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 library of the first Marquis of Lansdowne (previously Earl of
Shelburne) was sold by Leigh & Sotheby in January and February 1806. The
sale occupied thirty-one days, and contained 6530 lots, which realised
£6701. Amongst the books was a very rare collection of tracts,
documents, and pamphlets relating to the French Revolution, in more than
280 volumes, which sold for £168. In 1807 the Marquis’s collection of
manuscripts were catalogued for sale, but they never came to auction,
as they were purchased by Parliament for the British Museum for £6000.
The Rev. Jonathan Boucher (1738-1804) possessed a large library, which
was sold by Leigh & Sotheby in three parts for a total of £4510. Part 1,
24th February 1806 and twenty-six following days, 6646 lots sold for
£2990. Part 2, 14th April 1806 and eight following days, 1940 lots sold
for £815. Part 3, 29th May 1809 and three following days, 857 lots sold
for £704. The library was full of valuable and useful books in divinity,
history, voyages and travels, poetry, classics, &c., but there were few
books of extreme rarity. Dibdin says in his _Bibliomania_--
“I attended many days during this sale, but such was the warm fire,
directed especially towards divinity, kept up during nearly the
whole of it, that it required a heavier weight of metal than I was
able to bring into the field of battle to ensure any success in the
contest.”
The extensive library of the Rev. John Brand was sold by Mr. Stewart in
two parts. Part 1, in May and June 1807, 8611 lots and MSS. 294 lots, in
thirty-seven days, sold for £4300. Part 2, February 1808, 4064 lots sold
for £1851. The last lot in the first part of the sale was Brand’s own
work on “Popular Antiquities,” with additions prepared for
republication, which, with copyright, sold for £630. The books were in
poor condition, and had been mostly bought for small sums; in addition,
no money was expended by the proprietor on the binding of his books.
On the twenty-fourth day’s sale Dr. Gosset found in one of the volumes
of Menage’s French Dictionary sixty-five pounds in bank-notes, and a
rare portrait of Margaret Smith, engraved by W. Marshall, which was
subsequently sold for twenty-seven guineas. Previous to the removal of
the library from Somerset House, where Brand lived as secretary of the
Society of Antiquaries, Stewart, the auctioneer, found by accident in an
old waste-paper volume seventy guineas wrapped up in paper and placed in
various parts of the book. The money was handed to Mr. Brand’s executor.
Isaac Reed’s interesting library of old English literature was sold by
King & Lochée in November and December 1807. The sale occupied
thirty-nine days, and consisted of 8957 lots, which realised £4386.
A five days’ sale of Lord Penrhyn’s library at Leigh & Sotheby’s in
March 1809 brought £2000.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account