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
B. Worsley (1678), 16s. Digby (1680), 14s. Richard Wright, M.D.
(1787), £2, 9s. and £1, 6s. Allen (1795), £4, 4s. Stanley (1813),
£13, 2s. 6d. Heber, Part 1, £10, 5s.; Part 4, wanting verses
opposite title-page, and last leaf inlaid, £3, 7s. Valpy (1832),
£18; resold to Broadley (1832), £12, 5s. Stowe (1849), £11, 5s.
_Copies Sold within the Last Twenty-five Years_:--
H. Perkins (1873), £44 (fine copy). Well-known collector
(Sotheby’s), 1880, £12, 15s. (verses from fourth edition printed,
part of title in facsimile reprint). Ouvry (1882), £46.
Beresford-Hope (1882), £35, 10s. (title mended).
Standard English Works (Puttick’s), 1886, £19. F. Perkins (1889),
large copy, but worm-hole through half the volume, £47. W. H.
Crawford (1891), wanting verses, £19, 10s. Smithson and others, 1896
(Puttick’s), £18, 5s. (verses and several pages wanting, and a few
worm-holes). Jack, Halliday, &c. (Sotheby, July 1897), £55 (fine
copy, portrait and verses mended).
Sir Henry Irving gave £100 for Dr. Johnson’s copy of the second
folio, which contains many notes in the margin by Theobald and
Johnson. Osborn the bookseller bought it at Theobald’s death and
presented it to Johnson. Samuel Ireland gave £1 for it at Johnson’s
sale in 1785. It wants title and part of another leaf.[59]
THIRD FOLIO, 1664 (some copies dated 1663).
This edition is scarcer than the second, owing to the copies having been
destroyed in the Fire of London. The title-page of 1663 has the
portrait, and that of 1664 is without it. Mr. Thorpe, in one of his
catalogues, said that he had “refused £10 for the title of 1663.” Mr.
Quaritch gave £11 for one in 1895 at Sotheby’s.
The following is a list of the prices that some copies have realised:--
B. Worsley (1678), £1, 8s. 6d. Smallwood (1684), 15s. 6d. Richard
Wright, M.D. (1787), £1, 1s. Allen (1795), £6, 6s. Steevens (1800),
£8, 8s. Roxburghe (1812), £35. Stanley (1813), £16, 16s. Broadley
(1832), £11, 5s. William Combes (1837), £5, 7s. 6d. (some leaves
inlaid). Stowe (Duke of Buckingham), 1849, £35 (margin of portrait
mended, title lined). Lord Stuart de Rothesay, £50 (tall copy, with
duplicate titles). Miss Currer (1862), £43, 10s. (original calf).
Addington, £130 (large and fine copy). S. Daniel (1864), £46. H.
Perkins (1873), £105 (1/8-inch taller than Daniel’s copy).
Beresford-Hope (1882), £72, 10s. (portrait and title inlaid). Ouvry
(1882), £116. Earl of Aylesford (1888), £93 (13-1/2 in. by 8 in.).
F. Perkins (1889), £100. Halliwell Phillipps (1889), £24 (title
mounted, portrait, verses, and last leaf mounted). Brayton Ives
(1891), 950 dollars (£190), portrait from fourth edition. Hawley
(1894), £205. Hildyard, 1895 (with two title-pages), £280. Misc.
Coll. (Sotheby’s), 1895, original calf, £350.
FOURTH FOLIO, 1685.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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