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Telegrams: "VESPUCCI, LONDON."

Telephone: Regent 3810.

Chas. J. Sawyer, Ltd.

Grafton House

12 & 13, Grafton Street, New Bond Street

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First Editions of Thackeray, Dickens, Kipling,
Stevenson, and other Popular Victorian Authors;
Books with Coloured Plates; Autograph Letters
and Manuscripts of Swinburne, Meredith, Kipling,
Stevenson, Hardy, etc. Books on the Fine Arts.
Fine Bindings. Association and Presentation
Books. Sets of Standard Authors, etc., etc.

LIBRARIES PURCHASED.

Illustrated Catalogues issued at frequent intervals.
Reports solicited.

Correspondence invited.

Commissions executed at the principal Auction Sales.

Intelligent Appraisals for Fire Insurance,

Probate Duty & Family Division.

RECORD OF THE PRICES AT WHICH BOOKS

HAVE BEEN SOLD AT AUCTION,

FROM OCTOBER, 1923, TO AUGUST, 1924,
BEING THE SEASON 1923-1924,

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INDEX TO

Book-Prices Current

Volumes XXI. to XXX.

For the Years 1907-1916,

FORMING A KEY ΤΟ BOOK PRICES CURRENT, AND, INCIDENTALLY, ΤΟ ANONYMOUS, PSEUDONYMOUS,

AND SUPPRESSED LITERATURE, WITH A SUPPLEMENT OF BIBLIOPHILES AND BIBLIOPOLES.

Uniform with "Book-Prices Current." Demy 8vo. The Clique says :--"In the course of testing a great number of references, to see whether we could discover any errors, we are glad to say that we can find none. This is high praise when the author says in his preface, 'This Index contains about one hundred thousand entries, while the numerals employed, which closely approach a million, almost defy counting.' Among the great advantages of the Index may be mentioned the promptitude with which the reader may now find and compare the relative value of any book during the decade covered (bringing to a point the various copies sold), enabling him to ascertain whether its value has increased or dimished during the period. . . . The Second Index is so superior to the former one that the permanent value of 'B.P.C.' as a bibliographer's guide is increased fourfold. This index is one of the largest ever compiled, and it represents three years' work."

The Library Association Record says:-"These volumes are indispensable to every reference library, and add considerably to the reputation of English Bibliography.”

LONDON:

ELLIOT STOCK, 7, Paternoster Row, E.C.

MADE IN ENGLAND.

INTRODUCTION.

THERE is apparently no falling off in the demand for the rare and scarce items that appear in the Auction Rooms each year. In reviewing the lots that have been offered for sale during the last season, it will be seen that some very high prices have been reached, and in a number of cases the purchase has been made in American interests.

A careful study of the following pages of BookPRICES CURRENT will conclusively prove that the activity of the secondhand market is well maintained. Modern authors take a prominent place in most of the sales. In collected editions and fine bindings they change hands repeatedly and keep their price, the works of the late J. Conrad and W. H. Hudson being notable examples.

Many valuable libraries have been dispersed in this country during the season 1923-1924, including two selections from the famous Britwell Court Library, which together realised £81,496 6s. 6d.; the seventh and final portion of the late W. J. Leighton's stock; the dramatic literature of the late H. F. House, Esq.; the library of the late B. MacGeorge, Esq.; and a selection from Col. H. G. Sotheby's library, which realised £24,152 15s. od. Some important collections of private books and papers have also been sold. The Townshend and Melville papers and the Duke of Devonshire's collection of autograph letters and historical documents all passed through Messrs. Sotheby's hands. Of the individual items, a fine example of an illuminated Latin Bible of the 14th

century was sold for £3,300, two first folios Shakespeare sold respectively for £2,375 and £1,600, a first edition Walton's "Angler" for £925, and several fine copies of the Kilmarnock Burns.

Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, of New York, as in the previous season, again bought freely and secured many of the choice items put up for sale, some of his more notable successes being Henry Constable's "Diana," £2,700; Shakespeare's "Rape of Lucrece," £1,860; "Chronicles of England," 1480, £3,100; T. Hariot's "Report of Newfoundland," £1,400; and Capt. John Smith's "New England Trials," 1620, £2,400. This latter is a small unbound book of ten leaves, of which only two other copies are known.

The large and important collections which come up for sale in America are also well represented in this volume. The following are a few of the more prominent sales recorded:-John Quinn's library, in five parts, sold for $226,351.35, a most remarkable collection composed principally of modern authors; the W. F. Gable sale, Parts I.-IV.; the Edgar and Eddy sale; the S. H. Wakeman collection of 19th century writers sold for $67,586.50; and the H. L. Rothschild's sale, which realised $53,582.

April, 1925.

F. P.

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