This is all very well in its way, but one lot fetched £4000, and such an amount would demoralise any average. Let us therefore see what are the particular points worthy of notice in the sums making up this large total of £30,151. We find that five lots realised £1000 and over each, and including these five lots, forty-two were over £100 each. Now the total for these forty-two lots is £20,348, which, if we deduct from the grand total, leaves 1641 lots for £9803, bringing our average down considerably. This is not perhaps a quite fair system of striking an average, but it shows better how the prices of the books are distributed. FOOTNOTE: [53] Dibdin’s “Reminiscences,” vol. i. p. 369 (note). CHAPTER VIII PRICES OF EARLY PRINTED BOOKS It is impossible in the following chapters to do more than select some of the chief classes of valuable books in order to indicate the changes that have taken place in the prices. It will be noticed that the great enhancement of prices which is so marked a feature of the present age commenced about the beginning of the present century. Bibliomania can scarcely be said to have existed in the seventeenth century, but it commenced in the middle of the next century, when the Mead library was sold. Still it attracted little attention until the sale of the Roxburghe library in 1812, when it had become a power. In the middle of the present century there was a dull time, but during the last quarter the succession of sales realising one, two, and three thousand pounds have been continuous, with occasional sales realising much larger amounts. Great changes have occurred at different times in the taste of collectors for certain classes of books. We may obtain a good idea of the public taste in books by analysing a list of the highest prices obtained at three such representative sales as the Sunderland, the Hamilton Palace, and the Ashburnham libraries. At the first of these the largest prices were obtained for the first editions of Bibles, classics, Italian poets, &c.; at the second, fine bindings took the lead; and at the third, Bibles and Caxtons, and other early literature occupied the first place. All these classes are dealt with in the following chapters. In the present one, the most important among the early Bibles, the first editions of the classics, and early Italian literature are recorded. These are among the chief of those books which have been steadily rising for years, and now stand at enormous prices. It is not safe to prophesy, but there is no reason to doubt that if riches continue to increase these prices will also advance. As these books are placed in great libraries they naturally become scarcer each year. We must, however, always bear in mind that the number of libraries and individuals who can afford to spend thousands of pounds on single books are few, and if they are reduced, those who remain in the field are likely to get books cheaper.