The country bookseller's copy, on the other hand, is described as follows:

'Folio, russia (joints broken), has the 270 11. of text complete, but wants the IO 11. unnumbered, of preliminary

matter.'

In other words, one copy is a very choice specimen of the book, tall, clean, and perfect; while the other is an undesirable copy of ordinary size, imperfect, and in poor condition.

There is another point also. The London dealer specialises in such books, in fact deals only in ancient and scarce works, and has a definite clientèle of rich and well-known collectors. He can 'place' certain rare books at once, for he knows the desiderata of each of his customers and the deficiencies of their collections. The countryman, on the other hand, deals in all manner of books, ancient and modern, has few rich purchasers among his customers, and knows nothing whatever of their book-buying propensities. Any volume that he offers for sale may remain on his hands for an indefinite time.

Then there are such volumes as 'association books,' by which is meant books possessing an additional interest by reason of their former association with some notability, such association being evident by autographs, corrections, annotations, additions, or binding. Such volumes often exceed enormously the price of ordinary copies.

The first Edinburgh edition (1787) of Burns' Poems is worth usually about £2, 10s.; but a copy realised £75 at auction a few years ago. The reason for this extraordinary price was that in this volume all those lines in which asterisks occur were filled in with the full names in the handwriting of the poet. Moreover it contained an additional stanza on 'Tam Samson' in Burns' autograph. For such a priceless gem one cannot consider the figure excessive, and it will doubtless run well into three figures if it ever appear in the sale-room again. Similarly, each year witnesses the sale of certain of these association' volumes; and unless you are aware of the reasons causing these high prices to rule, such records will be worse than useless to you. A superficial study of all auction-sale prices is apt to be intensely misleading. Unless you are actually on the spot or have handled the volume in question, the price that it realises will tell you little as to the stable value of the work. A torn page, a shaved headline, the underlining of a line or two with ink, a mounted' frontispiece, a missing plate, or even a worn impression of it, all these things affect the price of a volume.

Then there are considerations outside the book itself. A scarce volume included in a sale of unimportant books is unlikely to realise so high a price as it might have done had it appeared in a Huth or Ashburnham sale; for important books

attract important bidders. The prices paid for poor copies at the Frere sale in 1896 were enormous; the reason being, probably, that this library had long been known to contain desiderata for which public and private collections alike had hitherto thirsted in vain; the sale was something of a battue, and the room was thronged with buyers from all parts of the kingdom.

It is a ticklish question, this matter of the price which the collector pays, and should pay, for his books, and one that may not be resolved early in his career. In addition to exercising your memory when perusing the catalogues which reach you, you will do well to obtain and study 'Prices of Books an Enquiry into the Changes in the Price of Books which have occurred in England at Different Periods,' an interesting volume by that great connoisseur, Henry B. Wheatley. It was published in octavo in 1898.

Most of the catalogues that one receives from the booksellers are of little use when read, and no useful purpose is served by preserving them. But there are certain dealers who specialise in a definite class of books, and their catalogues are always of value, for they contain only works upon a definite subject or of a definite class. Such catalogues form most useful reference works, and even bibliographies of that particular subject. By all means preserve them; you may have them plainly bound in buckram (when you have col

lected a sufficient number of them) at the cost of a shilling or two, or you may keep them in a small portfolio on your shelf.

Sotheby's auction-sale catalogues are also valuable. They are nicely produced, and have fine margins for making notes. It is well worth obtaining these regularly, which one may do by paying a small subscription. Most of them contain a miscellaneous assortment of books, and are not worth keeping, but on the other hand most of the famous libraries that are dispersed in this country pass through the Bond Street house, and the catalogues of these are of the greatest value.

The history of booksellers' catalogues is an interesting one, and as yet we have no authoritative work upon this intermediary between publisher and reader. The earliest catalogue so far known was printed at Mainz by Peter Schoeffer in 1469. It was a catalogue of books for sale by himself or his agent, and consisted of a single sheet, probably intended to be used as a poster. It is in abbreviated Latin, and comprises the titles of twenty-one books, being headed

'Volentes sibi comparare infrascriptos libros magna cum diligentia correctos, ac in huiusmodi littera moguntie impressos, bene continuatos, veniant ad locum habitationis infrascriptum.'

and at the foot is printed in large type

'HEC EST LITTERA PSALTERII'

-a specimen of the type with which the Psalter mentioned in the list was printed. Beneath this would be written the name of the place where the books could be obtained, this being the case with the only copy of this advertisement that has come down to us, Schoeffer's traveller having written at the foot, 'Venditor librorum repertibilis est in hospicio dicto zum willden mann'-'The bookseller is to be found at the sign of the Wild Man.'

Caxton adopted the same expedient with regard to his Sarum Ordinale. This advertisement, which is in English, is as follows:

6

'If it plese ony man spirituel or temporel to bye ony pyes of two and thre comemoracions of salisburi use enpryntid after the forme of this present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym come to Westmonester in to the almonesrye at the reed pale and he shal haue them good chepe.'

At the foot of this was printed 'Supplico stet cedula 'Please don't tear down the bill. The pyes' of this advertisement (the English form of the Latin Pica) were the guides by which one might learn the proper combinations of collects and prayers for Saints' days, at certain epochs, according to the Salisbury Ritual. The 'reed