Prices of Books: An Inquiry into the Changes in the Price of Books which have occurred in England at different PeriodsWheatley, Henry B. (Henry Benjamin)
History
Prices of Books: An Inquiry into the Changes in the Price of Books which have occurred in England at different Periods
Wheatley, Henry B. (Henry Benjamin)
Books -- Prices -- History
The only known perfect copy was in the Harleian Library, and
was sold by Osborne in 1748 to Bryan Fairfax for £5. At
Fairfax’s sale in 1756 Francis Child bought it for two guineas
and a half, and in 1885 it was sold at the Earl of Jersey’s
sale to Mr. Quaritch for £1950. It is now in New York.
_The Life of Charles the Great_ (64).
The only known copy which is perfect is now in the King’s
Library, British Museum. Ratcliffe bought it at West’s sale
(1773) for £13, and at Ratcliffe’s sale (1776) George III.
obtained it for 4 guineas.
_The Knight Paris and the Fair Vienne_ (65).
The only known copy, in the King’s Library, is perfect. It was
bought at West’s sale by George III. for £14.
_The Royal Book_ (67).
West’s imperfect copy was bought by George III. for £10.
Gustavus Brander bought Ratcliffe’s imperfect copy in 1777 for
£2, 13s., but at his own sale it only brought 15s. It was sold
in 1864 to Lilly for £62.
The Althorpe perfect and beautiful copy was bought by the
Marquis of Blandford at Louis Goldsmid’s sale (1815) for £85,
1s. At the Marquis’s sale (1819) George Hibbert bought it for
£73, 10s., and at Hibbert’s sale (1829) Lord Spencer obtained it
for £61, 19s.
The Duke of Buccleuch’s copy (wanting a. i, with two very slight
defects, both repaired) is not mentioned by Blades. It was
bought by Mr. Quaritch at the Duke’s sale (1889) for £365.
_Speculum Vitæ Christi_ (70).
West’s copy was bought by Ratcliffe, who had three imperfect
copies; at his sale in 1776 George III. bought one for £3, 3s.,
Dr. Hunter another for the same amount, and the third sold for
£3, 10s. Earl Spencer bought two copies--one at J. Allen’s sale
(1795) for 11 guineas, and the other at the Roxburghe sale for
£45; he completed the latter with two leaves taken from the
former. The duplicate was sold and came into the possession of
Sir Francis Freeling; at his sale in 1836 Mr. Corser bought it
for £25, 10s., and at Corser’s sale (1868) it realised £67.
Two copies are known on vellum---one, in very poor condition, is
in the Royal Library at Windsor; the other, in the British
Museum, was bought in 1864 for £1000.
_The Doctrinal of Sapience_ (71).
The Duke of Devonshire gave £78, 15s. for the Spencer duplicate
(perfect) in Alchorne’s sale (1813). Dawson Turner’s copy
(wanting six leaves) was bought by T. Bateman in 1859 for £28;
at his sale in 1893 it realised £58. Earl of Ashburnham’s copy
(first and last leaf in facsimile), 1897, sold for
£660--Quaritch (for the British Museum). The last Earl gave
£150 for this copy.
_Servitium de Transfiguratione Jhesu Christi_ (73).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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