“On the whole, a fine manuscript may be regarded as about the cheapest work of art of bygone days that can now be purchased by an appreciative collector. Many of the finest and most perfectly preserved manuscripts which now come into the market are actually sold for smaller sums than they would have cost when they were new, in spite of the great additional value and interest which they have gained from their antiquity and comparative rarity. For example, a beautiful and perfectly preserved historical Anglo-Norman Vulgate of the thirteenth century, with its full number of eighty-two pictured initials, written on between six and seven hundred leaves of finest uterine vellum, can now commonly be purchased for from £30 to £40. This hardly represents the original value of the vellum on which the manuscript is written. “Manuscripts of a simpler character, however beautifully written, if they are merely decorated with blue and red initials, commonly sell for considerably less than the original cost of their vellum. “A collector with some real knowledge and appreciation of what is artistically fine can perhaps lay out his money to greater advantage in the purchase of manuscripts than by buying works of art of any other class, either mediæval or modern.”[27] FOOTNOTES: [13] Leader Scott’s “Renaissance of Art in Italy,” 1883, p. 193. [14] “Letters from the Bodleian,” vol. i. p. 279 (note). [15] Putnam’s “Books and their Makers,” 1897, vol. i. p. 159. [16] Rogers’s “Agriculture and Prices,” vol. iv. pp. 509-604. [17] “Manners and Household Expenses” (Roxburghe Club). [18] “Books in Manuscript,” 1893, p. 43. [19] _Paston Letters_, ed. Gairdner, 1874, vol. ii. p. 336. [20] “Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucester Archæological Society,” vol. xv., 1891, pp. 257 and 260, _quoted_ “Illuminated Manuscripts,” p. 223. [21] _Paston Letters_, ed. Gairdner, 1874, vol. ii. pp. 334-35. [22] Leader Scott’s “Renaissance of Art in Italy,” 1883, p. 194. [23] Maitland’s “Dark Ages,” 1844, p. 272. [24] Mr. Madan has given in Appendix A to his most useful and interesting work on “Books in Manuscript,” 1893, a list of public libraries which contain more than 4000 MSS. The largest collections are as follows:--British Museum, 52,000, and 162,000 charters; Bodleian Library, 31,000; Royal Library, Vienna, 20,000; Brussels, 30,000; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 80,000; Royal Library, Berlin, 16,000; Munich, 26,000; the Vatican, Rome, 23,600; Biblioteca Nazionale, Florence, 15,000; Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, 25,000. [25] Dr. Burney gave £620 for it at Towneley’s sale, 1815. [26] These particulars are obtained from the official reports. [27] J. H. Middleton, “Illuminated MSS.,” 1892, pp. 263-64. CHAPTER IV PUBLISHED PRICES