Robert Bruce Cotton, 1571-1631 - Book Collector
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton is known as a distinguished bibliophile and amassed one of the most important libraries of his time. He was known as librarian, record-keeper, one of the founders of modern government and rule by precedence and common-law.
His 1000-book library significantly changes history. [image]
Son of Thomas Cotton of Huntingdonshire (original family name was probably de Cotun). Family had profited well by the dissolution of the monasteries and by marriage. They were neighbors and `kinsmen' of the Huntingdonshire Montagus (that is, the Duke of Manchester), and distant relatives of Robert the Bruce of Scotland (original family name was probably de Bruis, de Broix, de Brois, etc).
Entered Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1581 and received his BA in 1585. Had begun `antiquarian studies' under William Camden at Westminster School before going to Cambridge. He began collecting notes on the history of Huntingdonshire county when he was seventeen and never stopped collecting information, specifically old government documents. His collection of records surpassed that of the government. He effectively established the first public law library, open government `public records', and what we might call today a scholarly `think-tank'. The DNB puts it thus: the library of Cotton House became the meeting-place of all the scholars of the country.
C.J. Wright, of the British Library, puts it as follows:
"The Library of Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631) is arguably the most important collection of manuscripts ever assembled in Britain by a private individual. Amongst its many treasures are the Lindisfarne Gospels, two of the contemporary exemplifications of Magna Carta and the only surviving manuscript of `Beowulf'. Early on in his career, Cotton had advocated the foundation of a national library of which his collection would form a part... he was always generous in the loans he made other scholars.
... the Restoration and the revival of a political culture in which disputes were solved by precedent rather than violence placed the Cottonian library again at the centre of the overlapping circles of scholarship and politics." (SRCC)
In 1590 joined the Antiquarian Society (renewing contact with Camden) and presented a number of papers based on old manuscripts. He also collected Roman monuments, coins, fossils, etc. At the end of the reign of Elizabeth, the Society was meeting at Cotton's house and his collection of manuscripts had gained fame within the Society. In 1600 the queen's advisors contacted him on a question of official protocol with respect to Spanish ambassadors. He assisted Camden in preparing Camden's Britannia. Francis Bacon and Ben Johnson often used his library.
When king James arrived from Scotland, he knighted Cotton in 1603 and called him `cousin' (after which Cotton always signed his name Robert Cotton Bruceus). He became a favorite of James, represented Huntingdon in Parliament, drew up a pedigree (family tree) of James, wrote a history of Henry III, and wrote tracts such as `An Answer to such motives as were offered by certain military men to Prince Henry to incite him to affect arms more than peace.' In 1608 he investigated abuses within the Navy, and was invited to attend the Privy Council (this was important since this was really the ruling body of England, no doubt his role was that of an `expert witness').
King James seems to have consulted with him on schemes for increasing government revenue, and he wrote a survey of the various mechanisms by which previous Kings had raised money. He strongly supported (if not invented) raising money by establishing a new feudal rank, the baronet (this was a new `feudal' rank below that of baron; essentially you could just buy it if you had the money. This was widely used (not that different from political fund-raising today)).
Collaborated on Speed's History of England and Camden's History of Elizabeth, perhaps to the point where he should be credited (Francis Bacon considered him the author of History of Elizabeth; when Camden died he willed much of his material to Cotton). King James wanted him to write a history of the Church of England, but Cotton provided all the material to Archbishop Ussher. When Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower, he borrowed manuscripts from Cotton. Francis Bacon wrote the Life of Henry VII in Cotton's library.
People were beginning to fear Cotton's library. The DNB puts it thus:
"A feeling was taking shape... that there was danger to the state in the absorption into private hands of so large a collection of official documents as Cotton was acquiring. In 1614... a friend, Arthur Agard, keeper of the public records, died, leaving his private collection of manuscripts to Cotton. Strong representations were made against allowing Cotton to exercise any influence in filling up the vacant post. The Record Office was injured, it was argued in many quarters, by Cotton's `having such things as he hath cunningly scraped together.' In the following year damning proof was given of the evil uses to which Cotton's palaeographical knowledge could be put. ..." (DNB)
He was involved in dealing with the Spanish ambassador on behalf of Somerset, an enemy of Buckingham. He confessed everything and spent eight months imprisoned without a trial, after which he was pardoned. He was then employed searching Sir Edward Coke's library.
The DNB provides a feel for the interaction of his library and politics:
"... Cotton ... was studying the records of the past in order to arrive at definite conclusions respecting those powers of parliament which the king was already disputing.... In 1621 he wrote a tract to show that kings must consult their council and parliament `of marriage, peace, and warre'. ...
Cotton appeared in the House of Commons for the third time as member for Old Sarum... and was returned (ed, as representative to Parliament in 1625). Here he first made open profession of his new political faith. ... Eliot's friends made a determined stand against the government, then practically in the hands of Buckingham. ... (ed, Cotton did not speak in the debate) but ... handed to Eliot an elaborate series of notes on the working of the constitution. The paper was circulated in the house in manuscript...
In September 1626 he protested, in behalf of the London merchants, against the proposed debasement of the coinage, and his arguments, which he wrote out in A Discourse touching Alteration of Coyne chiefly led to the abandonment of the vicious scheme. ... he drew up an elaborate account of the law offices existing in Elizabeth's reign... the (Privy) council invited his opinion on the question of summoning a new parliament, and he strongly recommended that course... In 1628 he published a review of the political situation ... The Dangers wherein the Kingdom now standeth, and the Remedye, where he drew attention to the ... sacred obligation of the king to put his trust in parliaments. (ed, in 1628) the opposition leaders Eliot, Wentworth, Pym, Selden, and Sir E. Coke, met at Cotton's house to formulate their policy. In parliament Cotton was appointed chairman of the committee on disputed elections..." DNB
After this, Cotton was an enemy of the king, and was destroyed. Essentially, Cotton was framed on charges of `treason', and the library seized by Charles I (on the instigation of Buckingham). Cotton died of a broken heart, but everyone understood that the library had been seized for political reasons. Upon the Restoration, Cotton's `national library' was restored, pretty much along the lines of Cotton's original vision.
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A particularly good overview of Robert Cotton and the historical impact of his library is Sir Robert Cotton, 1586-1631: History and Politics in Early Modern England, by Keven Sharpe (Oxford U. Press). The following is an extended extract that I hope well serves Sharpe's material:
"To understand how Cotton used his own library, we must investigate how he bound, stored, and catalogued his books. ... Cotton viewed his library as a working collection and adopted an arrangement that was utilitarian rather than bibliographically correct by modern standards... Things were bound together that were consulted together....
... the library was arranged under the famous busts of the emperors of Rome (ed. Cotton's library was about 26 feet by 6 feet. Each bookcase had a Roman Emperor on top, and thus books were cataloged by Emperor. Sharpe provides a diagram of the layout of the library.)
... in the absence of a catalogue ... Cotton's knowledge of the library's contents was all the more important. ... he knew the contents and the use of his own books very well. ... The full description required by the Privy Council when it ordered a catalogue (ed. from Cotton, which he provided), suggests how well, in the absence of such an index, Cotton knew his manuscripts and books.
... Cotton was assisted by his librarian, Richard James, who, despite D'Ewes's accusation that he sold his master's papers, seems to have served Cotton well. ... if we are to believe .... gossip ... Cotton (also) enjoyed the help of one of his bastard sons.
Why was Cotton's library so important in the intellectual and political history of James I's reign? Apart from the Royal Library, the collections of the Inns of Court and the College of Arms, London libraries were predominantly ecclesiastical. ...
... the library ... seems frequently to have shifted... It was probably not until 1622... that the library was located ... at Westminster, next to the Houses of Parliament. ...
... Several grateful borrowers commented on the freedom with which Cotton allowed all to consult his material. ...
The importance of the collection was not due to its size. With less than a thousand volumes, it did not compete favourably in size with other private libraries of the period. But the Cottonian collection was essentially a library of manuscripts, possessing a monopoly of the most important material for early English history.
But Cotton's loan lists show that many with literary interests wider than the purely historical borrowed...
For lawyers and judges, the library was a storehouse of the case law which it has been argued (with considerable exaggeration) dominated their attitudes. Sir Henry Montagu sought to borrow the civil law collections against Hanse privileges; Coke required abridgments of parliamentary records. ... Cotton's legal friends who were former members of the Society of Antiquaries continued to use ... their colleague's collection...
For those in government positions, the library acted as a state paper office and research institute, providing a better service than the unsatisfactory official collections and repositories in the Tower and Exchequer. Clement Edwards, a clerk of the Privy Council, went to Cotton for the Council books... Henry Montagu , when Lord Treasurer in 1620, used Cotton's collection of notes on ways of increasing royal revenue; ...
The list of those borrowing... reads like a Who's Who of the Jacobean administration: it includes the King and Queen, Attorney Francis Bacon... leading court noblemen often sought deeds to prove claims of land, especially title to property...
... the loan lists yet illustrate clearly the pure quest for knowledge and the breadth of interest of some of those who were active in political life. Such evidence is a firm warning against limiting the outlook of early seventeenth-century men. ... the lawyer's of Cotton's acquaintance continued an interest in history ... William Camden was no mere herald, but a scholar in the widest sense; Bacon's writings were by no means the creation of one who was but the king's solicitor. ...
The strife of court factions seems much more subdued when seen through the world of exchange of books. Neither are there indications of rival cultures of `court' and `country' in the names of those borrowing from Cotton's library. ... Cotton's library, ... as far as the evidence suggests, stayed open to all as a public institution.
Perhaps the very existence of the library as a public collection accounted for its stormy history. Though a storehouse of official papers and arcana imperii, the library was open to all, and the failings of divine monarchs were laid bare to lowly mortals. ... Cotton's library seemed to substantiate criticism of royal policy. The arguments from precedent were won by the antiquaries and lawyers of the House of Commons.
... By 1622, Thomas Wilson, Keeper of the Records, was worried about official papers remaining in Cotton's hands. ...
.... In 1626 Buckingham advised Charles I to close the library...
In 1629 the library was closed by order of the king. ... Charles I thought it time to investigate Cotton's library... The Council ordered that the library be searched by Sir Henry Vane and, ironically, Sir Edward Coke, whose own collection had been scrutinized by Cotton some years earlier.
... (William) Boswell was instructed to supervise the drawing of a catalogue which was commenced with Cotton's assistance. ... the library was never returned to Cotton in his lifetime. ...
... Cotton's friends... understood the partisan nature of the arrests and the closure of the library. Montagu and Arundel defended Cotton against what Arundel openly called the `pretence' of the investigating committee.
... the Privy Seal, the Earl of Manchester (a Montagu, ed.) ... and others, having examined Cotton's library, reported to Charles I the efforts Cotton had expended in building the library and his readiness to serve the king. Manchester was Cotton's kinsman ...
But it was too late: in May 1631 Cotton died ... King Charles sent Manchester to comfort Cotton on his deathbed. ..." Sharpe
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Sharpe also provides an interesting look at the politics of the day, involving the Montagu's:
"The Earl of Manchester wrote to Edward Montagu that the examination of his kinsman Cotton `makes a great noise in the country'. ...
No lawyer, Cotton yet possessed a knowledge of the law sufficient for him to be consulted ... on legal questions. ...
It is evident of Cotton's standing in the House of Commons that though he did not sit in the Parliament of 1614, he was consulted on the most important issue. ...
Cotton's assistance was crucial... On 20 May, Sir Edward Montagu and Henry Cotton went with William Hakewill and Sir Roger Owen to research in Cotton's library. ...
(In the Parliament of 1621) ... Both Sir Edward and Sir Henry Montagu sought their kinsman Cotton's advice during the parliament, but the Montagu influence was not exercised, or was exercised unsuccessfully, on his behalf at the hustings.
It is excellent evidence of Cotton's importance that he was again consulted on many of the issues for which that parliament has been remembered. ... " Sharpe
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Sidney Montagu (neighbor of Cotton's Conington estate) is on record as promising to return some books. I wonder if he ever did? Wright writes:
"... it seems that Conington Castle may have been a second major repository for the Cottonian collection. ... Camden refers to Cotton's `cabinet' at Huntingdon... He evidently kept state papers and documents at Conington, and may have had books there: Sidney Montagu promised to return borrowed books to Conington..." Wright
Bishop Richard Montague, a library borrower, called Cotton's library a `Magazine of History' (presumably using `magazine' in the sense of a storehouse).
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Part of the DNB summary of his work is as follows:
"... His collection of coins and medals was one of the earliest. Very many languages were represented in his library. His rich collection of Saxon charters proved the foundation of the scholarly study of pre-Norman-English history... Original authorities for every period of English history were in his possesion. His reputation was European. ...
Cotton wrote nothing that adequately represented his learning... His English style is readable, although not distinctive, and his power of research was inexhaustible. Only two works, both very short, were printed in his lifetime, The Raigne of Henry III, 1627, and The Dangers wherein the Kingdom now standeth, 1628. ...
Many of his tracts were issued as parliamentary pamphlets at the beginning of the civil wars .... In 1657 James Howell collected fourteen of Cotton's tracts, under the title Cottoni Posthuma. ... Eight papers read by Cotton before the Antiquarian Society are printed in Hearne's Curious Discourses (1771)."
Sir Edward Coke is considered one of the important figures in the history of common law.
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A letter from the Inner Temple Library (reproduced in Sharpe), containing Cotton's response to the request for Parliament to use his library in 1614 while he was ill:
"I held it my bownden dutie to that House (to which I owe my service & life) to preferre to their satisfactions before my owne safetye. And for that purpose adventured to my house, that I might recomend unto yor hands (as the principall servant of that bodye) the use of all such collections of parliament as I had (out of my duty to ye publique) taken paines to gather those gatheringes that may properly bee of use this time are sorted together under the title of parliament bookes and had my memorye (now distracted by infirmitye) beene soe ready I could wishe I should have beene able to make that searche shorte which I must now humbly recomend to the labour of such as the house shall leave the charge to. let me I pray you soe far beg of your love and the bounty of the house that Sir Edward Montagu (one amongst them) and Mr Cotton of the Middle Temple my brother may see the deliv[er]y out of such bookes as the House shall require ffor I have been intrusted with most of the mayne passages of state and to suffer those secretts to passe in vulgar may cause much blame to me and little service to the House. Besides let me presume to begg that the labours of my life (wch I am most ready to offer to all publique service) may not be prostitute to private uses. And that only such thinges as concerne the pointe now in question may be extracted and the rest left unto that servant of the house wch hopeth shortly to give his dutiful attendance at their further pleasures." Cotton
Real-Life Thriller About Rare Book Theft at New York Public Library
This article is from the News Bureau at the University of Illinois. Permission was given for its reprint here by the author, Phil Ciciora, Business & Law Editor | 217-333-2177; pciciora@illinois.edu . I have looked for a copy of this newly released book and found it primarily in paperback. Amazon.com has a few hardbacks still available as I write this and one listed as "collectible" in the book seller's section new with dust-jacket in a mylar cover.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new book from a University of Illinois expert in crimes against rare books tells the real-life story of the biggest score in rare-book theft and the dogged hunt for the perpetrators by the special investigator of the New York Public Library.
The book, titled “Thieves of Book Row: New York's Most Notorious Rare Book Ring and the Man Who Stopped It,” was written by Travis McDade, the curator of law rare books at the College of Law. It’s a Depression-era cat-and-mouse thriller about the pursuit of the most successful rare-book ring in U.S. history.
“There have always been thieves stealing from libraries, but this was different,” McDade said. “This was – and probably still is – the all-time worst theft of rare books in the U.S.”
According to the book, which was published by Oxford University Press, the price of rare books in the 1920s, particularly in the “Americana” genre, started to skyrocket, creating a unique opportunity for unscrupulous booksellers and thieves desperate enough to raid libraries.
“It was the boom years of the Jazz Age, and you had the J.P. Morgans, the Andrew Carnegies, the Henry Huntingtons and the like buying rare books to stock in their libraries,” McDade said. “Thanks to this book-buying bubble, all of the public libraries in the Northeast now had books on their shelves that were pretty valuable.”
With the value of first-edition books going through the roof, a ring of thieves on Book Row – a six-block sliver in lower Manhattan about 20 blocks south of the library – conspired to make some money by raiding libraries and then selling the stolen books to rare booksellers, some of whom were willing to turn a blind eye to the dubious provenance of the prized antiquities.
“Naturally, it turned into this big money-making concern that, by the end of the 1920s, was a very sophisticated operation,” McDade said. “By that point, they had the stealing of rare books down to a science. It was almost economies of scale – someone stole the book, another person ‘cleaned’ it to remove any identifying marks of ownership, and then someone else sold it. And the way they fenced them was through the antiquarian bookshops on Book Row.”
The New York Public Library had a special investigator, G. William Bergquist, whose job was to prevent these types of crimes from happening – or, if they occurred, to track down the stolen books.
“They almost never touched the New York Public Library because the security they had there was so great, and the security everywhere else was so terrible,” McDade said. “So they didn’t need to target the New York Public Library; they could just focus on the smaller ones.”
Whether it was out of hubris or an ambition to take down the ultimate score, one of the criminals eventually had the temerity to steal from the New York Public Library, taking first editions of “Moby-Dick,” “The Scarlet Letter” and an extremely rare book of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe.
But that was the beginning of the end of the book ring, because it put the determined Bergquist on their trail.
“Before they stole from the New York Public Library, Bergquist was only moderately interested in the book-theft ring,” McDade said. “But once they stole from his collection, it became almost a quest for him to put these guys out of business and get the books back. It was a personal affront.”
And the way Bergquist did that was tied to his personality, McDade said.
“Bergquist was a gregarious guy who would talk to anyone – he would talk to book scouts and booksellers and librarians, and his whole idea was whenever he caught someone stealing, he would get the goods back and then immediately try to turn them to the good side,” he said. “He thought everyone was redeemable; he didn’t want anyone going to jail. He wanted them to repent and stop stealing, and then come back to the library side of things.”
One of the thieves eventually became an investigator for the Newark Public Library, but most of the other criminals just went to jail, McDade said.
For book lovers, the story has a bittersweet ending – the ultra-rare Poe book was eventually recovered but “The Scarlet Letter” and “Moby-Dick” were never found.
“With ‘Moby-Dick,’ it was a valuable item that would be difficult, but not impossible, to fence,” McDade said. “But for something like the Poe book, which was very, very rare, everyone who would be in the market for a title like that would know where every copy is coming from. That was the only advantage the New York Public Library had, so they contacted the people in the know, so that if that Poe book was sold somewhere in Manhattan, Philadelphia or Boston, they would get word.”
Even with consumers increasingly buying books electronically, rare-book theft is an omnipresent issue for libraries and museums, McDade said.
“I think books as artifacts are only going to continue to appreciate in value – maybe because of the move to e-books, maybe because of nostalgia,” he said. “But libraries have gotten more sophisticated when it comes to preventing book theft.”
So while it’s becoming harder and harder for outsiders to steal rare books from libraries, it’s the stealing of old maps, lithographs or archival sources such as letters that’s becoming problematic, McDade said.
“That’s really a growth area,” he said. “Think about how much a letter from Abraham Lincoln would fetch on the open market today. Actually, any letter from the Civil War-era written by anyone has some value.”
And the reason is because those items are much more accessible than the rare books, McDade said.
“None of those things individually are worth a mint, but if you steal enough of them, it can add up,” he said. “So there’s this wholesale looting of archives going on right now, and has been for the past decade or so. Most of these things are not catalogued at the item level, so it is sometimes impossible to know at all if they’re missing.”
According to McDade, the tragedy about the theft of archived materials is that those things are absolutely one-of-a-kind.
“So not only is the object gone, the information contained within it is gone, too,” he said. “Sometimes that information is mundane, but often it tells us something. Individual letters are important, because that’s the stuff with which history is written.”
McDade also is the author of “The Book Thief: The True Crimes of Daniel Spiegelman.” He teaches legal research at the College of Law and a class called “Rare Books, Crime & Punishment” in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
To contact Travis McDade, call 217-244-1640; email mcdade@illinois.edu
[Top]Bauman Dream Order - The List
I just received the new Bauman Rare Books notice that their new catalog was in. I thought I take a quick look and noticed a "Wish List" button. So I thought, "Here I am, lots of time on my hands. Why don't I just make a Wish List where money is no object. The sky is the limit!" I also thought I'd share that Wish List with yaw'll. These are in no particular order. I will let you know my little "shopping spree" came to $760,750.00 + tax and shipping. If I ever win the lottery, Bauman's is the first place I will go. Period
The List
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
THOMPSON, Hunter S.
Item ID: 88059
SIGNED BY HUNTER S. THOMPSON
THOMPSON, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. New York, 1971. First edition of Thompson’s edgy journey into the American dream, boldly signed by him with his characteristic “H.S. Thompson,” and additionally dated SF/7.18,84” by him. In scarce original dust jacket.
$8,250.00
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
http://www.bookcollecting101.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SIGNED-BY-THE-ORIGINAL-ALICE-LIMITED-EDITIONS-CLUBS-ALICES-ADVENTURES-IN-WONDERLAND-AND-THROUGH-THE-LOOKINGGLASS.jpg
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
CARROLL, Lewis
Item ID: 88337
SIGNED BY THE ORIGINAL ALICE
CARROLL, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. New York, 1932, 1935. Two volumes. Limited editions, each book number 608 of 1500 copies and each signed by Alice Hargreaves née Liddell, for whom Carroll wrote the books. $8500.
Status: Available
$8,500.00
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
WILLIAMS, Tennessee
Item ID: 68221
INSCRIBED BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
WILLIAMS, Tennessee. The Rose Tattoo. (New York), 1951[ie, 1951]. First edition of Williams’ “celebration of the inebriate god,” inscribed by the playwright to Cheryl Crawford, who produced the play’s first run: “To Cheryl with my heart’s true love—Tennessee.” Laid in is a flyer for Crawford’s 1977 memoir, One Naked Individual: My Fifty Years in the Theatre, with notes on the verso in Crawford’s hand about Camino Real and a prop list for Rose Tattoo.
$9,200.00
Romance of King Arthur
Romance of King Arthur
RACKHAM, Arthur
Item ID: 82872
ARTHUR RACKHAM’S OWN COPY OF HIS ILLUSTRATED KING ARTHUR
MALORY, Sir Thomas. The Romance of King Arthur. London, 1917. Rackham’s own copy of the first trade edition of one of his classic works, signed by him, and with his bookplate and a page of notes in his hand tipped in describing the inspirations for five of the illustrations. With 16 full-page color illustrations, seven full-page black-and white drawings and over 60 in-text illustrations. $10,000.
$10,000.00
Absalom, Absalom!
Absalom, Absalom!
FAULKNER, William
Item ID: 86960
SIGNED LIMITED FIRST EDITION OF ABSALOM, ABSALOM!
FAULKNER, William. Absalom, Absalom! New York, 1936. Signed limited first edition, number 172 of only 300 copies signed by Faulkner-“the greatest American novel since the turn of the century”—with folding map of Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County. $11,000.
$11,000.00
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
CARROLL, Lewis
Item ID: 83979
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE WITH SALVADOR DALÍ
(DALI, Salvador) CARROLL, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. New York, 1969. Beautifully printed limited edition of the brilliant and beloved children’s classic, number 437 of 2500 copies signed by Salvador Dalí on the title page, with an original etching and 12 full-page color photogravures after his paintings—as breathtakingly imaginative as the text they illustrate. $13,000.
$13,000.00
Room of One's Own
Room of One's Own
WOOLF, Virginia
Item ID: 72408
“A WOMAN MUST HAVE MONEY AND A ROOM OF HER OWN IF SHE IS TO WRITE FICTION”
WOOLF, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. New York and London, 1929. Signed limited first edition, number 106 of 492 copies distinctively signed on the half title by Woolf in her characteristic purple ink. $15,000.
$15,000.00
Hell's Angels
Hell's Angels
THOMPSON, Hunter S.
Item ID: 87782
SIGNED BY HUNTER S. THOMPSON
THOMPSON, Hunter S. Hell's Angels. New York, 1967. First edition of Thompson’s first book, his narrative of California’s infamous biker gangs, boldly signed by the celebrated “gonzo journalist” on the half title. $16,000.
Writings
Writings
STOWE, Harriet Beecher
Item ID: 68172
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE’S WRITINGS, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR
STOWE, Harriet Beecher. Writings. Cambridge, 1896, 1897. Together, seventeen volumes. Signed limited large-paper edition, number 246 of only 250 sets signed and dated (“Jany 9th 1896”) by Harriet Beecher Stowe in Volume I, with 33 illustrated frontispieces and title pages, beautifully bound in full morocco-gilt. Autographed on the fly leaf by the author for this edition “a few months before her death.”
$16,000.00
Strength to Love
Strength to Love
KING Jr., Martin Luther
Item ID: 88406
INSCRIBED BY MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
KING Jr., Martin Luther. Strength to Love. New York, Evanston, and London, 1963. First edition of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s second book, inscribed by the author and civil rights leader, “Best Wishes, Martin Luther King,” in original dust jacket. An excellent association copy from the library of Transport Workers Union of America co-founder and president Mike Quill.
$16,500.00
Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Tree Grows in Brooklyn
SMITH, Betty
Item ID: 78153
EXTRAORDINARILY RARE INSCRIBED FIRST EDITION OF A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN
SMITH, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. New York, (1943). First edition of Betty Smith’s scarce first novel, inscribed, “To Bill with love, Betty Smith, June 1960, Chapel Hill, N. Car.”
$16,500.00
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
KING Jr., Martin Luther
Item ID: 88773
PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TO HIS AUNT AND UNCLE
KING Jr., Martin Luther. Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? New York, Evanston, and London, 1967. First edition, presentation/association copy, of Dr. King’s last book, published the year before he was assassinated, in scarce original dust jacket, inscribed by him, “To Aunt Woodie and Uncle Jerry, For whom I have great Love and Respect and whose loyal support I cherish very deeply. M.L.” $17,500.00
Works
Works
WILDE, Oscar
Item ID: 82241
FIRST COLLECTED EDITION OF OSCAR WILDE’S WORKS, WITH TYPED LETTER SIGNED FROM HIS LITERARY EXECUTOR ROBERT ROSS TIPPED IN AND WITH A PHOTOGRAPH OF WILDE
WILDE, Oscar. Works. London, 1908. Fourteen volumes. First collected edition of Wilde’s works, one of 80 sets printed on Japanese vellum, bound in publisher’s limp vellum gilt-decorated after designs by Ricketts. With typed letter signed by Wilde’s literary executor Robert Ross and a hand-addressed envelope containing an early print of the famous photograph of Wilde taken two hours after his death tipped in to De Profundis.
$18,500.00
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
MITCHELL, Margaret
Item ID: 88893
SIGNED BY MARGARET MITCHELL
MITCHELL, Margaret. Gone with the Wind. New York, 1936. First edition, first printing, of this American classic, in original dust jacket, signed by the author..
$20,000.00
Streetcar Named Desire
Streetcar Named Desire
WILLIAMS, Tennessee
Item ID: 86964
SIGNED BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
WILLIAMS, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York, 1947. First edition of Williams’ first Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, signed by him. A beautiful copy.
$20,000.00
Green Hills of Africa
Green Hills of Africa
HEMINGWAY, Ernest
Item ID: 88839
“THE MOST LITERARY HUNTING TRIP ON RECORD”
HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Green Hills of Africa. New York, 1935. First edition of Hemingway’s gripping account of big game hunting, inscribed by the author, “Very truly, Ernest Hemingway.”
$22,000.00
Ravenna
Ravenna
WILDE, Oscar
Item ID: 82478
EXTREMELY RARE PRESENTATION COPY OF RAVENNA, INSCRIBED BY OSCAR WILDE
WILDE, Oscar. Ravenna. Oxford, 1878. Rare first edition, presentation copy, of Oscar Wilde’s first book, one of only 168 copies published, inscribed by Wilde across the front wrapper: “E.B. Benson with best wishes from the author.”
$22,000.00
Farewell to Arms
Farewell to Arms
HEMINGWAY, Ernest
Item ID: 88837
“THAT MUSICAL CRYSTAL-CLEAR STYLE, BLOWN LIKE GLASS FROM THE WHITE-HEAT OF VIOLENCE”
HEMINGWAY, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York, 1929. Signed limited first edition of Hemingway’s “consummate masterpiece,” number 326 of only 510 copies signed by him, in scarce original slipcase.
$22,500.00
Document signed
Document signed
CIVIL WAR
Item ID: 89168
SIGNED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN, RARE OFFICIAL PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENT DATED JULY 9, 1863, ONLY DAYS AFTER GETTYSBURG AND VICKSBURG
LINCOLN, Abraham. Document signed. City of Washington, July 9, 1863. Fine July 9, 1863 official presidential order signed by Lincoln shortly after the Union’s powerful but costly victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, here calling for Maine to draft thousands of men under the controversial March 3, 1863 Conscription Act, a law that would provoke the bloody New York draft riots that erupted only six days after the date of this rare Civil War signed document.
$22,500.00
Portfolio I
Portfolio I
JACOBI, Lotte
Item ID: 58801
EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PORTFOLIO COLLECTION OF LOTTE JACOBI’S MOST MEMORABLE PORTRAITS, ONE OF ONLY FIVE FOLIO COPIES, FEATURING TEN ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS SIGNED AND NUMBERED BY JACOBI
JACOBI, Lotte. Portfolio I. Deering, New Hampshire, 1978. Limited artist’s proof portfolio, number four of only five copies, a rare self-published edition containing ten original silver gelatin hors commerce proofs, each signed and numbered in pencil by Jacobi on the lower corner of the image, featuring some of her finest portraiture from before 1940, including her trademark Self-Portrait, her famous image of Einstein in a leather jacket and portraits of leading Weimar figures such as Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre and Kurt Weill.
$28,000.00
Happy Prince and Other Tales
Happy Prince and Other Tales
WILDE, Oscar
Item ID: 85909
INSCRIBED BY OSCAR WILDE
WILDE, Oscar. The Happy Prince and Other Tales. London, 1888. Rare first trade edition, one of 1000 copies printed, in original Japanese vellum pictorial boards, with three plates by illustrator Walter Crane, inscribed in the year of publication, “Edith Cones from her sincere friend the author. Oscar Wilde, June, 88.” A fine, exceptional copy.
$42,000.00
Tender is the Night
Tender is the Night
FITZGERALD, F. Scott
Item ID: 68091
INSCRIBED BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
FITZGERALD, F. Scott. Tender is the Night. New York, 1934. First edition, third printing (only one month after the first), in scarce original first-issue dust jacket, boldly inscribed by the author: “Souvenir of Wilmington from F. Scott Fitzgerald to J. Stuart Groves.”.
$46,000.00
This Side of Paradise
This Side of Paradise
FITZGERALD, F. Scott
Item ID: 75461
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S FIRST BOOK, THIS SIDE OF PARADISE, INSCRIBED BY HIM ONE DAY AFTER PUBLICATION
FITZGERALD, F. Scott. This Side of Paradise. New York, 1920. First edition, first printing of Fitzgerald’s first novel, inscribed one day after publication, “For Pete Compton, A wild man if there ever was one — F. Scott Fitzgerald, Princeton, NJ, March 27th 1920.”
$63,000.00
Catcher in the Rye
Catcher in the Rye
SALINGER, J.D.
Item ID: 87077
INSCRIBED BY J.D. SALINGER
SALINGER, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston, 1952. First edition, early issue, of Salinger’s first book—“a 20th-century classic”—an exceedingly rare copy inscribed and dated by him within months of publication, “New York, N.Y. March 15, 1952 With best wishes, J.D. Salinger.”
$65,000.00
Beautiful and Damned
Beautiful and Damned
FITZGERALD, F. Scott
Item ID: 75463
INSCRIBED BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION
FITZGERALD, F. Scott. The Beautiful and Damned. New York, 1922. First edition, first issue, an exceptional presentation copy whimsically inscribed in the year of publication by Fitzgerald, “For Wilbur Judd, Parisien [sic], Critic, Playrite [sic], Bibliophile, Drunkard and Good Egg, From F. Scott Fitzgerald, St. Paul 1922,” in scarce second-issue dust jacket (issued within months of the first-issue jacket).
$75,000.00
Call of the Wild
Call of the Wild
LONDON, Jack
Item ID: 81588
“YOU HAVE ALWAYS LOVED YOUR SON AND THINGS WITH US ALWAYS WILL BE WELL…”
LONDON, Jack. The Call of the Wild. New York and London, 1903. First edition, first printing, of one of the most desirable copies in American literature, inscribed from Jack London to his mother within four days of publication, one of the earliest known inscriptions: “Dear Mother, You have always loved your son, and things with us always will be well. Jack. July 22, 1903,” in scarce original dust jacket.
$125,000.00
Memoirs
Memoirs
WILLIAMS, Tennessee
Item ID: 88999
SIGNED BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
WILLIAMS, Tennessee. Memoirs. Garden City, New York, 1975. First trade edition of Williams’ critically-praised autobiography, signed by him.
$750.00
Vision of Hell
Vision of Hell
DORE, Gustave
Item ID: 89102
“TORMENTS SHOWN WITH MINUTE AND SOMETIMES SHOCKING FIDELITY”
(DORÉ, Gustave) DANTE. The Vision of Hell. London and New York, circa 1870. Handsome folio edition, circa 1870, of one of Gustave Doré’s most famous illustrated works—The Vision of Hell of Dante Alighieri—his depiction of Dante’s horrific circles of Hell, with frontispiece portrait of the poet and 75 full-page wood-engravings, scarce in contemporary morocco.
$2500.
Opening of the Wisdom-Eye
Opening of the Wisdom-Eye
DALAI LAMA
Item ID: 89187
SIGNED BY THE DALAI LAMA
DALAI LAMA Tenzin Gyatso. The Opening of the Wisdom-Eye. Wheaton, Illinois, 1972. First American edition, signed on the title page by the winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.
$4000.
Books are among the most collected items in the world
The mid 19th century saw two interesting developments: the invention of the book jacket and the ‘Penny Dreadful’, a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing a penny.
In 1832 detachable book sleeves, or dust jackets, were introduced. Such sleeves are important to collectors, as books with their sleeves intact are of much higher value than those without them, and the condition of a dust jacket can hugely affect the value of a book.
The ‘Penny Dreadful’ was the first mass-market paperback, aimed at the juvenile working-class market and featuring horror and crime stories for a penny each. Paperback were seen at this time to be low-brow, with lurid, poor quality content. This perception continued until the printing of the first Penguin Books Paperback in 1935.
Modern books
Founded by Sir Allen Lane, the principle idea behind Penguin paperbacks was to print high-brow titles in large quantities for an available price. The revolutionary idea was a success, and a mere ten months after their creation Penguin had printed over 1m books.
There is a large collecting community for Modern First Editions, classics of 20th century literature. Due to the increasing availability of digital books, the value of these are largely based on the condition of the binding and illustrated dust jackets of each volume, as well as authors signatures and inscriptions.
The 21st century has seen the development of the e-book, a digital book which can be downloaded and read on computers, phones and dedicated devices known as e-readers. E-books represented 31.1% of all book sales in 2012.
It is often specific authors who attract the attention of bibliophiles. They have to narrow their interest down somehow, and many may have a nostalgic or intellectual interest in one literary figure.
Many collectors veer towards fiction. They focus on the authors that they love to read, those who paint the world in a light that is at once revealing and familiar. These authors are often famous historical literary figures, whose stories have been studied across centuries. From the escapism of C. S. Lewis, to the romanticism of Charlotte Bronte, the adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson, the dark world of Edgar Allen Poe, the mystery and suspense of Agatha Christie, and the politically stirring tracts of Graham Greene, fiction boasts endless favourites among collectors.
However, there is a whole world of non-fiction books that entice others. Some focus on antique medical books, travel and exploration, or early works of natural history. An exciting focus is books that changed the world, books that altered the course of history. Whether this means the Gutenberg Bible, or Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, it is safe to say that collectors love a book with historical significance.
Others focus on modern literature. While this is more accessible, as it was generally mass produced, first editions in good condition can be extremely valuable – particularly if the work in question is considered a modern classic. For example, a first edition of F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, written in the 1920s, achieved $163,500 in 2002. Ian Fleming’s original James Bond novels, replete with fantastic illustrated dust jackets, are extremely popular.
Some collectors focus heavily on nostalgia, and antique & vintage children’s books have a vast collecting community. The Victorian adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, with illustrations by John Tenniel, or A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh books, or the classics of Beatrix Potter – all these, as well as numerous more obscure works, are snapped up by collectors interested in the charming history of books for children. More modern children's writers are also receiving increasing interest from collectors, such as Maurice Sendak and Dr Seuss.
Others may be drawn to writers because they were, at their time of publishing, extremely controversial – often banned. Many of these works, today considered classics, were too contentious or explicit for the era they were written in. Works such as John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, banned for its exposure of the cruel treatment of migrant workers during the depression, is now considered a great American classic. Even the children’s adventure favourite, Mark Twain’s Adverntures of Huckleberry Finn was once thought of as too coarse. George Orwell’s criticism of Soviet corruption, Animal Farm, was banned during the Second World War as the U.S.S.R fought alongside the allies. All these and numerous others, once considered not fit for public regard, are now some of the most valuable books on the market."
[Top]Yale Acquires Rare Book and Manuscripts Collection
Yale recently acquired a substantial selection of rare books and manuscripts pertaining to English legal history that is almost 10 times larger than the Library of Congress’s collection, according to The New York Times.
Shapiro would not comment on how much the University paid for the acquisition, which was arranged jointly by the Law School Library and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
[Top]My Book Collection - Lovely Videos From a European Collector
My Book Collection Part II - YouTube2
I am going to be conducting an interview with this book collector and we will find out more about his collection, how long he has been collecting, what inspires his collection and more... Check back for the interview!
[Top]
The Largest Book and Paper Fair Between Chicago and California
The Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association is pleased to announce, more than 80 of the nation’s most prestigious dealers in rare and collectible books and paper ephemera will be at the Denver Mart, August 2nd – 3rd, for the 29th annual Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair.
For book lovers across the region, the 29th Annual Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair is a weekend not to be missed, as the thousands of books offered typically include once-in-a-lifetime finds. There is truly something for everyone, from museum-quality volumes to books suited for casual gift-giving.
The largest event of its kind between Chicago and California, the Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair also offers a wealth of vintage and rare paper goods, including postcards, maps, art prints, old travel brochures, posters, ads and ephemera from decades – and centuries – past.
This year’s theme, “To Have and To Hold,” offers more reasons to attend the fair. Special presentations on collections and how to care for them will take place over the weekend. They include:
- The Art of Collecting (Friday, 6:30pm). Chris Lane, the print and map expert for PBS's program Antiques Roadshow, will discuss a consideration of what it means to collect, with reference to antique prints and maps.
- Caring for your Collection (Saturday, 11am). Learn best practices for keeping your collection in prime condition. Join a panel of experts as they discuss conservation of: textiles, paintings, decorative and historic objects and books and paper.
- Preservation Station (Saturday, 1pm). Karen Jones will present demonstrations on basic book care and handling and an opportunity to ask questions about collection care.
Hosted annually by the Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association (RMABA), the fair has built a reputation as one of the nation’s leading antiquarian book fairs. Says chairperson Lois Harvey, “We work hard to make this a very enjoyable experience for both our exhibitors and attendees. The exhibitors often come so far and expend so much time and money to bring their best stuff to Denver, that we want to go the extra mile to make them feel welcome. And because we continue to attract the nation’s best booksellers, the fair continues to be a cultural boon to Colorado.
The Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair takes place August 2-3 at the Denver Mart, I-25 at 58th Ave. (exit east). Advanced tickets are available through Eventbrite (http://www.RMBPF2013.eventbrite.com). Admission is $10 for Friday evening's preview (includes Saturday re-admission) and $5 on Saturday. Parking is free. Show hours: Friday 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association is an organization of used and rare book dealers in the Rocky Mountain west area. The organization’s members are dedicated to stimulating book collecting, promoting ethical trade in all facets of the antiquarian book business, and educating the public in the field of antiquarian books.
# # #
For more information, visit http://www.rmaba.org/rmbpf/2013/rmbpf2013.html or call 720-234-7829.
[Top]David Mason's Book Business is Winding Down but His Autobiography Comes Out This Weekend
The Star - BooksBy: Tim Alamenciak News reporter, Published on Thu Jun 06 2013
David Mason is a hunter. His prey hides in bargain bins full of long-forgotten coffee table books. His prize trophies line the shelves of a basement bookstore, David Mason Books, near Spadina and Adelaide, in the basement of an upscale office building.
After 50 years of finding books and selling them, Mason is passing the torch to the next generation with his new autobiography, The Pope’s Bookbinder, on sale June 6: a sweeping tour of the bookselling industry through the eyes of a man who has been at the heart of it for decades. His hope, he said, is to pass on the trade to the next generation.
“A stretch of 50 years is a long time. An antiquarian bookseller learns that time goes on and on forever — we end up with a view of history that is different from a normal person because we live essentially in the past,” said Mason. “You get a view of continuity and those things become very important to you.”
Possibly Toronto’s most prolific antiquarian bookseller, his book chronicles his rise from a young man interested in bookselling to the modern David Mason: a man whose bookstore spans two huge basement offices. Countless volumes line handmade shelves fashioned from scrap wood with doors made of windowpanes.
“I’m now too old to have this many books in downtown Toronto. I’ve got maybe two more years here and they’re going to double my rent. I shouldn’t be here now and I’m not going to be here in two years,” he said.
But while Mason thinks his time is running out, he insists there will always be a place for good books and good booksellers. The Internet has changed things, he acknowledges, but not necessarily in the way most people think. The state of the printed book is as it has always been: dismal.
His customer base is still a hardcore handful of book buyers who come from a small subset of the population that buys books seriously, meaning three or four a week. He cites a study that found about 4 per cent of the population makes up that demographic.
“But the funny thing was, the survey wasn’t done last week or even last year; it was done in 1905,” he said. “It’s not that people don’t buy books anymore, that people don’t read books anymore: they never did.”
Besides supplying countless private collectors and bibliophiles, Mason’s hunting skills have also helped stock the rare book collection at the University of Toronto.
“We’ve had a relationship with him for over 30 years. He’s been one of the main antique book dealers in the city. When he started out it was quite a flourishing scene. Now, of course, it’s quite diminished. He’s one of the few left standing,” said Anne Dondertman, director of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto.
Dondertman said booksellers like Mason provide an impeccable eye, a sense for what is significant amid piles of dusty texts.
“That kind of experience that spans so many books, that’s something that takes years and years,” she said.
What has changed in his 50 years in the business, Mason said, is the concept of rarity: in the past book buyers would have to hunt for treasured tomes, now they can find them online at websites like AbeBooks.
There is more to this interesting article. I suggest you go to the star to continue reading The Star - Books
I just ordered my copy of this book. There is a link in the right hand sidebar, if you are interested:
The Cost of Rare Books is Starting to Rise
Haley said, "More people can find it, want it and know that there is only one of them around." He said that demand was growing for what he termed "quirkiana" or books on specialist, niche topics that normally would not sell well. The difficult market is the mid-rank with books between 100 pounds and a thousand.
These are books which are rare but not unique, and modern first editions as potential purchasers could scour the web for other examples more easily than in the past. Haley said it was starting to look that second-hand bookshops were doomed.Some in the industry forecast digital books would outsell printed books in Britain in 2015. Yet the shift to digital publishing only made physical books more alluring to many people.
[Top]Anthropodermic Bibliopegy or Books Bound in Human Skin
This topic has interested me for quite some time. I find the practice strangely intriguing and gruesome at the same time. In fact this practice dates back to the 17 th century and there are a number of these strange in public (and probably private) collections as noted below. Wikipedia has a fairly comprehensive article on the practice of binding books in human skin - also known as Anthropodermic Bibliopegy.
Please tell us if you have any experience or expertise in these books...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthropodermic bibliopegy is the practice of binding books in human skin. Though extremely uncommon in modern times, the technique dates back to at least the 17th century. The practice is inextricably connected with the practice of tanning human skin, often done in certain circumstances after a corpse has been dissected.
Surviving historical examples of this technique include anatomy texts bound with the skin of dissected cadavers, volumes created as a bequest and bound with the skin of the testator (known as "autoanthropodermic bibliopegy"), and copies of judicial proceedings bound in the skin of the murderer convicted in those proceedings, such as in the case of John Horwood in 1821 and the Red Barn Murder in 1828.
The libraries of many Ivy League universities include one or more samples of anthropodermic bibliopegy. The rare book collection at the Harvard Law School Library holds a book allegedly bound in human skin, Practicarum quaestionum circa leges regias Hispaniae, a treatise on Spanish law, though testing on the binding has proven inconclusive. A faint inscription on the last page of the book states:
"The bynding of this booke is all that remains of my deare friende Jonas Wright, who was flayed alive by the Wavuma[1] on the Fourth Day of August, 1632. King Btesa did give me the book, it being one of poore Jonas chiefe possessions, together with ample of his skin to bynd it. Requiescat in pace."
The John Hay Library's special books collection at Brown University contains three human-skin books, including a rare copy of De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Vesalius.
Some early copies of Dale Carnegie's Lincoln the Unknown were covered with jackets containing a patch of skin from an African American man, onto which the title had been embossed. A portion of the binding in the copy that is part of the collection of Temple University's Charles L. Blockson Collection was "taken from the skin of a Negro at a Baltimore Hospital and tanned by the Jewell Belting Company".
The National Library of Australia holds a book of 18th century poetry with the inscription "Bound in human skin" on the first page.
Another such book resides at the University of Georgia in the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library.
Several anatomical volumes, including at least one belonging to and apparently prepared by the renowned anatomist Joseph Leidy (September 9, 1823 – April 30, 1891) are in the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. As of August 2012, these volumes and samples of human-skin leather were on public display.
There is also a tradition of certain volumes of erotica being bound in human skin. Examples reported include a copy of the Marquis de Sade's Justine et Juliette bound in tanned skin from female breasts. Other examples are known, with the feature of the intact human nipple on one or more of the boards of the book. One volume from very early in the 17th century is said to show the face of a priest who was put to death for his alledged part in the attempted assassination of a King.