prices 
 
 of " Paradise Regained " than of " Paradise 
 Lost," an opinion which probably no other 
 man has entertained. But an author's desire 
 that certain unimportant writings of his early 
 days should be left in the limbo of forgotten 
 things ought to be respected. The tendency 
 of the day is not in this pious direction. 
 
 If there is one name in English literature 
 more beloved and revered than another, it is 
 Charles Lamb, and few will be disposed to 
 quarrel with the collector for attempting to 
 obtain a series of first editions of this im- 
 mortal essayist. But Lamb published much 
 which he himself was contented to let die a 
 very natural early death, and which scarcely 
 possesses a single feature of literary merit. It 
 is a curious freak of collectors' " cussedness " 
 that the least worthy memorials of the gentle 
 Elia should also possess the highest commer- 
 cial value. It is true that they are for the 
 most part excessively rare, but rarity does 
 not necessarily carry with it a corresponding 
 intellectual value. His " Poetry for Chil- 
 dren," 1 809, is a case in point. It is believed 
 that there are only about a dozen copies of 
 this little collection in existence, but that 
 number more than satisfies the world's needs: 
 two or three years ago one man in five mil- 
 lions was found willing to pay ^35 for an 
 example. For some time it was thought 
 that this collection had quite faded out of 
 
 35 
 
Rare Books 
 
 existence, but by a succession of chances copy 
 after copy came to light. The exhumation 
 of this kind of treasure trove always brings in 
 its train a crowd of other booklets and pam- 
 phlets, whose claims to a new lease of life 
 are based entirely on the bookseller's not 
 disinterested assumption that they were 
 probably written by Lamb or some such 
 celebrity. A composition entitled " The 
 Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast" 
 has frequently been catalogued as by Lamb, 
 and, of course, priced accordingly, whilst 
 its illustrations have been boldly assigned 
 to Blake : both statements being entirely 
 false, and without any kind of justification. 
 First editions of Lamb were not popular 
 when those of Dickens and Thackeray were 
 in full demand, and the one has gone up 
 pretty much in the same ratio as the 
 others have declined. As an example, Lamb's 
 "Tales from Shakespeare," 1807, with plates 
 by Blake and Mulready, has increased in 
 value from 10 in 1888 to ^25 in 1892. 
 About 1870 the price for a fine copy was 
 73. 6d. 
 
 So soon as the mania for one particular 
 class of book declines, another springs into 
 existence ; for the market, naturally, must 
 not be supposed to languish. A few years 
 ago Shelley was made the stalking-horse, 
 and grew all the rage. Nearly all his pub- 
 36 
 
and their Prices 
 
 lications were issued in extremely limited 
 numbers, Byron publishing perhaps a thou- 
 sand copies of his works to Shelley's score. 
 Shelley's first editions will always be rare, 
 although of course their value is governed 
 entirely by the demand for them. The value 
 of Byron's has advanced just as that of Shelley's 
 has declined. One of Shelley's publications, 
 "Laon and Cythna," 1818, which a few 
 years ago would readily sell for about .7 or 
 ;8, now realises only about three guineas. 
 It makes all the difference, however, whether 
 the copy possesses the leaf containing a 
 Greek quotation from Pindar or not ; of 
 this it is believed there are fewer than six 
 copies in existence, for one of which 16 
 was paid in 1888. In 1889 a copy of the 
 first edition of "Alastor," 1816, sold for 
 fifteen guineas, but in November 1893 a 
 slightly inferior example (both were in the 
 original boards) went for eight. A distinct 
 rarity, such as "A Refutation of Deism," 
 1814, of which only about three copies are 
 known, and of which one example last year 
 fetched ^33, scarcely comes within the range 
 of comparison. The same may be said of 
 several publications of Byron, such as, for 
 example, the first edition of " The Curse of 
 Minerva," 1812, and of "The Waltz: an 
 Apostrophic Hymn" [by Horace Hornem, 
 Esq.], 1813, which, both uncut and in origi- 
 
 37 
 
Rare Books 
 
 nal boards, sold in June 1892 for ^100 and 
 .86 respectively, we grieve to relate, receded 
 to ^30 in 1 894. Byron's "Poems on Various 
 Occasions," 1807, rose in value from ^20 in 
 1889 to ;68 in 1892; the latter amount is 
 more than sufficient to purchase a set of the 
 first editions of Robert Browning, with the 
 exception of "Pauline," which is worth ^100, 
 and a few other unimportant trifles. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott's works, like most of 
 Byron's, were published in such large numbers 
 that few are ever likely to become rare ; but 
 they are rapidly rising in favour, if auction 
 prices are any criterion. Six years ago a 
 few pounds would have purchased a com- 
 plete set of Scott's novels in the pristine 
 beauty of original boards and uncut edges. 
 Now, a first edition of " Ivanhoe," 1820, 
 fetches ^7, a similar example of "Rob Roy," 
 6, each in the three-volume form. Even 
 within the last few years the collectors of 
 first editions of Scott have multiplied by an 
 hundredfold, with the very natural effect on 
 the market. Examples bound in half-calf, 
 or indeed in any other fashion, except the 
 old state in which they were first sent out, 
 are at a discount, and realise considerably 
 less than the cost of their decadent dress. 
 Even those copies which are in greatly dilapi- 
 dated boards sell at fancy prices. 
 
 A few of the earliest editions of Tennyson 
 38 
 
and their Prices 
 
 and Robert Browning fetch high prices, 
 especially the celebrated " Poems by Two 
 Brothers." A facsimile reprint comes pretty 
 much in the same category as an " antique " 
 article manufactured in Germany ; but such 
 a contingency in the case of many excessively 
 rare and expensive books is not without its 
 intellectual value. Students are not, as a 
 rule, men who can compete with the collector, 
 and a reprint is as useful for study as the 
 original. It is curious to note, in connec- 
 tion with this volume, an illustration of the 
 extremes to which collectors go. Three 
 copies of this little book were in the sale- 
 room in 1893. Two were ordinarily good 
 copies. One being nicely bound in half-calf, 
 realised 7 ; but the other being in the 
 original boards, with a paper label at the 
 back, as issued in 1827, ran up to ^28! 
 A large-paper copy sold for 30. For 
 " Timbuctoo," the poem which obtained the 
 Chancellor's medal at Cambridge, 1829, and 
 which Tennyson himself considered (and 
 rightly) as unworthy a place among his best 
 poems, the enthusiastic collector has been 
 willing to pay ^5. The person who con- 
 fines his attention to first editions is, it must 
 be admitted, not so extreme a case as the 
 man who collects every edition of certain 
 authors. This class of collectors are noble 
 patrons of the booksellers. At Sotheby's, 
 39 
 
Rare Books 
 
 in May 1892 an almost complete collection 
 of the works of Tennyson and Tennysoniana, 
 comprising the first and nearly all subse- 
 quent editions, for the most part in the 
 original covers and uncut, was on sale. The 
 lot comprised 143 volumes, and the total of 
 ^83 gave an average of rather more than 
 us. per volume. But if the three or four 
 items which usually realise fancy prices were 
 taken away, the average would show an awful 
 loss on the original outlay, even at discount 
 prices. There would be method in this mad- 
 ness if each edition differed from one another ; 
 but they did not. 
 
 Browning societies have unquestionably 
 fostered the demand for first editions of 
 the poems. A complete set (with one 
 exception) of twenty-nine volumes of first 
 editions of Browning's principal works, un- 
 cut copies and in the original bindings, 
 realised in 1892 the very respectable total 
 of ^33, i os. In the case of a few of 
 Browning's publications, such as "Bells and 
 Pomegranates," it makes all the difference 
 whether they are or are not bound in parts 
 as issued, the work named costing about 
 five guineas when bound in morocco, but 
 when unbound, and in original paper covers, 
 its value is just trebled. To the lay mind 
 a tastefully bound volume offers attractions 
 not possessed by a set of parts in their dingy 
 40 
 
and their Prices 
 
 wrappers, but with a " collector ** it is diffe- 
 rent. " Sordello " in a luxurious clothing of 
 the best morocco is much less valuable than 
 one in the original cloth and with a paper 
 label. A set of the latest complete edition 
 of Browning's works, substantially bound, in 
 all sixteen volumes, costs less than a single 
 copy of " Bells and Pomegranates " in the 
 original parts. 
 
 The decline in the call for first editions 
 does not imply that Ruskin is less read than 
 formerly ; each new edition of works of this 
 great stylist finds a fresh stratum of readers, 
 and the demand seems to increase with the 
 supply. Five or six years since a copy of 
 the first edition of " Stones of Venice " 
 would not have been reckoned costly at ^"18 
 in the auction room. In November 1892, 
 at Sotheby's, a copy went for ^6, 173. 6d. 
 Certainly the last copy was a poor one, but a 
 good example of this issue is procurable at 
 about 10. " Modern Painters " has gone 
 down, even when each of the five-volume set 
 of this epoch-making book is of the first im- 
 pression. In November 1892, ten volumes 
 of his separate works (first editions), in the 
 original cloth, realised just over three guineas. 
 The publications of Mr. Ruskin which more 
 than maintain their commercial value are 
 those which are quite unknown except to 
 the specialist. They are little pamphlets 
 41 
 
Rare Books 
 
 and tracts, which were, for the most part, 
 printed in exceedingly small numbers, and 
 are now practically unprocurable. Although 
 there are about a dozen collectors who 
 have spared neither time nor money to 
 render their Ruskiniana complete, we believe 
 that not more than one can claim to have an 
 absolutely final series of the works of the 
 "master." A rough calculation places the 
 value of a complete set of Ruskin at not 
 much short of ^300 for about sixty distinct 
 publications. 
 
 The apotheosis of a dead or a truly great 
 living writer has many points in its favour, 
 although, as we have seen, it is capable of 
 being carried to an extreme. But it is 
 quite a different thing when the " prospect- 
 ing" bookseller exploits every ephemeral 
 tract by living authors who have either not 
 the power or the inclination to throttle this 
 kind of unholy trading on the names of 
 reputable persons. Both Mr. Andrew Lang 
 and the late Richard Jefferies (to bracket 
 together two names very different in per- 
 manent value) come in this category. It is, 
 of course, one of the many severe penalties 
 which overtake a person who has the mis- 
 fortune to acquire fame during his lifetime 
 it is equally, of course, certain that the 
 " celebrated " author does not participate 
 one jot in the cash result of the wicked book- 
 42 
 
and their Prices 
 
 seller's artful manipulations. A local firm 
 of booksellers makes a parade of no fewer 
 than forty first editions of Mr. Lang's 
 publications, which are offered at a total 
 sum of nearly ^30. With one or two 
 exceptions these books are still in print, 
 and by those so disposed may be had new 
 for considerably less than half that amount. 
 Some of these first editions are also the last ; 
 and the idea of asking 35. 6d. for pamphlets 
 which have ceased to possess any kind of 
 interest, and which were originally issued 
 nominally at a shilling, is certainly not one 
 that appeals to every book-lover with equal 
 force. The first edition of " The Library " 
 is priced at 75. 6d., or about double its 
 original price, and the publication of a new, 
 improved, and cheaper edition renders the 
 previous issue quite obsolete, except with 
 collectors, to whom it is a case of first 
 edition or none. Many of Mr. Lang's 
 editions, particularly the unillustrated vol- 
 umes, are printed on " large paper " it is 
 difficult to imagine why. We get " Lost 
 Leaders" on large paper, and we now ex- 
 pect some enterprising author to issue a 
 volume of " Undiscovered Paragraphs " in 
 the same form. What, it may be asked, is 
 the raison d'etre of a large-paper copy of 
 a book ? It should be an Edition de luxe, 
 not only printed with greater care on 
 
 43 
 
Rare Books 
 
 superior paper, but should possess a fair 
 amount of extra illustrations, and bound in 
 a sumptuous manner. And yet in how few 
 books do we see even the faintest attempt at 
 a fair quid pro quo for the much enhanced 
 price demanded for these large-paper copies, 
 which, in the majority of cases, are ugly in 
 shape, cumbersome to handle, and show a 
 lamentable waste of good paper. 
 
 The catalogue to which reference was 
 just made also contains a set of the really 
 interesting labours of Richard JefFeries : 
 twenty-nine volumes in the original bindings 
 are modestly priced at ^35, which averages 
 rather more than ;i, 43. per volume. In 
 this collection is included " Jack Brass, 
 Emperor of England," and " Reporting, 
 Editing, and Authorship." The " Game- 
 keeper at Home " is a charming work, and 
 by far the best of the long list. It will 
 stand all the tests of the varying fashions 
 of book-collecting ; but the fact that it 
 only realises about 303. in its original state 
 is a proof that it is not rare; and the 
 generally good condition of the copies which 
 occur in the market prove that it has not 
 been subjected to the hard reading which 
 literally wore out the novels of Dickens 
 and Scott. 
 
 The scarcest of all his books is a little 
 brochure in paper covers, entitled "Suez- 
 44 
 
and their Prices 
 
 cide." This tract, rather absurd and entirely 
 worthless, was originally issued at threepence. 
 It now realises from two to three guineas, or 
 even more, and is so rare that only a few 
 privileged individuals have ever even seen it. 
 An enterprising person in this instance a 
 " lady," who wrote from a Continental address 
 conceived the brilliant idea of manufac- 
 turing counterfeit copies. These were offered 
 to confiding booksellers at about i each, at 
 which price they went off with great rapidity. 
 Among living authors, it may be doubted 
 if any are destined to hold so long and hon- 
 ourable a place with future generations as 
 George Meredith and Thomas Hardy. The 
 first editions of both are objects of the keen- 
 est competition. Mr. George Meredith's 
 first book, " Poems," was issued in 1851, and 
 is now worth from ten to twelve guineas. 
 " The Ordeal of Richard Feverel," by many 
 regarded and rightly so to our way of 
 thinking as one of the greatest novels 
 which have appeared since the death of Sir 
 Walter Scott, is much sought after by col- 
 lectors, and three guineas would not be an 
 extravagant price to pay for it. " Richard 
 Feverel " did not by any means take the 
 town by storm when it was first issued in 
 1859 indeed, a second edition was not called 
 for until nineteen years after; and when 
 copies do turn up, they are usually in first- 
 
 45 
 
Rare Books 
 
 class condition. With Thomas Hardy's " Far 
 from the Madding Crowd " it was very 
 different, and collectors have to content 
 themselves with exceedingly shabby examples 
 of this truly great work, now worth a $ 
 note. We notice a paragraph in an American 
 paper to the effect that a copy of the first 
 edition of Mr. Hardy's "Tess of the D'Ur- 
 bervilles " brought " ten times its catalogue 
 price at a recent English sale," but the state- 
 ment is not correct : it is certainly worth 
 more than the original published price, which 
 is a great achievement for a three- volume 
 novel in the course of a year or two. 
 
 Another phase of the passion for collecting 
 is suggested by the question which was asked 
 in a newspaper some four or more years ago 
 " By which of his books will Professor 
 Tyndall be best remembered hereafter ? " If 
 the present worth of them in money be any 
 test, by his " Alpines." These command 
 extraordinarily high prices his " Hours of 
 Exercise in the Alps " often fetching as much 
 as ^2, ios., and his "Glaciers of the Alps" 
 ^3. Of the rarity of the former book no 
 better illustration can be given than the fact 
 that until the other day the author himself 
 was not able to procure a copy. " I am told 
 by a friend," he wrote to a bookseller who 
 makes a speciality of " Alpines," " that you 
 have two copies of my book. The price is 
 
and their Prices 
 
 high, and this is in a way very gratifying 
 to the author. And as, unfortunately, I have 
 no copy myself, I shall be glad if you will 
 send the books to me at the price named." 
 A very large number of book-collectors of 
 unexceptionable taste have steeled themselves 
 against the current passion for the first edi- 
 tions of unillustrated books, and have ex- 
 tended their operations, so to speak, to works 
 on which the talent of the artist has been 
 employed. There is much to be said in 
 favour of this side of the subject, for the 
 chances are a thousand to one in favour of 
 the earliest edition against the second and all 
 subsequent ones. The impressions or illus- 
 trations do not improve the oftener they are 
 worked off. Books illustrated by Walter 
 Crane, Hugh Thomson, and a few other of 
 the most modern artists, show a distinct and 
 unmistakable upward tendency, and those 
 who love not merely first editions, but also 
 beautiful books, will be wise to avail them- 
 selves of opportunities which are not rare at 
 the present moment, but which may at any 
 time become almost past praying for. 
 
 The "limited edition" is the most recent 
 development of the first edition mania. One 
 of the most notable examples in this category 
 was Mr. R. L. Stevenson's onslaught upon 
 the Nonconformist minister who wrote hard 
 things of Father Damien. The attack ap- 
 47 
 
Rare Books 
 
 peared in The Scots Observer, and a privately 
 printed edition of fifty copies was struck 
 off; only nine were said to be offered for sale 
 in London, at three guineas each whether 
 they were sold or not, the present writer is 
 not in a position to state. The craze received 
 another impetus when the works of Mr. 
 Norman Gale were put into the hands of the 
 horn-blower. Mr. Gale's books of rhymes 
 began to appear in 1885, and at the present 
 time a complete set of the first edition of his 
 booklets, about twenty volumes on large and 
 small paper, was first catalogued at ^100 
 the published price of many of which did not 
 exceed 35. 6d. then it dropped to 50 guineas, 
 and it was even rumoured that a set might 
 be obtained for less than that. Finally, a set 
 which had been catalogued by a well-known 
 firm of booksellers at about ^90 came into 
 the market ostensibly as the property of a 
 gentleman who had given up collecting and 
 this precious assortment of winged puerili- 
 ties sold for 2 1 guineas ! And so that little 
 bubble has burst ! There are probably people 
 who believe that Mr. Gale's dainty jingle is 
 going to live, just as John Dennis's friends 
 argued that that renowned critic was a much 
 greater dramatist than Dryden, and a more 
 elegant poet than Pope. But it must be 
 patent to every person of common sense that 
 the mania for collecting this kind of pretty 
 48 
 
and their Prices 
 
 vanity is not one likely to last long. Some 
 sort of comparison might be set up but 
 only in regard to their first-edition affinity 
 between Mr. Gale's publications and those of 
 the late J. K. Stephen ; but there is a vitality 
 in J. K. S.'s smart verse to which Mr. Gale's 
 bundle of reeds cannot lay claim. The first 
 editions of the former have a very distinct 
 literary as well as commercial value, since in 
 the later issues many of the poems have been 
 considerably altered and, as some think, not 
 improved. 
 
 Who, it may be asked, buys the books of 
 which only one or two hundred copies are 
 struck off? As a matter of fact, very many 
 of these publications never get into the hands 
 of the general public at all. Before these 
 books are published, they are, after consulta- 
 tion held with the worshipful Guild of Log- 
 Rollers, to which the writer probably belongs, 
 and a circular setting forth in very indif- 
 ferent English, but in not too modest terms, 
 the merits of the enterprise, subscribed for 
 by the booksellers, who, learning that the 
 number to be printed is limited, buy up in 
 the anticipation of a rise. While the move- 
 ment is in its youth, its success is not despi- 
 cable; private persons are freely canvassed, 
 and not seldom drawn into the net (for 
 it is that nay, it is usually a fraud) ; even 
 the trade subscriber, a pretty innocent, ere 
 49 D 
 
Rare Books 
 
 now has repented the act. A book is not 
 going to sell or survive simply because its 
 excuse for existence lies entirely in its paper, 
 illustrations, binding, and printing, particu- 
 larly when these items have nothing but a 
 foolish idiosyncrasy, or a grossness which is 
 too feebly suggested, to recommend them. 
 A book, even if it consist of nothing but 
 blank leaves, bound by artists such as Eve or 
 Roger Payne, has a well-defined claim upon 
 our consideration, for, being the work of a 
 true artist, it cannot well fail to be artistic. 
 But it seems to exact from us more than is 
 strictly fair when we have indulgently passed 
 the covers as quaint, and the interior of a 
 volume turns out to be the theatre of a 
 contest between the author and the artist for 
 superiority in silly indecency or preposterous 
 abortion. 
 
'Pictures 
 
Pictures 
 
 IF book-collecting is susceptible of being 
 classed among forms of speculation, how 
 much more so is the business of acquiring a 
 gallery of paintings ! It is positive gambling. 
 The old school of buyer has pretty well died 
 out, and the new one presents to our view, 
 instead of men of family and fortune pur- 
 chasing pictures on their own judgment, 
 or that of sound critics or private friends, 
 commercial men purchasing them from com- 
 mercial men, sections of whom form a strange 
 union of dealer, auctioneer, commission-agent, 
 and adviser (in the strictest confidence). A 
 Johannes Factotum ; a new Proteus ; a 
 modern mercantile quadrilateral ! " When 
 broker meets broker ; then comes the tug of 
 war." This is an unquestionable fact, and it 
 is a very important one, because it provides 
 a key to the capricious and violent fluctua- 
 tions which this description of property 
 undergoes from season to season. This very 
 remarkable change has been effected within 
 the last half century. 
 
 53 
 
Pictures 
 
 The majority of private picture-collec- 
 tors of the present day have gained money 
 by industries with which they are familiar, 
 and generously place a proportion of their 
 earnings at the disposal of an expert, who, 
 as we have already suggested, may bear 
 towards the articles sold to his patron more 
 than one sort of relationship, for investment 
 in commodities of which they know next to 
 nothing. Whatever changes occur in quota- 
 tions, the auctioneer et ccetera stands to win 
 more or less ; and he turns over on the 
 same object half-a-dozen times very possibly 
 during his distinguished career. The finest 
 judges of paintings such men as Ottley, 
 Waagen, Hazlitt, Robinson have not usually 
 been buyers not, at all events, on their 
 own account. It is the middleman here, 
 as elsewhere, who pulls the strings, and 
 the same individual is ever playing many 
 parts. It is a curious game, this merchandise 
 in the higher efforts of genius, and a lucra- 
 tive. The old or modern master has become, 
 under latter-day auspices, as reliable an asset 
 as the upshot of a pair of dice or a teetotum. 
 The small dealer is a poor creature by com- 
 parison; he gets his material goodness knows 
 where, and sells it he only knows to whom ; 
 but there is so little money in it, after all ! 
 You must have a big name to conjure with if 
 you desire big prices, and that is not so readily 
 54 
 
Pictures 
 
 accomplished. Some of us, who are mere by- 
 standers, think that we sometimes see such 
 a thing as a proneness on the part of gentle- 
 men to watch less jealously than was their 
 wont their good repute. Well, it is alto- 
 gether easier to run down-hill than to climb 
 up. Facilis descensus^ &c. These humble 
 reflections appeared to arise naturally in our 
 mind when we sought a clue to the at first 
 sight startling vicissitudes attendant on the 
 sale of pictures under the hammer. 
 
 Mr. George Redford, the venerable com- 
 piler of " Art Sales," regards the great Art 
 Treasures Exhibition at Manchester in 1857 
 as having set the fashion in this respect, for 
 he points out that, since that event, "there 
 is scarcely a commercial man of position in 
 Lancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and in 
 Scotland, who has not his collection of pic- 
 tures," whilst every town or provincial city 
 has its picture-gallery and museum. Indeed, 
 throughout Britain the ruling passion with 
 the great majority of wealthy men has been 
 directed in the way of art. 
 
 It is a notorious fact that pictures which a 
 few years ago could scarcely be given away 
 command to-day very high figures. It is 
 difficult to convince ourselves that the pic- 
 tures have not altered, and that the only 
 change which time has effected is in ourselves. 
 A beautiful picture is, all things being equal, 
 
 55 
 
Pictures 
 
 always a beautiful picture. But the unfor- 
 tunate part of the matter is that for one who 
 looks at a work of art for its own sake with 
 a share of critical insight, there are ten who 
 do so because they are advised that it is the 
 right thing, and will roll up money against 
 re-sale, which sometimes it does, and some- 
 times does not. It depends a good deal, this 
 does, on the pleasure and convenience of the 
 log-rollers and teetotum-spinners. 
 
 However careful and exhaustive an inquiry 
 may be made into the picture-sales and pic- 
 ture-fashions of the past and present, these 
 sales and fashions afford a very uncertain 
 indication of what may be the favourite 
 pictures of the next generation. Taste 
 varies in a more or less accentuated degree ; 
 and however much one may feel disposed 
 to quarrel with some of the extremes into 
 which we are led by those who are behind 
 the scenes, there is no denying the perpetual 
 fluctuation. Picture-collecting resolves itself 
 not so much into a question of to buy or not 
 to buy, as in the character of the collector's 
 judgment and the depth of his pocket. 
 
 The commercial prosperity of a civilised 
 nation may, to no small extent, be gauged 
 by the extent to which the purchase of what 
 may be generically classed as objects of art 
 is carried. It is impossible to make even a 
 rough estimate of what has been paid during, 
 
 56 
 
Pictures 
 
 say, the past two years for articles which are 
 luxuries, and not in any sense necessaries; 
 but if any such rough calculation could be 
 drawn up, the total would be doubtless 
 enormous. Considering that the " turnover" 
 of the most eminent firm of art-auctioneers 
 in London, and perhaps in the world, some- 
 times averages nearly three-quarters of a 
 million sterling annually, and that two days' 
 sale alone shewed a total of over .100,000, 
 the country might be taken to be in a less 
 straitened condition than the pessimist would 
 have us believe. But it is almost too trite a 
 fact to be worth repeating that the whole 
 of the competition in King Street for the 
 higher classes of property is almost indepen- 
 dent of the state of trade, and lies between 
 half-a-dozen individuals or institutions, whose 
 withdrawal or absence would reduce the 
 figures at once to a more normal and more 
 trustworthy standard. 
 
 The collection of pictures of the late 
 David Price cost its owner about .90,000, 
 and when sold at Christie's in April 1892 
 realised rather more than .70,000. Super- 
 ficially, the two totals would indicate a net 
 loss of .20,000, for, whilst some of the 
 pictures realised considerably less than Mr. 
 Price paid for them originally, others fetched 
 more. But it must be remembered as a set- 
 off" that Mr. Price (who was a bachelor) was 
 
 ' 57 
 
Pictures 
 
 a collector for nearly forty years, and that, 
 apart from his business in the City, he had 
 no interest in the affairs of every-day life, 
 except so far as they related to pictures and 
 picture-buying. There are, of course, many 
 people who would regard ^500 a year as a 
 rather heavy sum to spend on a hobby ; but 
 when we look at the many hobbies on which 
 vastly larger sums are annually laid out, with 
 very little benefit, abstract or otherwise, to 
 the spender, we cannot help regarding the 
 amount which Mr. Price paid for his plea- 
 sure as money very well spent. Consider- 
 ing the gratification with which Mr. Price 
 would shew his picture-gallery, and looking 
 at the results of a happy life and a fine 
 discriminating taste, the transaction is pre- 
 eminently a satisfactory one. How many 
 similar speculators in stocks and shares, in 
 horse-racing, or any other hobby, could shew 
 a better result after nearly forty years' con- 
 tinuance? The tendency of the day is to 
 omit a fair consideration of intellectual profit, 
 which surely ought to count for something 
 when the balance has to be struck. 
 
 One reads a good deal of lucky purchasers 
 in the way of pictures. It is said, for 
 example, that a season or two ago a dirty 
 picture described as an "old master" was 
 sold at Christie's for seven guineas, which, 
 of itself, is most probable. But this picture 
 
 58 
 
Pictures 
 
 is further said to have been re-sold for ;8o, 
 again for ^"700, and, after being cleaned, it 
 was discovered to be a fine Terberg, and was 
 ultimately purchased for a Continental gallery 
 for ^"2000. It is also said, and this time we 
 believe on very good grounds, that a picture 
 which went a-begging in the West of Eng- 
 land for five shillings on more than one 
 occasion, was discovered to be a genuine 
 Guido, and worth at least ^"2000. For all 
 such anecdotes there is perhaps some sort 
 of foundation, but they can only be accepted 
 with extreme caution. Christie's, of all 
 places in the world, is the least likely spot 
 at which a " fine Terberg " would be sold 
 as an " old master " for seven guineas, 
 although it is certain that Terbergs so 
 called have been sold there for much lower 
 amounts. Mr. Woods, the senior partner 
 in the historic firm just mentioned, has per- 
 haps a wider and more accurate knowledge 
 of pictures than any living person, and his 
 judgment is rarely known to err. 
 
 The pedigree of a picture is its most 
 valuable extraneous or collateral recommen- 
 dation. It governs its price when it comes 
 up for sale under the hammer. There are 
 so many forgeries, of all degrees of merit or 
 want of it, and so many copies which possess 
 the extremely inconvenient property of closely 
 resembling the original. Where a picture 
 59 
 
Pictures 
 
 can be traced without a break from the 
 artist's easel down to the present day, there 
 is of course no call for a doubt as to its 
 genuineness. Unfortunately, this cannot 
 always be done, particularly in the case of 
 a prolific artist, more especially if he was 
 obscure and unappreciated in his lifetime. 
 This was the case with many men whose 
 pictures now individually realise sums which 
 to them would have been a fortune. 
 
 The Dutch school affords the widest pos- 
 sible scope for comparisons in the matter 
 of past and present prices. Down to the 
 first quarter of the present century, the 
 finest works might be had in this country at 
 sums which now appear absurd. Within the 
 past half a century the values of these old 
 Dutch masters have gone up with a bound, 
 for we have at last come to regard abso- 
 lute fidelity to nature as distinct qualities in 
 the tout ensemble of a picture. To take, as a 
 collective illustration, the famous collection of 
 the late Adrian Hope, sold on June 30, 1 894. 
 It may be doubted whether these seventy- 
 five pictures cost anything like ,10,000. 
 Mr. Hope ceased to collect between thirty 
 and forty years ago, after having obtained 
 all he wanted, at prices which seem absurdly 
 small when compared with those of to-day, 
 the total of the sale, in fact, being close on 
 .50,000. It was expected that the amount 
 60 
 
Pictures 
 
 would have been nearer ,100,000, but many 
 of the pictures had the appearance of having 
 been " touched up." All things considered, 
 the collection sold extremely well. 
 
 To particularise a few of the more striking 
 examples sold during the last few seasons, 
 the splendid work of Jan Both, "Abraham 
 with Hagar and Ishmael," in which the sun- 
 shine is manipulated in a manner at once 
 extraordinary and unique, sold in 1828 for 
 rather less than 300 guineas, ran up in 1875 
 to 4500 guineas, and unaccountably fell to 
 the less artificial price of 1090 guineas 
 when sold with the Mildmay collection in 
 June 1893, a fall almost without a recent 
 parallel so far as regards Dutch pictures. 
 So, too, Both's hilly and well-wooded land- 
 scape, which realised ^"1752, IDS. at the 
 Bredel sale in 1875, declined to 750 guineas 
 in the Dennistoun sale in June 1894. 
 Genuine examples of this master are rare; 
 excellent copies by contemporary hands occur 
 pretty frequently, and their market value is 
 usually something like ^5 each. Slightly 
 different, however, is the case of Both's 
 Italian landscape known as "The Muleteer," 
 which in 1846 went for 320 guineas, and in 
 the Mildmay sale for 370 guineas. A really 
 perfect Cuyp, a landscape in which his mar- 
 vellous treatment of atmospheric effect is 
 seen at its best, is a great rarity in the 
 61 
 
Pictures 
 
 market, and when it does occur, ^2000 is 
 not considered an extravagant figure. The 
 Dudley collection in 1892 contained one such, 
 which was knocked down for 1800 guineas. 
 Another example occurred in the Hope sale 
 in 1860; this splendid work was sold for 
 55 guineas; it has now advanced to 2000 
 guineas. But one may obtain Cuyps, so 
 called, sometimes at prices ranging from 
 20 to 200 guineas, signed and dated, but 
 whether they are always genuine is another 
 matter. The latter sum was paid in June 
 1892 for a sunny river scene which was at 
 one time in the collection of the late Earl 
 of Bessborough. What has been so aptly 
 described as the " mellow clearness " of 
 Nicholas Berghem does not seem an attrac- 
 tive attribute to picture - buyers ; for the 
 works of this artist scarcely ever approach 
 four figures, and, as a matter of fact, ex- 
 hibit a slight downward tendency. The 
 faultless little example entitled " Cattle Pass- 
 ing a Ford," which realised at the dispersal 
 of the Clewer Manor collection in 1876 
 ^1207, i os., dropped to ^682, los. when 
 it was again sold with the late Mr. Barclay 
 Field's pictures in May 1893. Another 
 first-class example of this artist, " Milking 
 the Goats," sold in 1861 for 300 guineas, 
 but with the Field collection it went for 
 240 guineas. In February 1893 an Italian 
 62 
 
Pictures 
 
 river scene realised 52 guineas, but a portrait 
 of a man in a black dress and lace collar got 
 no farther than four guineas. But Berghem 
 had many scholars and not a few imitators ; 
 and although a prolific workman for his 
 wife kept him to the mark, it is said many 
 paintings are sold as his in which he could 
 not possibly have had a hand. The pictures 
 of one of Berghem's pupils, Pieter de Hooch 
 (whose interiors are unrivalled in the magi- 
 cal manner in which the light is suffused 
 throughout the several apartments), fetch 
 very high prices, but this was not always the 
 case. Of the two examples in the Mild- 
 may collection, one, which recently fetched 
 2800 guineas, was sold in 1800 for ^37, 
 and the other, for which 700 guineas were 
 paid, even in 1841, only realised ^190. On 
 the other hand, the Interior by this artist in 
 the Hope collection sold for 2150 guineas, 
 its price in 1861 being ^441. As in the 
 case of Berghem, and nearly every other 
 artist of eminence, so with Memlinc; for 
 every single work of the master there are at 
 least a dozen pictures catalogued as his, but 
 which bear a very faint, far-off resemblance 
 to the real thing. Really genuine examples 
 of this early Flemish painter usually the 
 Madonna and Child fetch good prices. 
 The beautiful picture, in perfect preserva- 
 tion, sold in June 1893 in Lord Revelstoke's 
 
 63 
 
Pictures 
 
 collection for uoo guineas, a considerable 
 advance on the sum paid for it five years 
 ago, namely, 750 guineas. Another picture 
 of the same character, "Madonna and Child," 
 has recently been sold for 885 guineas. 
 
 Hobbema's pictures may be taken as re- 
 presenting the maximum recently paid for 
 the Dutch masters. The most important 
 example of this artist which has ever come 
 into the saleroom is " A View in Holland," 
 sold with Lord Dudley's pictures in June 
 1892, when it realised 9600 guineas. Dr. 
 Waagen has described this without exaggera- 
 tion as " a picture which is equal to a whole 
 gallery ; " and further, " for striking truth of 
 nature, delicacy of aerial perspective, effect 
 of bright afternoon sun, and masterly light- 
 ness of execution, there are probably very 
 few pictures in the world which bear a com- 
 parison to this." This picture was at one 
 time in the collection of the Right Hon. 
 Edward John Littleton, for whose ancestor 
 it is said to have been expressly painted. 
 It would be exceedingly interesting to know 
 how much was originally paid for it. It 
 was privately purchased from the first Lord 
 Hatherton by the Earl of Dudley for 3000 
 guineas. Close to this comes the landscape 
 with watermill which sold in the Secr6tan 
 collection in 1889 for 5200 guineas. In 
 1802 this picture was knocked down for 280 
 64 
 
Pictures 
 
 guineas, and in 1880 for ^8800. Each of 
 these splendid pictures has the advantage 
 of having the figures painted by Adrian van 
 de Velde. In the Dudley collection there 
 were two others by Hobbema, one of which, 
 a richly-wooded river scene, sold for 1900 
 guineas, a slight depreciation in its value 
 since 1878, when it fetched .2205; the 
 second, a landscape, half as large again as 
 the last mentioned, realised 2300 guineas. 
 A woody landscape in the Field collection 
 sold in June 1893 for 4500 guineas. The 
 well-known " View of a Lock," with the 
 Herring Packer's Tower, is another illustra- 
 tion of the extreme difference between past 
 and present prices. In the Van Alphen sale, 
 1810, it sold for ^90; in 1831 it had 
 advanced to ^213, and two years later it 
 reached 400 guineas, and in June 1893 it was 
 knocked down for 2200 guineas, and even at 
 that high figure it is exceedingly cheap. 
 
 The works of the two Ostades sold during 
 the past few years differ very much both in 
 quality and price. From 10 to 2500 guineas 
 seems a fairly long sliding-scale, and yet 
 works by (or attributed to) Adrian van 
 Ostade have been dispersed at both figures. 
 The most notable of a long list is the " In- 
 terior of a Kitchen," with four peasants and 
 a dog seated by a fire, a little canvas, mea- 
 suring only 14 inches by 13 inches, which 
 65 ' E 
 
Pictures 
 
 realised ^4100 in the Schneider collection, 
 1 86 1, and was sold with the Dudley pictures 
 for ^2625. The Hamilton Palace example 
 of the same artist's " Interior of a Cabaret," 
 sold in 1882 for ^"1827, ios., dropped to 
 ^776, ios. in 1893. An historically in- 
 teresting example of this master's works, 
 which occurred in the sale-room in May 
 1893, still further illustrates the drop in 
 the commercial value of Ostade's works. 
 " The Hurdy-gurdy Player," which is signed, 
 but which does not appear in Smith's Cata- 
 logue, was purchased in Paris by the ex- 
 Empress Eugenie for about ^1300, and by 
 her it was presented to her landlord at 
 Chislehurst, and is now appraised at 550 
 guineas. An "Interior," which in 1885 
 was sold for 900 guineas, fell during the 
 past season to 730 guineas; whilst "Boors 
 Playing at Tric-Trac" sold in May 1893 
 for 650 guineas. Of the very few perfect 
 examples of the less generally known Isaac 
 Ostade, "The Cabaret," signed and dated 
 1646, may be mentioned as having realised 
 at the San Donate Palace sale, 1880, ^2000 ; 
 in the Secre"tan sale, 1889, ^1575; and with 
 the Mildmay pictures, in June last, .1572. 
 On the other hand, a woody landscape by 
 this artist, selling in 1846 for 79 guineas, 
 had advanced by June 1893 to 380 guineas. 
 Genuine Rembrandts fetch very high prices; 
 66 
 
Pictures 
 
 though any person may cover the walls of his 
 house with by no means objectionable pic- 
 tures, which certain dealers who sell them will 
 assert to be Rembrandts, at something like 
 an average of i per square yard; and if 
 one's friends were always so easily persuaded 
 as oneself in these matters, no doubt Rem- 
 brandt-walls would be largely on the increase, 
 for the supply is never likely to fall short of 
 the demand. 
 
 The most remarkable examples of this 
 master which have come under the hammer 
 within recent years were among the pictures 
 which formed the collection of the late Lord 
 Dover at Whitehall, and sold with Viscount 
 Clifden's property in May 1893. These were 
 portraits of the Burgomaster Six and his wife, 
 for many years in the possession of a descen- 
 dant (who settled in the north of Holland) 
 of this couple; the pair realised together 
 12,200 guineas, and they unquestionably take 
 very high rank in the series of matchless 
 portraits which this artist painted. Realistic 
 in every sense also is the portrait of Hendrikje 
 Stoffels rising up in bed, and in the act of 
 putting back the curtains with her hands, 
 and looking with fixed attention at some 
 object in the room. This picture, which is 
 fairly well known through Cooper's mezzo- 
 tint engraving, is absolutely perfect in its 
 illusionary effect on the spectator. It sold 
 67 
 
Pictures 
 
 for 5000 guineas in the Wertheimer sale in 
 1892. In neither of the foregoing instances 
 have we any means of indicating the prices 
 at which they previously changed hands. 
 The Dudley picture of " St. John Preaching 
 in the Wilderness " shows a slight deprecia- 
 tion in value, for in 1 845 it realised ^3000 ; 
 in 1892 it sold for ^2625. The brilliant 
 portrait of " A Young Lady " shows a reverse 
 state of things, for a few years ago it sold 
 for ,1690, and in June 1893, with the 
 Mildmay pictures, for ^2667. So, too, 
 the portrait of Nicholas Ruts, which sold 
 in the collection of King William II. of 
 Holland for ^283, realised in the Hope 
 sale in June 1894 the high figure of 4700 
 guineas. 
 
 The pictures by Ruysdael, which were at 
 their lowest ebb at the beginning, and at 
 their highest during the " fifties " of the pre- 
 sent century, have now reached a middle line. 
 One of the most attractive examples of this 
 artist, as well as of a size which one rarely 
 meets with at an auction nowadays, " A View 
 on the Shores of Scheveningen," sold at the 
 dispersion of the Choiseul gallery in 1772 
 for ;68. It passed into the possession of 
 Prince de Conti, with whose pictures it was 
 sold in 1779 f r ^96, which price included 
 the equally superb companion picture. The 
 pair were subsequently the property of the 
 68 
 
Pictures 
 
 Marquis de Marigny and of the Baron Ver- 
 stolk von Soelen, and at the Mildmay sale 
 in June 1893 the two fetched 4600 guineas. 
 The equally famous and absolutely perfect pic- 
 ture known as " The Ruin," which has during 
 the past century and a quarter formed one of 
 the chief glories of at least half a dozen re- 
 nowned collections, came under the hammer 
 in 1875, but was appraised at only 1400 
 guineas in the Dudley sale. The very fine 
 "Waterfall," which in 1851 was appraised 
 at 355 guineas, realised 1600 guineas in the 
 Hope sale ; when, also, a small picture of an 
 old fort which sold in 1857 for 126 guineas 
 was knocked down at the enhanced figure 
 of 610 guineas. Those who cannot afford 
 these large amounts may be comforted to 
 learn that every season Ruysdaels are to be 
 had from 10 to 40 guineas, many of them 
 signed. Examples about the authenticity of 
 which there is no doubt may be had for 210 
 guineas, at which figure the charming little 
 landscape exhibited at Burlington House in 
 1892 was sold with the Lawrence pictures in 
 May of that year ; whilst the admirable view 
 of a river and a cascade in the Marquis of 
 Exeter's collection realised ^250 in 1888. 
 A river scene, a perfect example of Solomon 
 Ruysdael's work, may be here mentioned as 
 having doubled in value in about a quarter 
 of a century: in 1876 it sold at Mr. Albert 
 69 
 
Pictures 
 
 Levy's collection for 400 guineas, in June 
 1893 it realised 870 guineas. 
 
 For some reason or other, into which it 
 will not be necessary to enter here, Rubens 
 does not seem to be a favourite with copyists, 
 and first-class examples of his work do not 
 occur at all frequently in the market. The 
 only two recent exceptions of importance 
 were portraits of his first and second wives. 
 The former, Elizabeth Brandt, realised at 
 the Hamilton Palace sale in 1882, 1750 
 guineas, but it has now dropped to 650 
 guineas, a fate which, curiously enough, has 
 attended nearly every picture from that 
 famous collection which has since recurred 
 for sale. The second portrait realised 60 
 guineas at the Wynn-Ellis collection, and 
 then dropped to twenty. The most carefully 
 painted and in many respects the finest Rubens 
 which has been sold under the hammer for 
 some years is the picture of " Juno Trans- 
 ferring the Eyes of Argus to the Tail of the 
 Peacock." It measures 9 feet by 12 feet, 
 and was formerly in the Durazzo Palace at 
 Genoa; it went in 1893 for 1500 guineas, 
 and would not have been dear at ten times 
 that amount. The brilliant picture of a wild 
 boar hunt may be regarded as one of the finest 
 examples of Rubens sold during the past two 
 seasons: it realised ,1666 at the King 
 of Holland's sale in 1850: at the Adrian 
 70 
 
Pictures 
 
 Hope sale it slightly advanced to 1660 
 guineas. 
 
 The name of Teniers finds itself attached 
 to an extraordinary assortment of pictures, 
 good, bad, and indifferent. In 1892 three 
 large canvases realised the magnificent total 
 of just over 30 guineas. An " Interior," 
 with three Boors seated round a table in 
 front of a fire, with one of them in the act 
 of lighting his pipe, exhibited at Burlington 
 House in 1892, sold in May of that year 
 for 23 guineas. The set of five copies by 
 Teniers from Bellini, Paolo Veronese, Palma 
 Giovanni, Guido Reni, and Titian, at one 
 time in the Blenheim Palace collection, real- 
 ised ^30, 193. 6d. in January last. " Signed " 
 pictures of this master are common enough 
 at five guineas each. The two really first- 
 class examples which occurred in the Dudley 
 sale do not, however, come in this category. 
 " Christ Crowned with Thorns," described 
 as " a rich composition of great power of 
 colouring," was knocked down for 700 
 guineas : forty-eight years ago it realised 
 1000 guineas. The second example, the 
 courtyard of a cottage, a small picture, 
 fourteen inches by twenty-one inches, was 
 sold for 470 guineas. 
 
 As illustrating the extreme sums paid for 
 similar pictures by one artist, it may be 
 mentioned that the Duke of Hamilton's 
 71 
 
Pictures 
 
 example of J. van Huysman's vase of flowers 
 sold for .1228, whereas numerous other 
 examples, some of them signed, have changed 
 hands at 37 guineas, and even less. A charm- 
 ing picture of a group of roses, peonies, and 
 pinks in a terra-cotta jar on a marble slab 
 realised 175 guineas in the Bagot sale, 1836 ; 
 500 guineas at the Earl of Clare's sale, 1864, 
 and 460 guineas at the Barclay Field sale in 
 
 1893- 
 
 The pictures of the Van de Veldes, Adrian 
 
 and William, and of Jan Wynants indicate 
 very little disposition to run to either of the 
 two extremes ; and in proof of this two 
 instances may be quoted from the Mildmay 
 sale. A. Van de Velde's pastoral scene known 
 as "The Bagpiper" sold in 1829 for 300 
 guineas ; it is now appraised at 500 guineas. 
 J. Wynant's " Highwaymen attacking Tra- 
 vellers " (with the figures by Wouverman) 
 realised 185 guineas in 1835 an< ^ 4 10 g u i neas 
 in 1893. Both were at one time in the 
 possession of Baron Verstolk van Soelen, 
 and each is described in Smith's Catalogue 
 Raisonnt. Good examples of each artist 
 always fetch fair prices, from 200 to 400 
 guineas. Of Wouverman's works, first-class 
 examples almost invariably run well into four 
 figures. The clever picture depicting the 
 halt of a shooting party was knocked down 
 at the Dudley sale for 3500 guineas. The 
 72 
 
Pictures 
 
 numerous examples of this artist which have 
 recently occurred for sale indicate a steady 
 rise, in several instances doubling in value in 
 a few years. One of the most remarkable 
 illustrations of the increased popularity of 
 pictures by old Dutch masters occurred at the 
 Hope sale, Gerard Dow's famous little panel 
 "The Flute-Player" realising 3500 guineas 
 less than half a century ago it was knocked 
 down for ^320. 
 
 The collection of the late Right Hon. 
 George, last Earl of Egremont, sold in 
 November 1892, may be quoted as a fair 
 sample of the treasures sometimes described 
 as " old masters." With ^100 in his 
 pocket, the not too particular aspirant to 
 the possession of an art gallery might on 
 the occasion in question have furnished 
 himself with an almost complete Italian 
 series. There were here, for example, a 
 couple of Borgognes for a guinea, a Cana- 
 letto for 2 1 guineas, a pair of Caravaggios 
 for 4 guineas, a Correggio (admittedly 
 "after" in this case) for ios., a pair of 
 Domenichinos for 4 guineas, Guides for 
 even less, Tintorettos from 255. each, and 
 Paolo Veronese from i y 155. Certain 
 subjects, such as Canaletto's " View of the 
 Grand Canal, Venice," Guido's " Madonna," 
 Giorgione's " Woman taken in Adultery," 
 and many other pictures which are instinc- 
 
 73 
 
Pictures 
 
 lively associated with certain painters, crop 
 up in the saleroom with a frequency which 
 would lead one to believe that, if the 
 respective artists lived and worked for three 
 average lifetimes, they could scarcely have 
 executed all the pictures by which they are 
 most often represented at auctions. The 
 two Canalettos in the Dudley sale, " A 
 View in Venice," and " A View on the 
 Grand Canal," are the parents of a very 
 large illegitimate offspring. The former of 
 the two above mentioned sold in 1873 for 
 ^3360, but dropped in 1892 to ^2055; 
 whilst the second, selling at the dispersal 
 of the Stowe collection in 1848 for 105 
 guineas, ran up in 1892 to 2100 guineas. 
 Another view of the Grand Canal with the 
 Dogana and the Church of Sta. Maria della 
 Solenta, at one time in the collection of the 
 late Mrs. Danby Harcourt, Swinton Park, 
 sold in 1892 for 600 guineas; and a view 
 of Venice, painted between 1747 and 1750 
 for the owner of Holland House, realised 
 in May 1893 520 guineas. Every private 
 and public gallery, from Dresden to London, 
 has its " View of Venice " and the " Grand 
 Canal," and, considering the price at which 
 they may sometimes be had, there can be no 
 excuse for their absence. 
 
 First-class examples of Botticelli occur 
 with considerable frequency in the auction- 
 74 
 
Pictures 
 
 room, but, except when in the very finest 
 condition, the tendency is decidedly down- 
 wards. This artist's eternal Madonna and 
 Child varies very much in condition, in 
 style, and in price. One of the very best 
 examples which has ever appeared in an 
 auction -room occurred in the Leyland sale 
 in May 1892, when it realised 1250 guineas. 
 It is described both by Dr. Waagen and by 
 Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, and is a 
 panel measuring 35 inches by 28 inches. 
 A slightly smaller example which cost its 
 owner 300 guineas of the same subject was 
 sold at the same time for 100 guineas, and 
 yet another, still smaller, measuring 23! 
 inches by 15! inches, went for 235 guineas. 
 Two others of the same subject occurred in 
 the Dudley sale, and realised 400 guineas 
 and 1150 guineas respectively the former 
 sold for 500 guineas in 1854. We have 
 heard it stated that a genuine and perfect 
 Correggio has never been sold at Christie's; 
 and the prices paid for two alleged examples 
 in the Dudley sale (155 and 85 guineas) 
 would seem to bear out this statement. 
 The pictures were in each instance of angels' 
 heads, the canvas being 19 inches by 19 
 inches, and 20 inches by 28 inches respec- 
 tively, and are described by Dr. Waagen as 
 two fragments of the celebrated fresco, the 
 Coronation of the Virgin, in the old apsis of 
 75 
 
Pictures 
 
 San Giovanni at Parma, which the chapter 
 removed in the last century for the purpose 
 of enlarging the choir ; and further, " they 
 agree so entirely with the fragments of the 
 picture of the Virgin crowned by Christ, 
 preserved in the library at Parma, and also 
 with the angels in the Assumption of the 
 Virgin in the Cathedral at Parma, that no 
 doubt of their originality can exist." Dr. 
 Waagen is an authority whose ruling few 
 will care to question, but his judgment in 
 the present instance is probably at fault. 
 Sir Charles Eastlake's example of this master 
 sold in June 1894 for 720 guineas. First- 
 class examples of Carlo Crivelli occur every 
 season. One of the most important of 
 recent years is the Dudley panel of " The 
 Virgin and Child with Saints," measuring 
 75 inches by 77 inches, which was exhibited 
 at Burlington House in 1871, and again a 
 few months before it was sold in 1892; 
 it realised the respectable sum of 7000 
 guineas, but the average price for good 
 pictures of this distinguished tempera painter 
 is about 300 guineas, and fairly good 
 copies may be picked up for as many 
 shillings. Much less common is the authen- 
 tic work of Carlo Dolci, one of the most 
 successful of whose pictures is the " Head 
 of the Virgin," in a blue drapery, which 
 is best known through Cooper's engraving, 
 76 
 
Pictures 
 
 and which, selling in the Stowe collection 
 in 1848 for 185 guineas, realised at the 
 Dudley sale 375 guineas. 
 
 One of the most extraordinary " drops " 
 of recent years occurred in connection with 
 Giorgione's " Souper Venitien " (at one time 
 in the collection of the Abb6 Celotti of 
 Florence, when it was known as " Un Festin 
 Profane"): at the San Donate sale, 1870, 
 this picture sold for 2200 guineas, but at 
 the Dudley sale it was knocked down for 
 210 guineas. Another considerable fall may 
 be bracketed with the Dolci : Garofalo's 
 "A Grecian Sacrifice" realised 1460 guineas 
 in 1867, but in 1892 its selling value had 
 receded to 380 guineas. From a strictly 
 commercial point of view these may be 
 regarded as Lord Dudley's worst bargains. 
 On the other hand, Filippino Lippi's portrait 
 of La Simonetta, in crimson and white dress, 
 which Vasar describes as " una giovane e 
 bella donna di collo notabilmente lungo," 
 and which will be remembered by the few 
 remaining intimates of the poet Rogers ; 
 in 1856 it sold for 185 guineas, in 1863 
 for 460 guineas, but in 1892 it ran up to 
 1600 guineas. A very much greater advance 
 was experienced in the case of Raphael's 
 famous " Crucifixion." This work is a panel 
 inscribed " Raphael Vrbinus P.," and was 
 painted for the Chapel of the Gavin or 
 
 77 
 
Pictures 
 
 Gavari family in the Dominican Church at 
 Castello about the year 1500, where it re- 
 mained for nearly three hundred years. It 
 was acquired by a Frenchman who gave 
 4000 scudi for it, in addition to a very bad 
 copy, which to the present day occupies the 
 place of the original. It was afterwards 
 purchased by the Prince de Canino for 
 10,000 scudi at the sale of Cardinal Fesch. 
 It became Lord Dudley's property for pro- 
 bably not more than 2000 guineas, and at 
 his sale it realised 10,600 guineas. It is 
 an ambitious picture, measuring 102 inches 
 by 65 inches, and is remarkable as having 
 been painted by the master before his seven- 
 teenth year. An equally famous picture of 
 the same artist, " La Vierge a la Legende," 
 or "La Vierge de Novar," said to have 
 belonged to Charles the First, and formerly 
 in the collection of Lord Gwydir (when it 
 was ascribed to Giulio Romano), shows a 
 slight advance from 3000 guineas in 1878 
 to 3050 guineas in 1892. It has been en- 
 graved by Forster, and measures 31^ inches 
 by 23^ inches. Titian's " Ariadne in 
 Naxos " realised in the Walsh Porter sale 
 in 1810 ^1575; it March 1894 it was 
 knocked down for ^105. These prices, of 
 course, represent the amounts paid for the 
 very finest original examples of the great 
 Italian artist. The works of Salvator Rosa 
 
 78 
 
Pictures 
 
 and Andrea del Sarto appear to decline in 
 value if not in interest. The brilliant pic- 
 ture in the Dudley collection by the first- 
 named painter of the finding of Moses, a 
 companion to the justly admired example 
 in our own National Gallery, was at one time 
 in the Colonna Palace; it was brought to 
 England by W. Y. Ottley, at whose sale in 
 1 80 1 it realised 1050 guineas; the Duke 
 of Buckingham bought it from the Orleans 
 gallery for ^"2500, and at his sale in 1848 
 Lord Dudley paid 1000 guineas for it; in 
 1892 it only fetched 450 guineas. The 
 "Pieta" of Andrea del Sarto sold in 1878 
 for 1700 guineas; in 1892 it realised 945 
 guineas. Tintorettos shew a considerable 
 fluctuation. One of the most successful 
 representations of his favourite subjects of 
 Adam and Eve, formerly in the possession 
 of the Orlandini family of Florence, sold at 
 the San Donate sale in 1870 for 240 guineas, 
 and at the Dudley sale for 610 guineas. On 
 the other hand, his portrait of a Venetian 
 Admiral, which realised at the Hamilton 
 Palace sale ^1155, dropped to 860 guineas 
 in 1893. The Tintorettos in the Leyland 
 sale of 1893 realised from 50 guineas to 
 105 guineas, probably much less than half 
 the price at which they were acquired by 
 their late owner. 
 
 Pictures by modern English (or British) 
 79 
 
Pictures 
 
 artists exhibit a constantly recurring fluctua- 
 tion. This is more especially apt to happen 
 when the unsold works of recently deceased 
 artists are sold together. Take, for example, 
 the batch of nearly three hundred pictures 
 and drawings of the late John Constable, 
 which were sold in two portions in Novem- 
 ber 1892 and June 1893. Only in a very 
 few instances were three figures reached, and, 
 as a general rule, the amounts did not exceed 
 twenty or thirty guineas each. Several 
 realised from two to six guineas apiece, 
 certainly not an extravagant price for the 
 work of an R.A. On the other hand, 
 among the pictures of Mr. J. S. Hodgson 
 sold in June 1893, a faultless picture by 
 Constable, entitled "Hampstead Heath," 
 painted in 1830, and measuring 26 inches 
 by 39 inches, sold for 2550 guineas. Per- 
 haps the very finest example of this artist 
 at his best which has been sold at auction 
 is the scene on the river Stowe, some- 
 times called " Constable's White Horse," 
 for many years the property of the late 
 Richard Hemming, at whose sale in April 
 1894 it realised 6200 guineas; less than 
 forty years ago it was purchased for 600 
 guineas. The " remaining works " of three 
 well-known members of the Royal Institute 
 of Painters in Water-Colours have come 
 under the hammer during the last year or 
 80 
 
Pictures 
 
 two with unfavourable results. The average 
 price of Charles James Lewis's works, among 
 which were many fine examples exhibited 
 at the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute, 
 and elsewhere, was only about 7 each ; 
 some, indeed, going for three guineas per 
 pair, and in only one instance were 32 
 guineas reached ! The same may be said 
 of the works of Thomas Collier, whilst 
 those of Paul J. Naftel show an average of 
 about ^4 each. With the exception of a 
 few unfinished or hastily executed sketches, 
 these pictures would not disfigure any gallery. 
 As they are, for the most part, appropriately 
 framed, it may be questioned if they realised 
 actual out-of-pocket expenses. The sale of 
 the remaining works of the late Vicat Cole, 
 R.A., may be taken as the most recent 
 illustration, not only of the change in pic- 
 ture fashions, but of the extraordinary de- 
 preciation which inevitably occurs when a 
 large number of works by the same hand 
 are thrown on the market. This collection 
 comprised nearly 600 sketches and finished 
 studies in oil and water-colours, and 154 
 items realised a total of 770 ; the highest 
 for a single picture being 30 guineas. 
 
 Much inferior work, which at one time 
 
 was fashionable, and therefore costly, has 
 
 experienced a fall which scarcely justifies the 
 
 expectation of it ever rising again. This is 
 
 81 F 
 
Pictures 
 
 especially the case with eminent R.A.s whose 
 facility at turning out quantity is more 
 conspicuous than their regard for quality. 
 Wealthy collectors have (or had) a practice 
 of purchasing direct from the artist, and 
 this naturally precludes the possibility of 
 setting up any sort of comparison between 
 the prices originally paid and subsequently 
 realised, as the purchasers are in most cases 
 dead before the pictures are dispersed 
 through the medium of the auction-room. 
 To take as a collective example the water- 
 colour drawings of the modern English and 
 Continental schools, the property of Messrs. 
 Murietta, and sold in January 1894. In 
 this collection nearly every modern painter 
 of any eminence was represented, including 
 Copley Fielding, Birket Foster, R. W. Mac- 
 beth, W. Collins, T. S. Cooper, David Cox, 
 F. Goodall, Seymour Lucas, and foreign 
 artists such as Pradillo, Mesdag, Madrazo, 
 Jacquet, and Hernandez, but the 1282 lots 
 only realised .21,336, or less than an 
 average of 20 each. The exceedingly 
 extensive and representative collection of 
 pictures and water-colour drawings of the 
 late Henry Wallis, of the French Gallery, 
 sold in 1 892-93, may be bracketed with those 
 of the Muriettas from their not altogether 
 dissimilar character, and the absurdly low 
 figures at which some of the most successful 
 82 
 
Pictures 
 
 works of distinguished painters were knocked 
 down. The average of the Wallis pictures 
 was lower than that of the Murietta, but only 
 slightly so. 
 
 There is a sustained and very healthy 
 revival in the taste for the best pictures of 
 the older English masters, and some of the 
 prices paid within the last year or two are 
 very remarkable when compared with pre- 
 vious results. This class of art has been 
 much too severely neglected, and our own 
 National Gallery is conspicuously weak in 
 this respect. This feature in the history of 
 picture sales is more remarkable than that 
 which deals with the past and present prices 
 of the best works of Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 and his great rival, George Romney. Indeed, 
 the pictures of these two great portrait 
 painters may be regarded as having formed 
 the sensation of the last two seasons. During 
 the first quarter of a century after the death 
 of both artists, some of their most successful 
 examples realised at auction considerably less 
 than ;ioo each, and so far as Romney is 
 concerned, ^20 was regarded as an extrava- 
 gant price to pay under the hammer. At 
 the sale of the late Miss Romney's effects in 
 May 1894, a portrait of Mrs. Tickell (Miss 
 Linley) sold for 1150 guineas. At the 
 artist's sale in 1807 it was bought in for 
 four guineas ; a portrait of Mrs. Billington 
 
 83 
 
Pictures 
 
 as St. Cecilia realised 900 guineas, its former 
 price being eight and a half guineas; a 
 portrait of Mrs. Inchbald, the authoress, 
 950 guineas, and of James Thomas Paine, 
 800 guineas. 
 
 The portrait of Mrs. Thornhill reached 
 1150 guineas in July 1894. In the past 
 season (1895), three works by this artist 
 realised a total of over ^"5000 at the James 
 Price sale, or very nearly double the amount 
 which Romney earned in one of his best 
 years. When it is remembered that Romney 
 rarely received as much as ^100 even for a 
 whole-length portrait, the high prices which 
 have recently been paid for some of his pic- 
 tures may well be advanced in proof of the 
 theory that the best English masters are 
 rapidly coming into favour. 
 
 The same remark applies with equal force 
 to Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose portrait of 
 Lady Betty Delm6 (and children) sold in 
 July 1894 for 11,000 guineas, the highest 
 price ever paid for a picture at auction in 
 this country. On the same day, the portrait 
 of the Hon. Mrs. Monckton sold for 7500 
 guineas, but it had been slightly varnished; 
 in all other respects the two pictures were in 
 the finest possible condition, and came direct 
 from the families for whom they were speci- 
 ally painted. These are, of course, essentially 
 " fancy " prices, which can only be expected 
 84 
 
Pictures 
 
 for the very finest pictures in perfect condi- 
 tion. As an instance of the greatly enhanced 
 value of even moderately good examples of 
 this master, it may be mentioned that the 
 portrait of Mrs. Matthew, the patroness of 
 art, painted in 1777, which sold in 1876 for 
 900 guineas, realised 4400 guineas at the 
 Duchess of Montrose's sale in 1894. 
 
 The sale season of 1895 will take rank, 
 so far as Gainsborough is concerned, as per- 
 haps the most remarkable in the commercial 
 history of his pictures. One sale alone con- 
 tained ten works attributed to him, but of 
 which at least five were genuine examples of 
 the very first class. The very finest speci- 
 men of this exquisite colourist was the per- 
 fect and beautiful portrait of Lady Mulgrave, 
 an oval (29 inches by 24 inches), in white 
 dress, black mantle, and hair poudre ; it 
 realised 10,000 guineas thirteen years ago 
 it changed hands for 1070 guineas! The 
 celebrated portrait of the Duchess of Devon- 
 shire realised in 1876 the highest amount, 
 10,100 guineas, ever paid for a Gains- 
 borough, so that the "Lady Mulgrave," 
 which is quite a small picture, comes in 
 a good second. At the same sale, that of 
 the late James Price, a three-quarter length 
 portrait of Lady Clarges brought 2000 
 guineas ; seventeen years ago it was sold 
 for 350 guineas! and an excellent portrait 
 
 85 
 
Pictures 
 
 of Viscount Mountmorres realised a simi- 
 lar amount ; the renowned chef- d'ceuvre 
 " Repose" only fetched 1400 guineas. The 
 last-named work is an exceedingly beautiful 
 landscape, as fine of its kind as anything 
 offered for sale during the last two seasons 
 but the rage is for Gainsborough portraits 
 of pretty women, and not for Gainsborough 
 landscapes. At the Duchess of Montrose's 
 sale in May 1895, this artist's three-quarter 
 length of Madame Le Brun, in white dress 
 trimmed with lace, sold for 2150 guineas. 
 
 Equally remarkable illustrations of this 
 upward tendency have also occurred in con- 
 nection with David Cox. When it is re- 
 membered how difficult this artist found 
 it to dispose of his pictures and drawings, 
 the prices at which they are now eagerly 
 acquired become all the more remarkable. 
 Cox considered fifty guineas a very fair 
 price for some of the most carefully exe- 
 cuted of his works. It was at this 
 figure that he sold " The Hayfield," which 
 in 1875 realised ^2950 in the Quilter 
 sale; whilst at the dispersion in 1889 of 
 another portion of the same collection, six- 
 teen drawings came under the hammer at sums 
 varying from 100 guineas to 2300 guineas. 
 The three pictures, " Counting the Flock," 
 "Driving Home the Flock," and "Collecting 
 the Flock," realised in 1888 1980 guineas, 
 86 
 
Pictures 
 
 1300 guineas, and 2250 guineas respectively. 
 The first-named, it may be mentioned, 
 realised at the Levy sale in 1876 2300 
 guineas. One of the largest of this artist's 
 works, " Collecting the Flocks, North- West 
 France," sold in the Bullock collection, 
 1870, for 400 guineas, but ran to 1450 
 guineas in June 1892. A series of two 
 dozen sketches by Cox occurred in the sale 
 of the late Peter Allen's pictures in March 
 1893, and the best of them went well 
 into three figures, whilst the largest did 
 not exceed 30 inches by 25 inches, and 
 the majority were only about half that size. 
 The matchless "Vale of Clwyd," which 
 sold in the Murietta collection, 3Oth April 
 1892, for 4500 guineas, marks the high- 
 water mark of David Cox's works. The 
 artist himself valued it at ^95, and ex- 
 changed it with a Midland dealer, who sold 
 it for *jo. In 1860 it was knocked down 
 for 265 guineas at the Briscoe sale; in 1868 
 it sold for .480, and in 1872 for ^2000. 
 Peter de Wint and Copley Fielding may, 
 for several reasons, be considered in the 
 same paragraph as David Cox. More for- 
 tunate in his lifetime than Cox, De Wint 
 sometimes received a fair value for his pic- 
 tures and drawings, although they are not 
 now nearly so much in request or realise 
 such high prices. Two of the best which 
 87 
 
Pictures 
 
 have been sold at auction in recent years are 
 "Lancaster" and "Lincoln," in the Quilter 
 sale of 1889, realising .1155 and ^1753; 
 in 1875 tnev were knocked down for ^950 
 and ^1732, and for neither did the artist 
 receive more than 30 guineas. There was 
 an excellent series of fourteen examples of 
 this artist in Peter Allen's collection, where 
 some of the smallest and least important 
 sold for over 50 guineas each ; the highest 
 sum, 265 guineas, going for the " Hay Har- 
 vest." In March 1892 his " Bolton Abbey " 
 sold for 900 guineas. Some of the best 
 examples of Copley Fielding's works came 
 under the hammer in April 1889, when Mrs. 
 Sarah Austin's collection of water-colour 
 drawings was dispersed. Neither of the 
 five examples, however, realised four figures, 
 the largest amounts being ^903 paid for the 
 "Fairy Lake" and ^672 for the "View 
 from Box Hill." Quite a large number 
 have also been sold during the past season 
 or two, one of the best being Peter Allen's 
 " Off the East Coast," for which 310 guineas 
 were given. 
 
 Two very fine pictures of J. F. Lewis 
 occurred in the Price sale, 1892; the well- 
 known " Lilium Auratum," which in the 
 Quilter sale, 1889, realised 1050 guineas, 
 now fell to 810 guineas ; while " The 
 Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, Cairo," 
 88 
 
Pictures 
 
 fetched 1090 guineas. In April 1893 "The 
 Hosh (courtyard) of the House of the 
 Coptic Patriarch, Cairo," formerly in the 
 collection of the late William Leaf, at 
 whose sale in 1875 " lt: went f r 1850 guineas, 
 dropped in 1893 to 1650 guineas. Probably 
 the highest amount at which any example of 
 this artist has been sold recently occurred in 
 connection with " The Commentator of the 
 Koran," which was painted for the late Sir 
 William Bowman in 1868, at whose sale, 
 in June 1893, it fetched 2550 guineas. In 
 the case of W. J. Miiller, as of Lewis, very 
 fair pictures have been sold during the past 
 two seasons for from about 100 guineas to 
 400 guineas; but in 1888 Mr. Bolckow's 
 picture of "Ancient Tombs and Dwellings 
 in Lycia" by Muller realised the very high and 
 perhaps maximum figure of 3750 guineas. 
 Two other pictures by the same artist 
 realised 1500 guineas each in the same year; 
 but one of these, " The Bay of Naples " 
 (1839), had sold for 2100 guineas in the 
 Gillott sale, 1872. "The Opium-Eater," 
 which in 1877 sold for 470 guineas, fell 
 in May 1893 to 170 guineas. Mr. Price's 
 example, " A Waterfall in Wales," sold for 
 the respectable sum of 800 guineas ; whilst 
 the Hon. F. Baring's small picture of " Chil- 
 dren Fishing, Gillingham," went for just half 
 that sum in June 1893. Lord Cheylesmore's 
 
Pictures 
 
 very small picture (8 inches by n inches) 
 sold in 1892 for 32 guineas, or nearly 
 double the amount paid for it in 1868. 
 The public favour seems to have deserted 
 for the time the works of Sir Charles East- 
 lake, W. Etty, and Sir A. W. Callcott. 
 Etty's ambitious picture of Joan of Arc in 
 three parts has changed hands on two or 
 three occasions for very large sums, and 100 
 guineas for either of the three portions would 
 not be an extravagant price; in January 1893, 
 however, one of these compartments went for 
 seven and a half guineas. The same artist's "A 
 Bivouac of Cupid and his Company " realised 
 260 guineas at the Price sale ; in 1 845 it sold 
 for 370 guineas, and in 1868 for 221 guineas. 
 In April 1893 this artist's " Mars, Venus, and 
 Cupid," and " Cupid," went for 230 guineas 
 and 5 1 guineas respectively, neither of which 
 amount can at all represent the original 
 prices. In 1888 "The Judgment of Paris" 
 and " The Triumph of Cleopatra " sold for 
 ^504 and ^250, the previous prices being 
 ^850 and ^451 respectively. Sir Charles 
 Eastlake's picture of " The Sisters " sold 
 in the Rogers collection for 420 guineas; 
 in April 1893 it changed hands for 35 
 guineas, the same amount being paid in 1892 
 for the same artist's large canvas, "Gaston 
 de Foix taking Leave of his Lady on the 
 Eve of the Battle of Ravenna." In 1845 
 90 
 
Pictures 
 
 this rather striking work was appraised at 
 only 190 guineas. Sir A. W. Callcott's 
 picture of "Laurence and his Dog," which 
 sold in the Brunei collection, 1860, for 370 
 guineas, dropped in June 1893 to 42 guineas. 
 The works of T. Webster, R.A., which at 
 one time realised high prices, have also 
 experienced a very general fall. For ex- 
 ample, " Good Night," which sold in the 
 Bicknell collection, 1863, for ^1207, ios., 
 and in the Betts collection, 1868, for ^877, 
 155., was sold with the Brocklebank pictures 
 in 1893 for 350 guineas. Lord Cheyles- 
 more's example of this artist, "The Present 
 to the Lady of the Village," dropped from 
 250 guineas in 1870 to 70 guineas in 
 
 1893- 
 
 The works of C. Stanfield are by no means 
 a steady article of commerce, and the general 
 tendency is not at all upward; but quite 
 a phenomenal exception occurred in Lord 
 Cheylesmore's sale, 1892, when the splendid 
 picture of "St. Michael's Mount," which 
 sold in 1870 for 250 guineas, now ran up 
 to 3000 guineas. Landseers differ almost as 
 greatly in quality as in price. A unique 
 series of thirty-three examples came up for 
 sale with the collection of the late Lord 
 Cheylesmore in May 1892, and affords an 
 easy medium of comparison. The best 
 pictures appear to increase in the same ratio 
 
 91 
 
Pictures 
 
 as the less excellent examples decline. " The 
 Monarch of the Glen," so well known 
 through T. Landseer's very successful en- 
 graving, is a masterpiece, and is never likely 
 to sustain any very pronounced depreciation 
 in value. In the late Lord Londesborough's 
 sale it fetched 6200 guineas, which amount 
 was increased by 700 guineas in 1892. On 
 the other hand, the " Taming of the Shrew,'* 
 which realised 1430 guineas, now dropped 
 to 1150 guineas not a serious drop, per- 
 haps, considering the number of pictures 
 by the same master sold at the same time. 
 A much more serious fall, however, was ex- 
 perienced by " Lady Godiva's Prayer," which 
 in 1874 was appraised at 3200 guineas, and 
 was now sold for 900 guineas. " The High- 
 land Cabin," which, in the Duchess of Bed- 
 ford's collection in 1853, went for 150 
 guineas, now sold for 450 guineas; "The 
 Sentinel," which sold in 1864 for 240 
 guineas, now realised 180 guineas; and 
 " All that remains of the glory of William 
 Smith," which, twenty years ago, went for 
 320 guineas, was valued in 1892 at 290 
 guineas. As the majority of the other 
 Landseers in this collection were purchased 
 from the artist, no comparison can be con- 
 veniently instituted between their past and 
 present values. As two further illustrations 
 of the rise and fall respectively in Landseers, 
 92 
 
Pictures 
 
 we may mention "Taking a Buck," which 
 in the Manley Hall sale, 1888, realised 1950 
 guineas, dropped in 1892 to 620 guineas; 
 and "Braemar," which in 1868 sold for 
 4000 guineas, had advanced at the Bolckow 
 sale, in 1888, to js i 97- The celebrated 
 work, " Chevy," for which Landseer is said 
 to have received ^5000, realised in the 
 Hemming sale in April 1894, 3750 guineas. 
 The pictures of Wilkie and David Roberts 
 vary, like those of Landseer, in quality and 
 price. The subject sometimes influences the 
 latter, for subjects as well as schools have 
 their vicissitudes. Lord Dudley's example 
 of the latter, "Jerusalem, looking South," 
 formerly in the Hootan Hall collection, 
 dropped from 850 guineas in 1875 to 140 
 guineas in 1892. On the other hand, this 
 artist's very fine picture, with the legend, 
 " Baalbec Ruins," had increased from 750 
 guineas in 1813 to ^1627, los. The well- 
 known picture entitled "The Letter of 
 Introduction " of Sir David Wilkie, had 
 increased in value from 450 guineas in 1 842 
 to ^2152, i os. in May 1893. First-class 
 pictures by Wilkie and Roberts will probably 
 always fetch high prices ; but the few fore- 
 going facts are a sufficient indication of the 
 extent to which even the very best works of 
 the most eminent artists fluctuate within the 
 short space of forty years. The same rise 
 
 93 
 
Pictures 
 
 and fall occur in connection with the pictures 
 of Turner. The vignette title of Killie- 
 crankie, engraved in Sir Walter Scott's prose 
 works, realised 200 guineas in the Novar 
 collection, June 1877; in January 1893 it 
 dropped to 66 guineas. The engraved draw- 
 ing of Cassiobury, which realised 415 guineas 
 in 1875, had dropped to 330 guineas in June 
 1892. As a contrast, the masterpiece known 
 as " Modern Italy : the Pfifferari," was 
 knocked down in 1867 for ^3465, in 1868 
 for ^2961, and with the modern picture 
 of the Novar collection, 1878, for ^5250, 
 at which sum the late David Price became 
 the owner. At his sale in 1892 it real- 
 ised ^"5460. " Helvoetsluys " brought 6400 
 guineas, and " A View of the Thames from 
 Mortlake" 5200 guineas, in June 1895. 
 
 The pictures of Peter Nasmyth and P. F. 
 Poole may be considered together as repre- 
 sentatives of the two most extreme instances 
 of the rise and fall of pictures. Even the 
 smaller works, which cannot at all be classed 
 among the best of the former artist, are de- 
 cidedly firm. The two examples which 
 occurred in the Field sale in June 1893 
 came in this category ; for the two charming 
 little landscapes sold at 610 guineas and 350 
 guineas had previously come under the 
 hammer for 405 guineas and 390 guineas re- 
 spectively. One of the very finest landscapes 
 94 
 
Pictures 
 
 of this artist, " A View in Surrey," measuring 
 only 23! inches by 33^ inches, sold in the 
 Price collection for 2500 guineas, and an- 
 other, "On the Firth of Forth," which is 
 scarcely half the size, for 560 guineas. 
 Poolers pictures, almost without exception, 
 have fallen sadly in the estimation of buyers. 
 They are carefully painted and perfect in 
 nearly every respect ; but the public taste has 
 changed with regard to them, and they are 
 to be had at about a twelfth of the prices 
 originally paid for them. The half-dozen 
 in the Price collection represent a very heavy 
 balance on the wrong side in the late owner's 
 picture bills. Although the elder Linnell's 
 landscapes do not invariably maintain a high 
 level, their general advance in public estima- 
 tion naturally carries an enhanced value. 
 Mr. Price possessed six works by this artist, 
 and if the sums paid by him and received by 
 his executors were placed side by side, the 
 balance would more than justify his wisdom 
 in purchasing them. For instance, " The 
 Timber Waggon," which in 1880 sold for 
 850 guineas, in 1892 realised 3100 guineas. 
 
 The pictures by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 
 of which a dozen occurred in the Leyland 
 sale, 1892, have probably reached their zenith. 
 Only two, " Veronica Veronese " and " The 
 Blessed Damozel," reached four figures 
 1000 guineas and 980 guineas respectively 
 
 95 
 
Pictures 
 
 whilst the well-known panel, " The Loving 
 Cup," sold for 820 guineas. But the vagaries 
 of fashion are strange and unaccountable, and 
 the time may come when the distinctly genre 
 works of Rossetti will prove a veritable gold 
 mine to those who have speculated more or 
 less heavily in this extremely hazardous com- 
 modity. 
 
 Of modern living artists whose works have 
 fallen most grievously in the market, Mr. F. 
 Goodall comes at the head. In the Murietta 
 sale there were nearly three dozen examples, 
 which sold at figures varying from 5 to 54 
 guineas ; one of these, " A Bazaar in Cairo," 
 which was bought in in 1871 for 225 guineas, 
 sold for 33 guineas. The well-known picture, 
 "Brittany Peasants' Dance," which in 1879 
 sold for 760 guineas, in May last went for 
 325 guineas. "Rebecca at the Well," which 
 at the Bolckow sale in 1888 realised 770 
 guineas, sold with Lord Cheylesmore's pic- 
 tures last year for 555 guineas. There were 
 six other important if small examples of Mr. 
 Goodall's works in the last-named collection, 
 but they were all purchased direct from the 
 artist, and, as half-a-dozen of them showed a 
 total of 457 guineas, it may safely be assumd 
 that there was a heavy financial loss over the 
 transaction. 
 
 Pictures by other living artists almost with- 
 out exception fare ill so soon as they appear 
 
Pictures 
 
 in the auction-room, and we do not propose 
 to enter into any exhaustive survey of this 
 phase. A few illustrations, however, will be 
 of general interest. One of the most notable 
 drops occurred at the Price sale in connection 
 with Sir John Millais' pre-Raphaelite freak, 
 " Apple Blossom " (exhibited at the Royal 
 Academy in 1859 under the title of 
 "Spring"): in 1876 this picture sold for 
 1390 guineas; in 1886 it was appreciated 
 at the diminished figure of 1000 guineas, 
 whilst in 1892 it fell to 660 guineas. "St. 
 Martin's Summer," which was bought in 
 1883 for ^1365, was knocked down in 
 1888 for ^882. The best examples of 
 this distinguished artist's work generally run 
 into four figures, as witness " The Sound 
 of Many Waters," which was painted ex- 
 pressly for Mr. Price in 1876, and which 
 sold in 1892 for 2900 guineas. "The Eve 
 of St. Agnes," one of his most poetic works, 
 sold for 2 100 guineas in 1 892, and " Dropped 
 from the Nest" for 1 200 guineas in April 1893. 
 The works of Mr. Alma Tadema and Sir 
 E. Burne Jones maintain almost uniformly 
 high figures, particularly those of the latter, 
 whose fine picture entitled " The Mirror of 
 Venus" realised in the Leyland sale 3400 
 guineas, and whose " Merlin and Vivien " 
 was sold on the same day for 3600 guineas. 
 Two other pictures by this artist each realised 
 97 G 
 
Pictures 
 
 1350 guineas in the same sale, and it may 
 be doubted if a similarly high level can be 
 quoted in connection with a series of six 
 or seven pictures by a living English artist. 
 The six pictures by Mr. Alma Tadema in 
 the Murietta collection realised sums varying 
 from 455 guineas to 1400 guineas, at which 
 latter amount " A Patron of Sculpture " was 
 knocked down. " Fredegonda," which was 
 one of the features of the Royal Academy of 
 1 3 80, sold in the Price collection for 980 
 guineas, but it was returned as somewhat 
 damaged, and when again put up for sale in 
 April 1893 it went for 750 guineas. The 
 genre pictures of Mr. Faed and Mr. J. C. 
 Hook maintain a high average a fact with 
 which no lover of truly conscientious work 
 will complain. Mr. Faed's " Sunday in the 
 Backwoods" sold for 790 guineas in 1867, 
 but in the Cheylesmore sale it advanced to 
 1700 guineas. Mr. T. S. Cooper has painted 
 far too many pictures, with the very natural 
 result that even his best examples realise a 
 fall every time they occur in the open mar- 
 ket. The same may be said of Mr. W. P. 
 Frith, for some of the pictures by which he 
 is best known appear to be the least appre- 
 ciated when they come under the hammer. 
 " Dolly Varden," for example, realised 1000 
 guineas at the Dickens sale, 1870; in 1888 
 it was appraised at ^777. " Bedtime " also 
 98 
 
Pictures 
 
 dropped from 410 guineas in 1854 to 138 
 guineas. " Claude Duval " sold for close 
 upon ^"2000 in 1875; in 1892 it dropped 
 to 600 guineas. 
 
 The examples of the President of the 
 Royal Academy from which a comparison 
 may be drawn between their past and present 
 prices are not numerous. During the season 
 of 1893 only one example of Sir Frederick 
 Leighton's more ambitious work has occurred 
 in the market, namely, " The Daphnephoria," 
 about which so much that was foolish was 
 written and published at the time of its 
 sale. This picture, which is 5 feet 7 inches 
 by 17 feet, has been engraved, and was 
 exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876. 
 It realised 3750 guineas. It was immediately 
 followed by two other examples of the same 
 artist, " Sisters " and " Lieder ohne Worte," 
 which realised 80 guineas and 160 guineas 
 respectively. "Jezebel and Ahab meeting 
 Elijah the Tishbite," which sold in 1882 for 
 ^425, realised 115 guineas in July 1893. 
 Of the productions of a former P.R.A., 
 Sir Francis Grant, examples are procurable 
 for a very moderate consideration ; by the 
 way, this gentleman had the opulent courage 
 to declare on one occasion that he had never 
 heard of Hazlitt as an art-critic. 
 
 That pictures by the numerous class to 
 which the term of ordinary artists may be 
 99 
 
Pictures 
 
 applied should experience uncomplimentary 
 falls in the auction-rooms is not surprising. 
 Inability to paint is almost an accomplish- 
 ment now-a-days. The dreary monotony of 
 all our spring exhibitions is a sufficient proof 
 of the prevalence of the painting epidemic ; 
 and the startling number of picture-shops, 
 in which every phase of modern art is dis- 
 played, is a still further manifestation of the 
 untiring efforts of the quasi-artists. The 
 embryo painter no sooner begins to spoil 
 good canvas than he almost immediately 
 begins to manufacture pictures by the score. 
 It is an appalling fact that these people make, 
 in many instances, hundreds a year out of 
 their dexterity : it is a much greater calamity 
 that they consider themselves artists. Their 
 patrons are all too easily deluded into the 
 same belief. The latter pay comparatively 
 big prices for articles which have no (or very 
 little) intrinsic value or merit. The sale- 
 room is the great leveller of all spurious 
 claims. A year or so ago, at Christie's, a 
 fairly well-known artist bought back, in the 
 presence of the present writer, a picture for 
 ^48 for which the late owner had paid him 
 300 guineas. Still more recently a picture 
 for which the late owner paid the artist $o 
 went a-begging for rather more than as many 
 shillings. Similar instances might be quoted 
 ad infinitum. The man of means with a 
 100 
 
Pictures 
 
 weakness in the direction of pictures is as 
 fair game for the rising artist as for the 
 enterprising philanthropist ; the greatest suf- 
 ferers are the legatees, with whom disappoint- 
 ment in regard to modern pictures must be 
 peculiarly keen and disagreeably common. 
 So long as there are friends, relations, and a 
 credulous public, so long will there be a 
 plentiful supply of bad or neutral work in 
 the guise of pictures. 
 
 101 
 
Pottery 
 
 and Porcelain 
 
Pottery 
 
 and Porcelain 
 
 OF all tastes, that for pottery and porcelain 
 has been from time to time the most pre- 
 valent. Indeed, if a census with the object 
 of ascertaining what the inhabitants of Great 
 Britain collect were taken, it would certainly 
 be surprising to find how many people con- 
 fessed to a weakness for china, as it is gene- 
 rically termed, or " china-earth," as it used 
 to be called in the days of Charles II. We 
 are all acquainted with Charles Lamb's essay 
 on " Old China," where he expatiates on the 
 corner-cupboard, the first object of his in- 
 quiries, he says, whenever he visited a house 
 in the country. It was said of Horace Wai- 
 pole : " China's the object of his soul." But 
 it would be much more surprising to find 
 how little the majority of its devotees really 
 knew about it. China-collecting, however, 
 is a fashion, and, like all other fashions, it 
 has been carried to extremes. China, of all 
 the various species of crotchets, has perhaps 
 been the most widely diffused, because the 
 105 
 
Pottery and 
 
 surviving remains of the ceramic art are so 
 vast, that every rural hamlet may have its 
 share of perfectly genuine examples. At the 
 same time the number of really fine and 
 desirable objects, either in porcelain or in 
 earthenware, is comparatively limited. 
 
 Pottery and porcelain have a very wide 
 and a very deep interest, and when these 
 two principal branches of the manufacture 
 are properly studied, it will probably be 
 found that they have manifold claims on 
 our attention. It has been asserted that the 
 productions of the ceramic art " more per- 
 fectly adapt themselves to the fashion of 
 thought, to the fancies and ideas of each 
 successive generation of men, than those of 
 any other human industry." This statement 
 has much truth in it. But the more prized 
 (because the more rare) productions of the 
 ceramic art ought to be regarded as anti- 
 quities, which is distinctly their proper cate- 
 gory. An antiquary may be assumed to 
 know the particular phase of past history 
 in which he has taken a special interest, and 
 it is he alone who understands the lessons 
 and can best appreciate the progress and 
 value of old pottery and porcelain. Pro- 
 bably very few persons who engage in the 
 pursuit enjoy the opportunity or possess 
 the inclination to enter into it with any 
 measure of thoughtful study ; and in the eyes 
 1 06 
 
Porcelain 
 
 of the majority of those who gather orna- 
 mental objects for their dwellings or cabinets, 
 old china falls loosely under the categories of 
 being pretty or ugly, cheap or dear. Of the 
 country of origin, of the epoch of manu- 
 facture, of the comparative value and interest, 
 the average man knows little enough. His 
 information is confined to general outlines. 
 He has heard of Christie's, of old blue, of 
 hard and soft paste, of Wedgwood, and a 
 few other letters of the ceramic alphabet. 
 It is precisely on all fours with books, coins, 
 and pictures : as many as you can count 
 on your fingers are judges, and the rest 
 dabble ; while the critic, who prides himself 
 on quickness of study, is often found re- 
 ferring to the science in depreciatory terms 
 from a cursory survey of the specimens in 
 shop-windows or in the hands of a friend. 
 
 This is the only craze taken up, or at 
 least condoned, by ladies, and one's natural 
 gallantry ought perhaps to prevent one say- 
 ing hard things about it. China-collecting 
 among women at one time denoted unusual 
 strength of mind and absence of nerves, as is 
 shown by Pope's lines in his second "Epistle" 
 " addressed to a lady " : 
 
 " Oh ! blest with Temper, whose unclouded ray 
 Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day ; 
 She, who can love a Sister's charms, or hear 
 Sighs for a daughter with unwounded ear ; 
 IO7 
 
Pottery and 
 
 She who ne'er answers till a Husband cools, 
 Or, if she rules him, never shows she rules, 
 Charms by accepting, by submitting sways, 
 Yet has her humour most when she obeys ; 
 Let Fops or Fortune fly what way she will, 
 Disdains all loss of Tickets or Codille : 
 Spleen, Vapours, or Small-pox, above them all, 
 And mistress of herself tho' China fall." 
 
 Addison, in the tenth number of The 
 Lover ^ has touched on the subject of 
 women's passion for china in his usual ex- 
 quisite humour. "There are no inclina- 
 tions in women," he observes, " which more 
 surprise me than their passions for chalk 
 and china. The first of these maladies wears 
 out in a little time; but when a woman is 
 visited with the second, it generally takes 
 possession of her for life. China-vessels are 
 playthings for women of all ages. An old 
 lady of fourscore shall be as busy cleaning an 
 Indian Mandarin as her great-grand-daughter 
 is in dressing her baby." " How much anger 
 and affliction are produced daily in the hearts 
 of my dear countrywomen by the breach 
 of this frail furniture. Some of them pay 
 half their servants' wages in china fragments, 
 which their carelessness has produced." Ad- 
 dison quotes a dictum of Epictetus apropos 
 of this temper-trying contingency : " If thou 
 hast a piece of earthenware, consider that it 
 is a piece of earthenware, and by consequence 
 very easy and obnoxious to be broken. Be 
 108 
 
Porcelain 
 
 not, therefore, so void of reason as to be 
 angry or grieved when this comes to pass." 
 Addison concludes a very delightful paper 
 with the reflection that, "did our women 
 take delight in heaping up piles of earthen 
 platters, brown jugs, and the like useful 
 products of our British potteries, there would* 
 be some sense in it. They might be ranged 
 as fine figures, and disposed of in as beauti- 
 ful pieces of architecture; but there is an 
 objection to these which cannot be overcome, 
 namely, that they would be of some use, and 
 might be taken down on all occasions to be 
 employed in services of the family ; besides 
 that they are intolerably cheap, and most 
 shamefully durable and lasting.'* 
 
 During the last forty or fifty years many 
 very extensive collections have come under 
 the hammer at Sotheby's and Christie's. In 
 the Bernal sale of 1855, one day's sale of 
 porcelain brought over ^6133. Mr. Glad- 
 stone's collection perhaps one of the most 
 representative of its kind as illustrating the 
 history of the ceramic art of 382 lots, sold 
 in 1875, fetched nearly ^5000, of which a 
 handsome percentage represented homage to 
 the current fame and standing of the owner, 
 as the property was very indifferent. This 
 was exemplified by the Bohn sale, a far 
 larger and far superior one, bringing, a year 
 later, only about ^8000. In 1879 Lord 
 109 
 
Pottery and 
 
 Lonsdale's china and other decorative objects 
 sold for over ,19,000, and in the same year 
 the porcelain of Mr. Charles Dickins, of 
 Sunnyside, Wimbledon, sold for over ^6000; 
 in 1888, the majolica of Lord Hastings sold 
 for over .14,459. But the highest point 
 was reached at the Dudley sale in 1886. 
 
 We may regard the Chinese (and Japanese) 
 pottery and porcelain as the most ancient. 
 The Orientals themselves fix the first fabrica- 
 tion of the potter's art to a period of about 
 2700 years before the Christian era, whilst 
 the invention of porcelain is quite modern 
 according to Chinese chronologists. The 
 Emperors of China appear to have been 
 great patrons of ceramic art. Pottery is said 
 to have been invented by Hwang-ti, who 
 ascended the throne in 2698 B.C., and 
 Yu-ti-shun made pottery before succeeding 
 to imperial dignities in 2255 B.C.; but it is 
 not certain that porcelain was known before 
 87 or 88 A.D., and was then probably only 
 stoneware. An important year was 583 A.D., 
 when a special decree ordered the potters of 
 the district now known as King-te-chin to 
 make porcelain for the Emperor's use. The 
 origin of blue china is placed at between the 
 years 954 and 959, and it is said that the 
 Emperor Chin-tsung being asked his pleasure 
 as to the porcelain articles for royal use, 
 replied, " In future, let them be blue as the 
 no 
 
Porcelain 
 
 sky that one sees after rain between the 
 clouds." For these and other appreciations 
 of the art during subsequent periods, present 
 enthusiastic collectors are doubtless grateful 
 while they look with pride upon their posses- 
 sions. It is quite certain that the Orientals 
 were centuries ahead of us in this matter. Of 
 all the several classes of porcelain collected, 
 old Chinese and Japanese enjoy the greatest 
 share of popularity. But the most ancient 
 examples both of China and Japan are not 
 the most attractive. Their chief value is 
 that they form an interesting chapter in 
 the history of the art, and when that has 
 been said, not very much else can be urged 
 in their favour. 
 
 An exceedingly interesting exhibition of 
 blue and white porcelain was held at the 
 Burlington Fine Arts Club in February last, 
 when many choice specimens were lent by 
 the leading collectors of this country. " Blue 
 and white " is certainly a ware which can 
 only be appreciated through acquaintance, 
 and that that appreciation has greatly extended 
 during the last decade or two is proved by 
 the fact that vases which might have been 
 purchased some years, ago for a few sovereigns 
 are now valued at nearly a thousand pounds. 
 Three or four pieces in this exhibition which 
 came from the Burghley House collection 
 are believed to have been in the possession of 
 in 
 
Pottery and 
 
 the family from the time of Queen Elizabeth. 
 They were lent by Mr. Thomas Agnew, who 
 insured them for no less a sum than ^3000. 
 The probability is that it was in the seven- 
 teenth century that the finest period of art 
 and fabric was reached in the East. 
 
 Some astounding prices have been paid at 
 different times for various descriptions of 
 porcelain. Among the many objects of art 
 collected by Lord Revelstoke and sold in 
 1893 were a pair of octagonal Mandarin 
 vases and covers, of old Chinese porcelain, 
 enamelled with flowers, birds, and insects, 
 four feet in height, which sold for 1000 
 guineas ; also a set of three old Japan vases 
 and covers, and a pair of beakers, painted 
 with chrysanthemums, other flowers, and 
 buildings, in dark blue borders (the vases 
 were 34 inches high and the beakers 
 24 inches high), and the lot, which 
 last year realised 270 guineas, had been 
 bought from Madame de Gruytens of 
 Antwerp, whose father purchased them from 
 the family of Rubens. At the Murietta 
 sale, three and a half years ago, a pair of 
 old Japan jars, richly decorated with fruit, 
 trees, flowers, &c., 30 inches high, went for 
 230 guineas. But in each of the foregoing 
 examples the purchaser had at all events 
 something for his money so far as regards 
 size. In the Field sale of June 1893, a pair 
 
 112 
 
Porcelain 
 
 of oviform vases, of old Chinese lavender 
 porcelain, painted with bamboos and foliage, 
 in dark blue and red, 1 3 inches high, realised 
 the preposterous sum of 590 guineas. But 
 for foolishly high prices one has to go 
 back to the sale, in 1880, of Dr. E. B. 
 Shuldham's collection of blue and white 
 porcelain, when one old jar was knocked 
 down for ^620, and another at ^650, and 
 in neither case was the reserve price reached. 
 In April 1894 the collection of Mr. E. O. 
 Arbuthnot of Shanghai was sold in New 
 York, and 220 dollars were given for a soft 
 paste semi-eggshell pear-shaped bottle, 22 
 inches high ; a set of four peachblow coupes 
 the glazings and shadings were different 
 in each piece, and the set represented the 
 varying hues of the ripening peach, each 
 measured 4! inches by i| inch realised 560 
 dollars. At the same sale a Lang-yao crackle 
 vase, i6| inches high, sold for 1290 dollars; 
 and a long, slender-necked Hawthorn bottle, 
 of which only two others of the kind are 
 known to exist, fetched 620 dollars. From 
 these prices it will be assumed that the mania 
 is as pronounced in America as it is here; 
 but if any further proof is needed here are 
 a few more lessons from a sale held in the 
 same city in May 1894, when Captain 
 Brinkley's collection came under the ham- 
 mer. A large vase of soft paste, of light 
 113 H 
 
Pottery and 
 
 buff colour, 1 8 inches high, "over 900 years 
 old," bought in Shanghai by the collector, 
 2400 dollars; a small vase of Ting Yao 
 ware, " 850 years old," realised 525 dollars; 
 a vase of the same ware, 15! inches by 25^ 
 inches in circumference, deep cherry-red 
 colour, with white shadings on one side, 
 1375 dollars; a blue and white jar of the 
 Hawthorn pattern, 650 dollars; a pair of 
 plates, 440 dollars ; a vermilion box, 4^ 
 inches wide, 300 dollars ; whilst a I y-inch 
 vase, whose broken neck had been replaced 
 by a silver cap, 500 dollars. A collection 
 of 1 5 1 lots realised a total of 22,000 dollars \ 
 Specimens of genuine porcelain were 
 brought to England early in the sixteenth 
 century, and they then realised very high 
 prices. The examples above quoted are 
 probably of or about that time. Since the 
 sacking of the Summer Palace at Pekin in 
 1860, and the opening up of Japan after the 
 troubles of 1862, the exportation to this and 
 other European countries has been enormous. 
 Oriental porcelain consequently has become 
 common; but the genuine ancient ware is 
 more valuable than ever, and is easily dis- 
 tinguished from that which is imported as an 
 article of merchandise into Europe. The 
 Orientals themselves do not make any longer 
 such pieces, the cost of the material being 
 too great, and they are even prepared to 
 114 
 
Porcelain 
 
 purchase back the inimitable productions of 
 their ancestors, who bestowed on the labour 
 an amount of time and outlay no longer con- 
 sistent with commercial ideas or possibilities. 
 Next to Oriental porcelain in historic im- 
 portance, but far before it in general cash 
 value, comes old Sevres. And here, as else- 
 where, the collector's idiosyncrasies outrun 
 his artistic instincts. The occurrence in the 
 market of a specimen of the soft porcelain 
 of the early Sevres period is quite enough to 
 send most collectors into a frenzy of excite- 
 ment. It realises outrageous prices. It is 
 curious to reflect that a century and a quarter 
 ago true china was unknown at Sevres, so 
 far as being manufactured there was con- 
 cerned. Since 1769, and indeed within a 
 very few years of that period, it had achieved 
 a world-wide fame. But revolution after 
 revolution in France took place, kings came 
 and went, before examples of the Sevres 
 manufactory commanded fancy figures. The 
 finest period is about 1775, and the two 
 peculiarities of the real pdte tendre are a 
 certain unctuous surface and a studied 
 irregularity in the decoration. In 1874 
 (July 12) a set of three vases of the rose 
 du Barri Sevres, consisting of a centre- 
 piece as a vaisseau a mat and two eventail 
 jardinieres, belonging to the Earl of Coven- 
 try, and modestly styled " a garniture 
 "5 
 
Pottery and 
 
 de cheminfo" realised the record price of 
 ; 1 0,500. They were bought by the Earl 
 of Dudley, who, a short time afterwards, 
 paid ^6825 for a pair of vases with open- 
 work covers and stands of gros-bleu^ green, 
 and rose, of rare form, painted with rose du 
 Barri foliage and Chinese figures. This 
 pair of vases measured n inches in height. 
 The garniture de chemine'e is unquestion- 
 ably one of the greatest triumphs of Sevres 
 work, and its history may be here told, in- 
 asmuch as it appeared at Christie's again so 
 recently as July of the present year. The 
 set is known as the " Coventry Vases," and 
 these unique specimens of ceramic art were 
 made in 1759. They were presented by 
 Louis XV. to George William, sixth Earl 
 of Coventry, who married in 1752 one of 
 the beautiful Miss Gunnings. The centre- 
 piece, which is modelled to represent the 
 arms of the city of Paris, is 14! inches high, 
 whilst the two jardinieres are 8| inches high. 
 The rose du Barri ground is combined 
 with green, and is a perfect example of 
 this scarce combination ; the paintings are 
 admirably copied from Teniers' well-known 
 subjects, with groups of exquisitely painted 
 flowers, by Morin, in the reverse. This set 
 passed from Earl Dudley's possession into 
 that of the late W. J. Goode, at 10,000 
 guineas. Mr. Goode's object in paying so 
 116 
 
Porcelain 
 
 high a price for this set was purely a com- 
 mercial one, to see, in fact, how closely they 
 could be copied at his potteries. It is 
 interesting to point out that the two copies 
 which he made are as like the original as 
 the proverbial "two peas in a pod." These 
 copies, of which one only is taken up, are 
 priced at ^300 each, or about the actual cost 
 involved in reproduction. The original set 
 was, as we have said, offered at Christie's 
 in July last, but was bought in at 8000 
 guineas. 
 
 The two gros-bleu vases, for which Lord 
 Dudley paid ^6825, were bought in at 
 the Dudley sale in 1886, the highest offer 
 being ^"2625. 
 
 Again, a set of three eventail jardinieres of 
 the largest model, green ground, painted with 
 birds and flowers, by Alonde, which sold 
 in Lord Dudley's sale in 1886 for 1668 
 guineas they cost him ^1995 dropped 
 to 1470 guineas when they appeared in 
 Lord Revelstoke's sale in 1893, where also 
 a rose du Barri jardiniere of the largest 
 model, with white and gold scroll handles, sold 
 for 1050 guineas ; a pair of green eventail 
 jardinieres, each painted with tropical birds 
 and flowers on white ground, went for 480 
 guineas, and a pair of rose du Barri square 
 jardinieres 6 inches high, fetched 210 
 guineas ! Among the Cassiobury Park trea- 
 sures, collected in France soon after the 
 117 
 
Pottery and 
 
 great French Revolution by the fifth Earl 
 of Essex, and sold last year, an oviform vase 
 and cover on gros-bleu ground, and painted 
 with a seaport and marine trophy in colours 
 in medallions by Morin, 15 inches high, 
 realised the extraordinary sum of 1900 
 guineas ; a garniture of five sea-green vases, 
 with birds and plants in dark blue and 
 colours, each about 14! inches high, realised 
 1400 guineas, and many other items sold 
 for equally extravagant amounts. At the 
 Hodgson sale at Christie's in 1893, among 
 the old Sevres were sixty-six white plates 
 with blue lines and gilt edges ; these plates 
 realised over three guineas apiece. Even as far 
 back as 1855 certain examples of old Sevres 
 ran well into three figures, for at the dis- 
 persion of the Bernal collection in that year 
 a pair of rose du Barri vases, 14! inches 
 high, with plinths, sold for ^1492, ios., and 
 a pair of vases, turquoise, for ^"1417, ios., 
 the purchaser in each case being Lord Hert- 
 ford. But probably never before and only 
 once since did Sevres porcelain realise such 
 absurd prices as at the Hamilton Palace 
 sale in 1882; collectors were carried away 
 by the great fame of this extraordinary 
 collection. We have only room to mention 
 two illustrative examples : a vase and cover, 
 turquoise ground, with white and gold bands 
 and festoons of foliage, 13^ inches high, 
 ^1585, and an oval plateau, gros-bleu fes- 
 118 
 
Porcelain 
 
 toons and medallions, imitating moss agate, 
 n| inches by 8|, ,430. An interesting 
 item in Sevres occurred in the collection of 
 Dr. Patrick Sinclair Laing, sold at Sotheby's 
 in February 1893 : a pair of vases and 
 covers of rich bleu ground, painted with 
 portraits of the Empress Catherine of Russia, 
 and interlaced letters forming monograms of 
 the King of France and the Empress, with 
 crowns in gold above; this lot sold for ^99. 
 Next to the Sevres, of which the modern 
 specimens are not sought, probably Dresden 
 porcelain is the most in favour with collectors. 
 One of the most extensive collections which 
 has come under the hammer in this country 
 was that of the Due de Forli, a Neapolitan 
 gentleman, sold at Christie's in 1877, realis- 
 ing a total of over ^"4221. An "e"cuelle" 
 in Mayflower, painted with Watteau figures 
 and the arms of the Dauphin, realised 300 
 guineas ! A little lady in a hooped petti- 
 coat and her two pet pugs realised 1 1 5 ; 
 whilst a pair of small candlesticks sold for 
 100 guineas; a pair of bulls attacked by 
 dogs, 6| inches high, for ^195 ; an inkstand 
 formed as a galley, with a seated figure in the 
 stern, ^94, IDS. ; a coffee-pot, 100 guineas. 
 At Christie's in March 1894 an old Dresden 
 service of 163 pieces, each painted with 
 different views in Holland in the centre, with 
 red and gold scroll borders, was sold in 28 
 119 
 
Pottery and 
 
 lots, and realised the respectable total of 
 ^333, i os. 6d. This service was formerly 
 the property of a King of Holland, sub- 
 sequently passing into William Beckford's 
 famous collection. An old Dresden service, 
 consisting of seventy pieces, was sold at the 
 Hodgson sale in July 1893 for 370 guineas ; 
 but one of the highest prices of late years 
 was paid at the Field sale of June 1893, 
 when a pair of oviform vases and covers 
 of old Dresden, each painted with garden 
 scenes and figures in two medallions on 
 white ground, with forget-me-nots in relief, 
 14 inches high, realised ^945. 
 
 Struck by the beauty of the work of the 
 Moorish potters in Spain, the Italians first 
 imitated and then far excelled their neigh- 
 bours. At Gubbio, for example, the method 
 of imparting the very beautiful and unique 
 ruby lustre to pottery was invented, but it 
 never extended beyond that town and Urbino, 
 and the art is now lost. The majolica ware 
 of both these places has much to commend 
 it, and good examples fetch very high figures. 
 Probably the most extensive collection of 
 Urbino and Gubbio ware sold during the 
 last few years occurred in the Spitzer sale 
 two years since. A Gubbio plate with paint- 
 ings by Giorgio Andreoli, 1524, 16 inches 
 in diameter, realised over ^1000; another 
 similar example, 1525, n inches in diameter, 
 1 20 
 
Porcelain 
 
 sold for about ^250; a cup of the same 
 ware, 1536, 8 inches in diameter, realised 
 200 guineas, but a second cup of Gubbio, 
 1595, not 10 inches in diameter, sold for 
 close on ^700 ; i a small plate, rather over 
 9 inches in diameter, realised over ^250. 
 These articles fetch more in Paris than they 
 probably would in this country. 
 
 In the sale of the effects of the late E. 
 Joseph, of Bond Street, in February 1894, 
 several very good examples of the Urbino 
 ware came under the hammer : an oviform 
 ewer, the handle formed as a grotesque male 
 figure, I2f inches high, realised 195 guineas, 
 and an oviform vase, with upright twisted 
 serpent handles, 24 inches high, sold for 
 191 guineas. 
 
 At the Spitzer sale, however, the prices 
 paid were almost fabulous : a pair of vases, 
 II inches high, realised about ^1300; a 
 cup, 10 inches in diameter, 1538, went for 
 .280; whilst a plate, 9! inches by 20 
 inches, brought over ^"500, and a basin, 18 
 inches in diameter, ^250. The highest price 
 for-a single piece was paid for a plate 20 
 inches in diameter, which realised close on 
 ^"1300. The Hispano-Moresque ware, the 
 most splendid and beautiful example of 
 which is probably the celebrated vase at the 
 Alhambra, does not, as a rule, realise such 
 high prices as the examples of Italian 
 
 121 
 
Pottery and 
 
 majolica just quoted, but a plate of the 
 best period fetches ^200. Examples of 
 the Caffagiolo ware of the fifteenth century 
 realise very high prices sometimes, as in the 
 Spitzer sale, when four plates, from 13 
 inches to 17 inches in diameter, realised a 
 total of about ^6600 ! Genuine examples 
 of the royal porcelain works established by 
 Charles III. of Naples at Capo di Monte 
 are exceedingly pretty, and realise very high 
 figures. Among Mr. Gladstone's collection 
 of china sold in 1875, four Capo di Monte 
 groups of the quarters of the globe realised 
 ^115; but in the Joy collection sold three 
 years ago at Sotheby's, a cup and saucer of this 
 ware, formerly in the Bernal collection, sold 
 for ;8, I2s., and a milk-jug and teapot 
 the latter having a view of Puteoli on a canary 
 ground realised only 6. These pieces are 
 copied from the Buen Retire china, but are 
 almost opaque, instead of being unusually 
 transparent like the originals. The Capo di 
 Monte work in relief is best known from the 
 common reproductions, the moulds being in 
 existence, but the old pieces are easily dis- 
 tinguished. The productions of the ordinary 
 Spanish type are the earlier, and are by far the 
 rarer ; they are sometimes sold as Buen Retire. 
 The " Henri Deux " ware was manufac- 
 tured between the years 1540 and 1560, 
 probably in Touraine. Its existence was 
 
 122 
 
Porcelain 
 
 quite forgotten until 1839, when M. Andre 
 Pettier first announced it to the world. 
 When one piece had been discovered others 
 naturally turned up, but only about fifty 
 examples have been found, and of these the 
 majority are in England. This pottery is 
 regarded by those who have educated them- 
 selves up to it as of exquisite decorative 
 quality and design, but to the lay mind its 
 thin, yellowish-green appearance, with its 
 " surface seemingly inlaid and encrusted with 
 the innumerable details of elaborate orna- 
 mentation, made out in quiet browns, blacks, 
 and sad neutral tints," is about as unlovely 
 and inartistic as anything could well be. 
 But it is impossible to deny that from a 
 technical point of view it is of great interest, 
 inasmuch as its fabrication displays novelties 
 of a varied character, into which we need not 
 enter; it is the work of an original artist, 
 with whom the secret was born and with 
 whom it died. The finest example of this 
 ware yet known, a ewer or aiguiere, was 
 purchased at the sale of M. Odiot, a silver- 
 smith and well-known collector of Paris, in 
 1842. It is beautifully engraved in Shaw's 
 " Decorative Arts of the Middle Ages," and 
 for a second time came up for sale among 
 the renowned collection of works of art 
 formed by the late Hollingworth Magniac, 
 and dispersed at Christie's in July 1892. 
 
 123 
 I 
 
Pottery and 
 
 Its extreme height to top of handle is 14! 
 inches, and the greatest diameter of the 
 oviform body is 5! inches. It was knocked 
 down for the extraordinary sum of ,3990 ! 
 Two very characteristic examples of this 
 faience, a tazza and a salt-cellar, were pur- 
 chased by the Duke of Hamilton in 1859 
 fr ,360. At his sale in 1882 they realised 
 1960 guineas. Three pieces occurred in 
 the Fountaine collection sold at Christie's 
 in 1884, and of these a flambeau realised 
 ^3675, the purchaser being a Frenchman, 
 and a mortier a cire, which sold for ^1575. 
 Of porcelain made in England, the Chel- 
 sea, the Bow, the Bristol, the Worcester, and 
 the Derby are probably the best known and 
 the most admired, or at least appreciated. In 
 the British Museum there is a pair of Chelsea 
 vases of the largest size, deep blue ground, 
 painted with exotic birds, formerly the pro- 
 perty of Sir Hans Sloane. At Lord Dudley's 
 sale in 1886, two pairs of oviform vases and 
 covers of old Chelsea ware, of extraordinary 
 size, deep blue ground, 24 inches high, were 
 knocked down at 2000 guineas per pair 
 but neither, it is believed, was really sold. A 
 single vase of the same ware, painted in six 
 medallions, 17 inches high, realised ^946, 
 whilst a pair of vases, covered with Watteau 
 subjects in deep blue borders, 1 6 inches high, 
 sold for ^"1071. In another collection 
 124 
 
Porcelain 
 
 recently sold, an old Chelsea tea service, 
 painted with exotic birds and deep blue 
 bands, brought nearly ^900 the milk-jug 
 alone selling for ^"71, 8s., or five times its 
 weight in gold whilst the cups and saucers, 
 sold in pairs, varied from 40 guineas to 60 
 guineas per pair. After such figures it is 
 almost absurd to refer to a pair of dark blue 
 bottles of old Chelsea, 9^ inches, which real- 
 ised 95 guineas in April 1894 at Christie's. 
 Some extremely fine groups of Chelsea por- 
 celain were formerly in the hands of Mr. 
 Sanders of Chiswick ; and at Holland House 
 is the tea service presented by the factory to 
 Dr. Johnson. It should be stated that there 
 are of Chelsea two distinct epochs, of which 
 the later is the finer, probably from the 
 proprietors having then taken Italian artists 
 into their employment ; and the mark itself, 
 an anchor, was borrowed from Venice. 
 
 Some well-known specimens of Bristol 
 china were included in the Joy collection 
 sold at Sotheby's three years ago, when a 
 teacup and saucer of the celebrated service 
 made by Champion in 1774, and presented to 
 Mrs. Burke, realised 60 ; whilst a cup and 
 saucer made by Champion, at the request 
 of Edmund Burke, for presentation to the 
 latter's hostess, sold for ^24. The Edkins 
 sale at Sotheby's yielded the finest collection 
 of this class ever brought together. The 
 125 
 
Tottery and Porcelain 
 
 products of Bow have become more nume- 
 rous as time elapses, and some very fine 
 examples not unworthy of Chelsea are known. 
 The mark usually found is a dagger and an 
 anchor, but many specimens are unsigned. 
 One of the " triumphs " of that pottery, an 
 inkstand, painted with daisy pattern, 1750, 
 sold in 1892 for 11. 
 
 The best examples of Worcester and 
 Derby are fully comparable with Chelsea. 
 At Viscount Clifden's sale, on 7th May 
 1893, a set of three old Worcester vases, 
 about 14 inches high, each painted with two 
 large medallions on dark blue ground, sold 
 for ^336. In the same month also the cele- 
 brated dinner service of old Worcester por- 
 celain (consisting of upwards of 260 pieces) 
 presented by the British nation to Lord 
 Nelson, was sold by order of the then owner, 
 the Earl of Erroll. This service was divided 
 into 62 lots, and realised a total of over 
 ^1154. Each piece is painted with a por- 
 trait of Lady Hamilton, as " Hope," in 
 varied attitudes on the seashore. In such a 
 case as this, the value is in a great measure a 
 sentimental one. It is a sufficiently familiar 
 fact that the Chelsea factory merged in that 
 at Derby, and that the earliest work bears a 
 D charged with an anchor. Of the Wor- 
 cester china we have three important epochs : 
 the Wall, the Chamberlain, and the Flight. 
 126 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 IN the autumn of 1862 appeared at Brighton, 
 from the pen of Mr. Frederick Booty, or 
 rather from that gentleman's hand, for he 
 was the artist likewise, a small octavo volume 
 of forty-six leaves, of which the reverses are 
 blank, and which is entirely lithographic, 
 entitled, " The Stamp Collector's Guide : 
 Being a List of English and Foreign Postage 
 | Stamps, with 200 Facsimile Drawings, by Fre- 
 derick Booty." This is a book in comparison 
 with which Caxtons are common, and which 
 enjoys, we think, the proud advantage of being 
 till this very instant unknown to bibliogra- 
 phers. It looks as if it might have been origi- 
 nally offered at sixpence ; its present value is 
 about ;iooo, to borrow the phraseology of 
 the Philatelic Vendor, and the price is some- 
 what enhanced by an indifference to ortho- 
 graphy, punctuation, and artistic refinement. 
 All these characteristics appertain to the true 
 editio princepS) and establish its authenticity. 
 Now Mr. Booty, in an introduction, 
 which, by the way, occupies both sides of the 
 129 i 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 two leaves on which it is contained, oppor- 
 tunely tells us at the very commencement 
 that whereas collectors in this line were (then) 
 a short time since numbered by units, they 
 had so increased in 1862 as to be countable 
 by hundreds ; he does not see why even the 
 more unlovely of postage-stamps should not 
 possess a latent beauty (mark the happy 
 expression !) ; yet he does not wish us to 
 regard too exclusively the aesthetic side, for, 
 as he says, the pursuit has its usilitarian (sic} 
 one. Mr. Booty himself owed his know- 
 ledge of Queensland to its blue twopenny, 
 besides a great deal more, and assures Dr. 
 Browne, a coeval teacher of youth, that he 
 is not the only person who had benefited by 
 the new science, as it was at that date. 
 
 But in 1862 it is evident that stamp-col- 
 lecting was chiefly, if not almost exclusively, 
 a passion among schoolboys and schoolgirls ; 
 and when we think upon it a little, it was 
 a period of European and Colonial history 
 when many vital changes had occurred, or 
 were occurring, in the political constitutions 
 of States. The system of Postage had of 
 course been long established, and prior to 
 the Booty Hegira there had been ample time 
 for numberless revolutions in Governments 
 at home and abroad, and for consequent phe- 
 nomena in the shape of new stamps. It 
 would perhaps hardly be accurate to say 
 130 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 that in the eyes of the Philatelic Vendor 
 Great Britain holds the lowest rank, but 
 certainly, owing to the deplorable perma- 
 nence and stability of Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, and the unreasonable longevity of the 
 Queen, the rarities in the series seem hardly 
 worth mentioning. Our poor country may 
 well blush when it looks at the prices which 
 the Philatelic Vendor declares himself ready 
 to pay for the products of Hawaii, or 
 some decently behaved Government which 
 existed only long enough to issue six phila- 
 telic examples, of which three are more or 
 less imperfect, or variants of unsurpassed 
 curiosity and incalculable worth. If they 
 resemble a defective post-mark impressed 
 on a piece of blotting-paper, what of that ? 
 If the execution is criticised by the youngest 
 member of your household as inferior to his 
 own capabilities, do not be discouraged ; give 
 the Philatelic Vendor his thousand sovereigns, 
 and thank him. 
 
 To return, however, to the presumed 
 genesis of the thing, we seem to perceive 
 that in 1862 a large accumulation of postage- 
 stamps existed up and down, belonging to 
 several living Governments, and, which is 
 much more, to a considerable number of 
 defunct ones; and besides, at that juncture 
 constant modifications were occurring, some- 
 times from year to year, in parts of Europe, 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 South America, the West Indies, Australasia, 
 Polynesia, and elsewhere. The pursuit was 
 mainly limited to youngsters, Mr. Booty 
 informs his readers, and it is easy to imagine 
 the havoc which was always going on where 
 the market value was low and the customer 
 careless and inexperienced ; just as when early 
 printed books were very cheap, it was almost 
 an economy to light your kitchen-fire with 
 them. 
 
 So it happened, we humbly conceive, that 
 about the Booty era the increasing stir and 
 talk in the family circle about stamps caught 
 the ear of papa, and papa thought to himself, 
 " Why should not I go and do likewise ? " 
 A schoolboy once received a gift from his 
 uncle of a handful of worthless old coins in 
 a canvas bag ; he knew nothing about such 
 matters, nor cared; but his father cast his 
 eyes upon the poor little hoard, and was 
 struck by the interest in the subject, even 
 there nebulously perceptible. It is true that 
 he threw the contents of the bag away, but 
 the accident led to the formation of not 
 the least important numismatic collection in 
 Europe. We merely relate this anecdote 
 because it has the air of a parallel. The 
 philatelic furor, as it became, spread from 
 the sons and daughters of England to her 
 richer, if not wiser, sires ; and as we write, 
 there is, relatively speaking, no class of com- 
 132 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 modity which is so eagerly sought, for which 
 such ambitious prices are demanded and given, 
 and in which the opportunities of obtaining 
 that gratification on both sides which is 
 so well described in the lines of Butler's 
 Hudibras 
 
 " For sure the pleasure is as great 
 Of being cheated as to cheat," 
 
 are so frequent and so unfailing. 
 
 There are at least two thousand stamp 
 dealers in Europe, and the number of people 
 who make a living directly out of this calling 
 is estimated at five figures. In London last 
 season from ,15,000 to ,20,000 worth of 
 stamps were sold under the hammer by three 
 or four auctioneers. One dealer retired after 
 having accumulated, it is said, the very re- 
 spectable fortune of ,50,000. The " trade " 
 in London is represented by nearly a dozen 
 journals, and its literature could only be in- 
 dicated by a portly volume of bibliography. 
 The composition of the Philatelic Society 
 of London is interesting, for among its 
 members are many eminent and distinguished 
 men (to say nothing of four ladies) whom 
 the general public would little suspect of a 
 weakness for such unconsidered trifles. The 
 President and Vice-President respectively are 
 the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the 
 Duke of York. Its list of ordinary members 
 
 133 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 includes one prince, two earls, a whole host 
 of military and naval officers, and the re- 
 mainder is chiefly made up of Esquires. 
 In the autumn of 1892, Mr. Castle, editor 
 of The London Philatelist (the official organ 
 of the Society), issued to 1 1 6 members of the 
 Society residing in Great Britain a series of 
 queries concerning their particular collections, 
 and from the tabulated replies we glean that 
 the stamps in the possession of the 109 who 
 replied to the circular amounted to over 
 825,000. The value of one collection was 
 placed at ; 10,000, a second at 6000, two 
 a * ^5000, two at ^"4000, eight at amounts 
 varying from ^1200 to ^3000 each, and 
 ten at 1000 each. The estimated value 
 of the collections of ordinary members of 
 the Society resident out of Great Britain is 
 placed at ,100,000, to which we have to 
 add several of the largest holders, and notably 
 that of Herr Philip von Ferrary of Paris, 
 which has been computed as alone worth as 
 much as the sum just mentioned. These 
 figures do not take any account of the stocks 
 of dealers, who are stated to be ineligible to 
 the Society. It will be at once seen that to be 
 a stamp collector on a dignified scale a man 
 must be rich. 
 
 The Ferrary collection is in a way unique. 
 This gentleman purchases at any price, we 
 hear, examples of which he has no specimens, 
 134 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 and has had for years two specialists devoted to 
 the custodianship of his collection, at salaries 
 of ^400 a year. Another Parisian collector 
 is said to possess over a million stamps pre- 
 served in a hundred and thirty richly bound 
 volumes. The Tapling collection, valued at 
 ;6o,ooo, and now in the British Museum, 
 is supposed to rank second to that of Herr 
 von Ferrary. The late Czar of Russia had a 
 very fine collection, valued at about ,30,000, 
 and took a very personal interest in his stamps, 
 particularly those of Asiatic issue. The 
 Prince of Wales, as well as his brother and 
 son already named, has a good collection. 
 Her Majesty also has a good collection, one 
 of the greatest rarities of which is an example 
 of the first Garfield issue of the United 
 States ; and the Prince of Wales adds him- 
 self to the roll in a measure, but not so as 
 to be viewed by Philatelic Vendor aforesaid 
 as a grandee of the first class. 
 
 Stamp collecting is supposed to have origin- 
 ated in Belgium, and to have quickly spread 
 to Germany and France, in the latter of which, 
 not unnaturally, it developed almost into a 
 public scandal. The infection appears to 
 have soon found its way into England, and 
 early in 1862 an informal kind of Exchange 
 had established itself in Birchin Lane, London, 
 which became such an unmitigated nuisance, 
 that it was put down by the police, as a 
 
 '35 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 similar institution on the Boulevard Sebas- 
 topol had been suppressed by the Parisian 
 authorities. Between 1840, when stamps 
 were first issued, and 1860 two thousand 
 four hundred examples of various kinds 
 had appeared; by 1870 that number had 
 increased to six thousand four hundred. 
 The earliest systematic " Handbook " of the 
 subject, closely following on the Booty mono- 
 graph, was by Dr. J. E. Gray of the British 
 Museum ; the first edition of a thousand 
 copies of this little book of fifty-four pages 
 was sold out in twenty days, and five sub- 
 sequent editions (the fifth extended to two 
 hundred and twenty-six pages) appeared in 
 rapid succession. On ist April 1863 a 
 somewhat unfortunate date a Stamp Col- 
 lector s Magazine appeared, and existed for 
 twelve years. The movement scored another 
 advance on i8th March 1872, on which 
 date the first stamp auction was held at 13 
 Wellington Street, Strand, when the cream 
 of the stock of J. W. Scott & Co. came 
 under the hammer, and realised a total of 
 ^258, the two highest individual figures 
 being 6 for a St. Louis 20 cent, and 
 ;8, I2s. for a variety of the same. This 
 may be the fittest place for adding that since 
 that time several auctioneers have instituted 
 periodical night sales devoted to the same 
 object. 
 
 136 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 The day for forming a complete collection 
 of stamps is passing away. Nearly every 
 collector is now primarily a specialist, but the 
 majority keep a more or less wary eye open 
 to completing their collections so far as it 
 remains possible. Most collectors restrict 
 themselves to their own country ; in England 
 the demand is greatest for the stamps of 
 Great Britain and its Colonies ; in America 
 the United States stamps are most in request, 
 and realise consequently better prices there 
 than elsewhere. Beyond this general rule, 
 fashions in stamps vary as often and as rapidly 
 as fashions in other things. The other day 
 the rage was for the postage stamps of 
 Australia; now old and scarce Europeans, 
 especially unused, and early Colonials, par- 
 ticularly those of the West Indian Islands, 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and Mauritius, are 
 the -mode. One or two eminent collectors 
 take up a particular line, and the others 
 follow. Fashion has to be complied with in 
 all matters. Then, again, certain collectors 
 devote their energies to the juxtaposition of 
 the various shades of particular issues, the gra- 
 dations, for instance, from light red to dark 
 red and these variations sometimes number 
 half-a-dozen in one issue. That such differ- 
 ences merely arise from accidents in the print- 
 ing processes or from chemical agencies, is 
 perfectly immaterial. When stamp collect- 
 
 137 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 ing narrows itself down to this species of 
 hair-splitting, it unquestionably becomes a 
 mania, as it does when it comes to mea- 
 suring the margins and counting the per- 
 forations. A different perforation or the 
 fraction of an inch more margin may vastly 
 enhance the value of a stamp. One can 
 sympathise with the very natural desire 
 for a complete and perfect stamp, just as 
 one prefers a perfect to an imperfect book, 
 but when it becomes necessary to provide 
 one's self with a " stamp measure," which 
 splits an inch up into twenty-five sections, 
 or with a " perforation gauge," the sublimity 
 of the philatelic craze seems to verge upon 
 the ridiculous. With all these bewildering 
 contingencies and side issues, the edifying 
 hobby of the schoolboy receives a fatal blow. 
 The man who pays ^50 or ^100 for a stamp 
 may have the satisfaction of possessing some- 
 thing for which he has been looking for many 
 years, or of something which no one else can 
 show ; but what is his real unalloyed pleasure 
 compared to that of the schoolboy who adds a 
 dozen mediocre stamps to his modest album ? 
 There are about a dozen stamps whose 
 rarity has achieved for them a fame which 
 would certainly be denied on any other score. 
 That this number should be actually worth, 
 in the open market, ^2000, is a fact which 
 almost takes one's breath away. Curiously 
 138 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 enough, not one of these items is a thing of 
 beauty ; on the contrary, they are almost as 
 ugly and inartistic as it is possible for such 
 things to be and that is saying a good deal. 
 The nominal value of these at the time of 
 issue would be about half-a-crown. A poor 
 book collector may be pardoned for fancying 
 what magnificent additions he could make to 
 his shelves with this money. A big, in fact 
 the biggest, slice in this total of ^"2000 is 
 swallowed up in the purchase of two unlovely 
 stamps, the id. and 2d. "Post Office, Mau- 
 ritius," of the first issue, which appeared in 
 September 1 847. It is probable that not more 
 than eight sets of these stamps are in exist- 
 ence, and in only two or three cases do they 
 occur together. The last pair sold were first 
 acquired by Madame Dubois of Bordeaux, 
 having been found in a merchant's office 
 there. This lady sold them in 1867 to 
 M. E. Lalanne, who, in his turn, recently 
 disposed of his collection (including this 
 pair) for 60,000 francs to M. Piet-Lataudrie, 
 a well-known French collector, from whom 
 Messrs. Stanley Gibbons & Co. purchased 
 the two Mauritius for the record price of 
 ;68o, for an English collector. The Mau- 
 ritius are not by any means the rarest stamps 
 in the world, for there are some of which 
 only one copy exists. A rarer stamp, for 
 instance, is the 2 cents, rose, of the 1851 
 
 139 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 issue of British Guiana, of which only six 
 are known, and three of these are in a Paris 
 collection and one in the British Museum. 
 This stamp is quite the most clumsy one 
 ever issued, resembling a careless post-mark 
 more than anything else. The 1856 issues of 
 the same place are also exceedingly rare, and 
 some of the varieties are worth nearly i oo, 
 whilst an error of this issue, the I cent, 
 on crimson paper, has been valued at more 
 than ^250. The first issue of the French 
 Island of Reunion is rare from an adventi- 
 tious circumstance : the stock was nearly 
 entirely consumed by philatelic white ants 
 within a few days of publication, and the 
 market value of the pair, 15 and 30 cen- 
 times, is about ,100. The earliest issues, 
 2, 5, and 13 cents (all blue), of the Sandwich 
 or Hawaiian Islands, 1851, are also practi- 
 cally unobtainable ; if an example of the 
 2-cent issue came into the market it would 
 realise probably not less than ^200. In con- 
 nection with these Hawaiian stamps, it may 
 be mentioned that they were set from types 
 with an ornamental border, the value occupy- 
 ing the centre, and there are two varieties 
 of each value. They were struck off " from 
 time to time as required, and printed on any 
 kind of paper that happened to be in the 
 market. The result was that there were a 
 great number of slight variations in the 
 140 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 minutiae of paper and shade of colour, which 
 are all-important to the genuine philatelist." 
 The Hawaiian Government has for a long 
 time manufactured and reprinted stamps 
 solely for collectors, " the result of which 
 is that the postal surplus, which was nil 
 before the reprinting era, now averages 
 ^40,000 per annum." Some of the ugliest 
 stamps in the world, the first issue of Mol- 
 davia, fetch very high figures in the market. 
 In 1873 the set of three was to be had 
 for a mere trifle they would now realise 
 perhaps ^150; one example alone sold at 
 auction three years ago for ^49, and is now 
 valued at ^70. The 10 centavos, green, of 
 Bolivar, 1863, likewise one of a trio, is now 
 worth 6 ; twenty years ago this could 
 have been had for 2s. 6d. Certain Cape 
 of Good Hope stamps are much sought, 
 and Philatelic Vendor invoices them accord- 
 ingly. Several of these owe their popularity 
 to the carelessness of the printer. In the 
 1 86 1 issue of provisional of the triangular 
 stamps, a 4d. block was accidentally inserted 
 instead of the id. ; used it is now valued at 
 about ^30, unused it would probably sell for 
 ^"150; twenty years ago this stamp was to be 
 had at 33. The investment in this case might 
 certainly be considered a good one. Another 
 would be the I2d. black of Canada, 1851, 
 which sold in 1873 for ios., and is now 
 141 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 worth about a hundred times that amount 
 if in fine condition. 
 
 Such are some of the top prices in philately. 
 The guiding principle of this science is clearly 
 neither beauty nor utility, but simply and 
 solely rarity. When we are in touch with 
 those greater spirits with whom the price has 
 merely to be intimated to bring an immediate 
 cheque, it seems waste of time and thought 
 to advise the people (there are some in the 
 world !) who are actually content to put 
 up with reprints of the rarer stamps. We 
 need not mention the estimation in which 
 Philatelic Vendor holds such, for he, as 
 we need scarcely say, despises reproductions, 
 and does not quite know whether there are 
 things of that kind. 
 
 Twenty years ago it was a most uncommon 
 thing to come across a stamp priced at i 
 or over in a dealer's catalogue ; the majority 
 of items, in fact, came well under is. each. 
 The Bahamas id. stamp of 1859 and the 6d. 
 one of 1 86 1 might have been had together 
 in 1873 for 8d.; to-day they sell for close 
 on a s n te. The Ceylon blue id. might 
 have been had in 1873 at yd. per dozen used ; 
 they are now worth is. each ; the 8d. choco- 
 late (1857), once retailed at 35. the dozen, 
 now sells by auction at five guineas each ; 
 but one of the greatest rarities in the Ceylon 
 issues is the 8d. octagonal yellow-brown 
 142 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 (1861), of which unused examples have 
 risen in twenty years from eighteenpence to 
 over i , whilst an American dealer prices an 
 example at 30 dollars. In fact, all the Ceylon 
 issues, 1857 to 1867, have greatly increased 
 in value. 
 
 Among the highest priced stamps in 1873, 
 Antioquia took the lead with its 2j, 5, and 
 10 centavos, which were offered together at 
 the then high figure of 4.. In January 
 1894, Messrs. Cheveley sold a very good set 
 for ^"36, i os. So, too, the 20 centimes of 
 Fernando Po (1868), which was sold at 155. 
 unused in 1873, has now doubled in value, 
 the unused being worth only about is. more 
 than the used example, then priced at los. 
 The two French stamps, 10 centimes cinna- 
 mon, and 25 centimes blue, issued during 
 the Presidency of Louis Napoleon in 1852, 
 were offered at 45. 6d. and 2s. 6d. respectively 
 in 1873; now the former realises i y and 
 the latter about 6s. 
 
 As regards the stamps of this country, 
 the id. black, with the initials V.R. in the 
 upper corner, maintains its position, both on 
 the score of rarity and of price. Many col- 
 lectors refuse to admit it into their collections, 
 on the theory that it was never actually issued, 
 and is, consequently, only an " essay " and 
 not a legitimate stamp a point, by the way, 
 on which Mr. Booty has a good deal to say 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 in his lithographic monograph. They also 
 argue that the few used examples were simply 
 appropriated by officials for their private 
 letters, and escaped detection in going through 
 the post. The best philatelic authorities, 
 however, are of opinion that the V.R. is a 
 genuine postage stamp ; at all events, its 
 1873 value of 2 has now increased to five 
 times that amount. This, as already stated, 
 is almost our only valuable stamp, but the 
 Mulready envelope has risen from 35. 6d. 
 to jgi. The is. stamp of 1847, however, 
 which, unused, sold at its facial value twenty 
 years ago, is now worth nearly ^3, whilst 
 the 6d. violet of 1864 is now priced at about 
 ji. In January 1894 a "magnificent un- 
 used strip of three " examples of the 8d. 
 brown, "with gum intact," realised ^16; 
 an unused block of six of the 2s. salmon 
 realised ^18 at Messrs. Cheveley's auction 
 in each case an uncommonly good invest- 
 ment for the original purchasers. Buyers 
 of unused English stamps at par value can 
 always console themselves with the reflection 
 that they are never likely to lose over the 
 transaction, for the stamps of this country 
 have never been demonetised. 
 
 India had in its 1854 or first issue two 
 
 half-anna stamps, one of which, the blue, is 
 
 common enough, and sells for a few pence, 
 
 but the red variety is very rare, and realises 
 
 144 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 from five to seven guineas under the hammer. 
 Many of the early Newfoundland stamps 
 also fetch high prices in the auction-room, 
 particularly the is. issue of 1857, which is 
 sometimes found orange-vermilion, and at 
 others carmine-vermilion in colour, the prices 
 ranging from $> IDS. to ^7, los. according 
 to condition, " a tiny tear at left side " in 
 one instance making a difference of ^i, 155. 
 in the value! Even in 1873 these stamps 
 were rare, the then high amount of 1 8s. each 
 being asked. Few Peruvian stamps realise 
 fancy prices, the chief exceptions being the 
 medio peso, rose, of 1858, very fine examples 
 of which now realise from i i to 11 each. 
 Another South American Republic, Buenos 
 Ayres, included among its first issues a few 
 stamps which have since become very rare, 
 notably the 5 pesos, orange, 1858, a used 
 example of which was valued at ^"2, los. as 
 far back as 1873, but which is now worth 
 about twelve guineas; the 4 pesos, red, of 
 the same issue has only advanced from ^"3 
 to from six to nine guineas (Philatelic Vendor 
 scarcely deems it worth while to draw your 
 attention to it in the bill), and the 3 pesos, 
 green, has advanced from 155. to ^3, more 
 or less, in a similar period. 
 
 If the United States stamps are not as a 
 rule beautiful, they are, at all events, very 
 numerous, and that, perhaps, is sufficient for 
 145 K 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 the average American. A complete collection 
 of the United States issues would involve the 
 expenditure of much time and money. To 
 begin with, the provisional issue of the 5 
 cents Brattleboro', 1846, would cost at least 
 ;ioo, and might be perhaps all but impos- 
 sible to obtain even at that price. Another 
 rare example, viz., the 5 cents blue stamp 
 issued by the Alabama Government at 
 Livingston during the war, recently sold at 
 auction in New York for 780 dollars. The 
 stamps issued by the Confederate States are 
 now of the greatest rarity ; recently one of 
 these (? 2 cents green), of Baton Rouge, 
 Louisiana, " went for 99 dollars to a man 
 who said his name was Philip," as the New 
 York reporter put it ; another, the 5 cents 
 of the same place, realising 9 8 dollars. The 
 St. Louis 5, 10 and 20 cents stamps are also 
 among the rarest of the local issues. In 
 1872 the 5 cents realised just over 175. each, 
 and the 10 cents about I2s. ; fine examples 
 of these now realise from six guineas to 
 ;8, i os. respectively, while the value of 
 the 20 cents stamp is somewhere in the 
 neighbourhood of 100. There is, besides 
 the regular official issues, an enormous series 
 of local and provincial stamps, and the 
 endless Pony Expresses and curious postal 
 media employed by trading firms in years 
 gone by. Some of these are extremely 
 146 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 characteristic and picturesque, and their 
 scarcity is apt to grow. 
 
 A few examples of the United States 15 
 cents and 24 cents 1869 issues, with inverted 
 centres, got into circulation, and are now 
 appraised at 17 and ;i8, los. respectively, 
 the values of the correct impressions being 
 less than half as many shillings. In the 
 Mauritius 1848 id. blue, one variety reads 
 " penoe " instead of " pence : " the example 
 with the error is valued at ,10, but for the 
 one without it Philatelic Vendor accepts a 
 complimentary douceur of five guineas. But 
 the most famous of all " errors " in this 
 direction is the " Connell " stamp of New 
 Brunswick, in which the then postmaster, 
 thinking that his own portrait would be 
 as acceptable to the natives as that of his 
 sovereign, had 5 cent stamps so ornamented 
 in 1 86 1. Not many, however, got into 
 circulation. In 1873 it was selling at 75. 6d. 
 each unused ; a good specimen now sells 
 readily at ,20. Think of that, Master 
 Brook ! 
 
 Philately has often been the arena of 
 " bulls " and " bears ; " and in dealing in 
 stamps it is as necessary for one to be wide 
 awake as in other forms of speculation. An 
 attempt at " a corner " is said to have been 
 made in regard to the United States Colum- 
 bian issue, but it was unsuccessful. A similar 
 H7 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 move was made when the United States 
 Government was about to cease the issue 
 of 10 cent stamped envelopes. A certain 
 dealer bought 10,000 examples, for which 
 he paid 1000 dollars, and was sufficiently 
 " previous " to issue a circular to the effect 
 that collectors would be able to buy examples 
 after a certain date at a fancy figure. The 
 Postal Department was inundated with pro- 
 tests from those who had not taken time by 
 the forelock. The virtuous officials (being 
 outside) resented the trick ; the decision to 
 suspend the issue was revoked, and 150,000 
 more were printed off. A certain Don Juan 
 Cardillas, Monte Video, collected over 100,000 
 examples of the Uruguay 5 cent blue of 1883, 
 with the figure of General Santos. But a 
 very large number of this issue had been 
 struck ofF, and the unfortunate speculator 
 would not have realised a profit on his trans- 
 action until he had reached the age of 
 Methuselah ; so, not content to wait, and 
 finding it impossible to make this stamp rare 
 by fair or other means, Don Cardillas set fire 
 to the lot. 
 
 But the day of the great prizes is gone ; 
 only very few people recognised the extent 
 to which the hobby would develop itself. 
 They held on in the anticipation of a rise, 
 and the rise came. It is now too late for 
 others to enter into the fray in the expec- 
 148 
 
Postage Stamps 
 
 tation of making a good thing out of it. 
 Stamps are either very rare or very common 
 very expensive or very cheap. The rarities 
 to which allusion has been made constitute 
 an insignificant minority, which there is not 
 a very good prospect of swelling from new 
 sources. At the same time, the peculiarly un- 
 satisfactory features and conditions of stamp- 
 collecting, which afford exceptional facilities 
 for deception, and reduce the test of genuine- 
 ness, for the most part, to the water-mark 
 of the paper on which the stamp has been 
 printed, must in due course deter many from 
 prosecuting the taste, since the fad has passed 
 from the hands of the young into those of 
 their seniors, who may now and then grow 
 weary at last of working early and late to 
 find the tribute-money for that most insatiable, 
 albeit most veracious and upright, of modern 
 commercial celebrities, Philatelic Vendor, pre- 
 viously quoted. 
 
 149 
 
Index 
 
Index 
 
 ALDUS, first book printed by, 
 
 16 
 
 Americana, 26 
 American stamps, 145 
 Antioquian stamps, 143 
 Apponyi Library, the, 10-11 
 Arbuthnot, Mr. E. O., 113 
 Auction, the first stamp, 136 
 
 BALBI Catholicon, the, 13 
 Beckford Library, 7, 8, 9 
 Berghem, N., 62 
 Bernal sale, 109 
 Bible, the English, 13-14 
 Blue and white porcelain, 1 1 1 , 
 112, 113 
 
 Bohn collection of porcelain, 
 
 109 
 
 Booty, Frederick, 129 
 Both, Jan, 61 
 Botticelli, 74 
 Bow ware, 1 26 
 Brinkley, Captain, 113 
 Bristol ware, 125 
 British Guiana stamps, 140 
 British School of Painting, 79- 
 
 British stamps, 143 
 
 Browning, Robert, 39, 40-41 
 Buen Retiro china, 122 
 Burghley House china, in 
 Byron, Lord, 37-38 
 
 CAFFAGIOLO ware, 122 
 Callcott, Sir A. W., 90, 91 
 Canaletto, 74 
 Capo di Monte ware, 122 
 Cassiobury Park sale, 117 
 Caxton, works printed by, 
 
 19-22 
 
 Ceylon stamps, 142 
 Chelsea ware, 124 
 China, Charles Lamb on, 105 
 China collecting, 105 et seq. 
 Cole, Vicat, 8 1 
 Constable, John, 80 
 Cooper, Mr. T. S., 98 
 Correggio, 75 
 
 Coventry vases, the, 115-116 
 Cox, David, 86-87 
 Crivelli, Carlo, 76 
 Cuyp, a, 6 1 
 
 DEFOE'S " Robinson Crusoe," 
 
 25 
 Derby ware, 126 
 
 153 
 
Index 
 
 De Wint, Peter, 87 
 Dickens, first editions of, 29, 32 
 Dickins' collection of china, 
 
 no 
 
 Dolci, Carlo, 76 
 Dow, Gerard, 73 
 Dresden china, 119 
 Dudley's (Lord) collection of 
 
 Sevres, 116 
 Dutch School of Painters, 60 
 
 EASTLAKK, Sir Charles, 90 
 Editionts principes, II 
 Egremont, Earl of, 73 
 Etty, W., 90 
 
 FAED, T., 98 
 
 Ferrary, Herr Philip von, 134 
 
 Fielding, Copley, 87 
 
 First editions, the cult of, 28 
 
 French stamps, 143 
 
 Frith, Mr. W. P., 98 
 
 GAINSBOROUGH, Thomas, 85 
 
 Giorgione, 77 
 
 Gladstone, Mr., 109, 122 
 
 Goldsmith's " Vicar of Wake- 
 field," 25 
 
 Goodall, Mr. F., 96 
 
 Grant, Sir F., 99 
 
 Gray, Dr. J. E., 136 
 
 Gray's " Elegy," 25 
 
 Greek, first book printed in, 
 15-16 
 
 Grolier's copy of Lucretius, 18 
 
 Gubbio pottery, 120 
 
 HAMILTON Palace sale, 70, 1 18 
 Hardy, Mr. Thomas, 45, 46 
 Hawaiian stamps, 141 
 Heber, Richard, 4 
 Henri Deux ware, 122 
 Hertford, Lord, 118 
 Hispano-Moresque ware, 121 
 Hobbema, M., 64, 65 
 Hodgson sale, 118 
 Homer, editio princeps, 15 
 Hooch, P. de, 63 
 Hook, Mr. J. C, 98 
 Hope, Adrian, 60 
 " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili," 
 '7 
 
 JEFFERIES, R., 42, 44 
 Jones, Sir E. Burne, 97 
 Joseph, the late E., 121 
 
 KEENE'S "Memoirs of his 
 Life," 25 
 
 LAMB, Charles, 35, 105 
 Landseer, Sir E., 91-93 
 Lang, Mr. Andrew, 42, 43 
 Leighton, Sir F., 99 
 Lewis, C. J., 81 
 Lewis, J. F., 88 
 Limited editions, 49 
 Lippi, F., 77 
 Lonsdale china, 1 10 
 
 MAURITIUS stamps, 139 
 Mazarin Bible, the, 12, 13 
 
 '54 
 
Index 
 
 Memlinc, Hans, 63 
 Meredith, Mr. George, 45 
 Millais, Sir J., 97 
 Milton, John, 24 
 Moldavian stamps, 141 
 Motives for collecting books, 6 
 Miiller, W. J., 89 
 Murietta, Messrs., 82 
 
 NASMYTH, Peter, 94 
 Neglected books, 4-5 
 Newfoundland stamps, 145 
 
 OSTADE, A. and I., 65-66 
 Ovid, editio princeps, 16 
 
 " PARADISE Lost," 6-7 
 "Pastissier Fran$ois," Le, I 
 Pedigrees of pictures, 59 
 Perkins sale, the, 12 
 Philatelic Society, the, 133 
 Picture dealers, 53 
 Pictures, 53-101 
 Poole, P. F., 94 
 Postage stamps, 129-149 
 Pottery and porcelain, 105-126 
 Price, David, 57 
 Psalmorum Codex, the, 13 
 
 RAPHAEL, 77 
 
 Rare books and their prices, 
 
 1-50 
 Rembrandt, 66-67 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 83, 84 
 Roberts, David, 93 
 Romney, George, 83 
 Rosa, Salvator, 79 
 Rossetti, D. G., 95 
 Rubens, P. P., 70 
 Ruskin, John, 41-42 
 Ruysdael, 68 
 
 SARTO, Andrea del, 79 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 38 
 Sevres porcelain, 115 
 Shakespeare, works of, 22-23 
 Shelley, P. B., 36-37 
 Shuldham, Dr. E. B., 113 
 Sloane, Sir Hans, 124 
 Spenser, E., 24 
 Spitzer sale, the, 121 
 Stamp collecting, its origin, 
 
 13*1 132 
 
 Stamp collections, some, 134 
 Stanfield, Clarkson, 91 
 Stephen, J. K., 49 
 Stevenson, R. L., 47 
 Summer Palace, Pekin, 114 
 Sunderland Library, 7, 8, 1 1 
 Syston Park Library, 9 
 
 TADEMA, Mr. Alma, 97, 98 
 Tapling, T., 135 
 Teniers, D., 71 
 Tennyson, Lord, 39, 40 
 Thackeray, first editions of, 
 
 29. 32, 33 
 Tintoretto, 79 
 
 '55 
 
Turner, J. M. W., 93-94 
 Tyndall, Professor, 46 
 
 URBINO pottery, 120 
 
 VALDARFER Boccaccio, 
 
 U-I5 
 
 Van de Veldes, A., 72 
 Virgil, editio princeps, 15 
 
 the, 
 
 Index 
 
 WALPOLE, Horace, 105 
 Walton's "Angler," 24 
 Warton's " History of English 
 
 Poetry," 3 
 Webster, T., 91 
 Wilkie, Sir David, 93 
 Worcester ware, 126 
 Wouverman, 72 
 Wynant, J., 72 
 
 THE END 
 
 Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co. 
 Edinburgh and London 
 
9 HART STREET 
 
 BLOOMSBURY LONDON 
 November iSyj. 
 
 The 
 Collector Series 
 
 MR. GEORGE REDWAY begs to 
 announce the publication of this series 
 of books, each volume of which will 
 discuss some one of the subjects which are of 
 interest to Collectors. 
 
 Coins and Medals, Engravings, Pictures and 
 Drawings, Postage Stamps, Book Plates, Auto- 
 graphs, Armour and Weapons, Plate, Porcelain 
 and Pottery, Old Violins, Japanese Curios, and 
 Bric-a-brac of all sorts will be dealt with, each 
 in a separate volume, and by a writer specially 
 conversant with his subject. The instiact for 
 collecting has been made the butt for much 
 
cheap ridicule by those who confound it with 
 the mere aimless bringing together of objects 
 which have no other merit than their rarity. 
 But it has repeatedly been proved that skill and 
 patience are more helpful to success in col- 
 lecting than length of purse, and it is especially 
 for those who desire to pursue their amusement 
 with intelligent economy that this series has been 
 planned. 
 
 The great prizes in the older forms of col- 
 lecting have long since been won, and though 
 it may be needful in these handbooks to refer 
 occasionally to a book, a coin, a postage stamp, or 
 a particular " state " of an etching or engraving, 
 of which only a single example exists, the object 
 of the series will mainly be to describe those 
 specimens which are still attainable by the 
 amateurs who will take the pains to hunt them 
 down. 
 
 For this reason, though the series will be 
 written by experts, it will be written by experts 
 who have in view, not the visitors to the great 
 Museums of Europe, but the amateur and col- 
 lector of moderate means, who is anxious to 
 specialise in some one or two departments of 
 his favourite studies, and to whom it is still 
 
 2 
 
open by care and judgment to bring together, 
 at a moderate expense, small yet perfect collec- 
 tions which any museum would be glad to 
 
 Arrangements have been made with many 
 well-known writers and specialists for their 
 assistance as authors or editors of volumes of 
 the series. 
 
 Each volume will contain from 250 to 300 
 octavo pages, from twelve to twenty plates, and 
 a title-page designed by Mr. Laurence Housman. 
 The series will be printed, from new type, on 
 specially-prepared paper, by Messrs. Ballantyne, 
 Hanson & Co. 
 
 Volumes on Coins, Miniatures, Prints, Postage 
 Stamps, Book Plates, Old Bibles, Drawings, 
 Glass, Old Violins, &c., are now in hand, and 
 publication will be commenced on the ist of 
 December. 
 
 The price of each volume of the series will 
 be 6s. or 7-r. 6d. net. 
 
 The Publisher reserves the right to issue a 
 3 
 
limited number of copies of any volume of the 
 series either on Japanese vellum or Whatman or 
 India paper, or with the illustrations in " proof" 
 state, according as the subject of the book may 
 suggest. The number and price of these will be 
 announced in each case, and they will be strictly 
 reserved for Subscribers before publication. 
 
 The Series will be published in America by 
 Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
 3 3125 00974 3648