Prices of Books

The first edition of Shakespeare’s Plays (folio, 1623) has been rising in price from the commencement of the nineteenth century; but the enormous prices now paid do not date further back than 1864, when a specially fine copy was bought by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts at George Daniel’s sale for £716, 2s. This amount was paid on account of the height of the book and of its great beauty, and possibly the circumstance of the year being the tercentenary of Shakespeare’s birth had something to do with it, but this sale had the effect of raising the price of all copies permanently.

Beloe, writing in 1807 (“Anecdotes,” vol. i. p. 36), said, “Perhaps there is no book in the English language which has risen so rapidly in value as the first edition of the works of our great national poet. I can remember a very fine copy to have been sold for five guineas. I could once have purchased a superb one for nine guineas.” This statement can be corroborated; for the Cracherode copy in the British Museum, one of the few really fine copies, has the price £8, 18s. 6d. marked in it. Richard Wright’s copy sold in 1787 for £10, Allen’s in 1795 for 18 guineas. Farmer’s copy (wanting title, and with the last leaf in MS.) sold for £7. Garrick bought his copy from Payne for £1, 16s. Jolley obtained it at Garrick’s sale in 1823 for £34, 2s. 6d., and at Jolley’s sale in 1844 it realised £84. Lord Denbigh’s fine copy sold in 1825 for £89, 5s., and Broadley’s in 1832 for £51; William Combes’s copy (wanting title-page and all prefatory leaves, but with the text of the Plays complete) fetched 8 guineas in 1837; Bright’s copy (1845), with title repaired, verses from another edition, and some leaves inlaid, brought £31, 10s. The Stowe copy (1849), with verses inlaid, £76; Hawtrey’s (1853), with some leaves mended, £63. In 1824 Mr. Thorpe the bookseller advertised a set of the four folios—first, £65; second, 10 guineas; third, £25; and the fourth, 6 guineas, or the four for £100. About the same time Mr. Pickering marked a similar set £95.

Copies of the first folio are so constantly sold that one might suppose it to be a common book, but this may be accounted for by the fact that they are constantly changing hands. There are only a few copies absolutely perfect, but others are made up from various copies, or with pages in facsimile. This makes the most imperfect copies of value, because they can be used to perfect others.

Dibdin described thirty copies of the first folio in his “Library Companion,” and these he arranged in three classes. In the first class he placed three copies, belonging respectively to Mr. Cracherode, the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, and Mr. Daniel Moore. The first two are now in the British Museum, and the third is the Daniel copy, for which Lilly the bookseller offered £300.

“These have size, condition, and the genuine properties of a true copy. They are thirteen inches in height, eight and a half in width, have the true portrait and title-page, with the genuine verses in the centre of the leaf facing the title-page. They have no spurious leaves foisted in from other editions.... Of these three copies, that in the Cracherode collection is the most objectionable, as the commendatory verses of Ben Jonson, facing the title-page, are, although genuine, inlaid.”

Mr. Grenville’s copy was bought at Saunders’s sale in 1818 for £121, 16s., which was then thought to be a great sum, and Dibdin makes the unfortunate prophecy that this was “the highest price ever given, or likely to be given, for the volume.” Mr. Grenville told Dibdin that an ancestor of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn possessed an uncut copy of the first folio. “It was lying on the table in that condition when, in a luckless moment, a stationer in the neighbourhood of Wynnstay came in. The book was given to him to be bound, and off went not only the edges, but half of the margins.” Another piece of vandalism was the inlaying the leaves of the book and binding them in three volumes. This was Henderson the actor’s copy, which sold at Reed’s sale for £38. In the second class were included some very good copies.

“Lord Spencer’s copy had every leaf picked by the experienced hands of the late George Steevens. The verses opposite are genuine, but inlaid, and there are many tender leaves throughout. There are also in the centre of some of the pages a few greasy-looking spots, which might have originally received the ‘flakes of pie-crust’ in the servants’ hall, as notified by Steevens.54 But it is a beautiful and desirable copy.”

The price mentioned by Steevens is that which the Duke of Roxburghe gave for his copy in 1790, respecting which Dibdin relates an anecdote that took his fancy so much, that he tells the story both at the beginning and at the end of his Bibliomania.

“A friend was bidding for him in the sale-room: his Grace had retired to a distance to view the issue of the contest. Twenty guineas and more were offered from various quarters for the book: a slip of paper was handed to the Duke, in which he was requested to inform his friend whether he was ‘to go on bidding.’ His Grace took his pencil and wrote underneath, by way of reply—

Such a spirit was irresistible, and bore down all opposition. His Grace retired triumphant, with the book under his arm.”

A rather different version of this story of Nicol’s purchase for the Duke is given in Martin’s “Privately Printed Books.”

This copy sold at the Roxburghe sale for £100, and is now in the Duke of Devonshire’s library. Dibdin had a commission from Sir Mark Masterman Sykes to give £75.

Hibbert’s copy was pronounced by Mr. Amyot to be the best copy he had seen after those placed in the first class. It belonged to “Dog” Jennings, and was purchased of Mr. Payne for 70 guineas. At Hibbert’s sale it fetched 81 guineas, and was resold in 1847 at Wilks’s sale for £155. It again occurred at Dunn Gardner’s sale (1854), when it was bought by Mr. H. Huth for £250.

Dent’s copy was a tall copy, identical in measurement with Daniel’s, and with some rough leaves, but the title and verses were pasted down. It was bought by H. Perkins for £110, 5s., and at Perkins’s sale it realised £585, 10s.

John Kemble’s copy was inlaid on large paper, and bound by Mackinlay. It was purchased by Mr. Boswell for £112, 7s., and at his sale it brought £105.

In the third class are the following:—

Steevens’s copy was given to him by Jacob Tonson in 1765, and it had passed through the hands of Theobald and Dr. Johnson, the “latter not having improved its condition.” It wants the title and portrait, the latter being supplied by a facsimile drawing by Steevens. The verses are from the second edition. Dr. Charles Burney bought this at the sale of Steevens’s library for £22. It is now in the British Museum. Nassau’s copy was perfect, with the exception that the verses were from the second edition. It was bought by Mr. Thorpe for £49, 7s.

E. V. Utterson’s copy was fair, with title and portrait mounted, verses inlaid, and several leaves mended. It sold for £49 in 1852.

Colonel Stanley’s copy was in fair condition, but wanted the original verses and title-page. It was bought at Stanley’s sale by Mr. North for £37, 16s., and at North’s sale it realised £39, 18s.

Heber gave 10 guineas for his copy, which wanted verses, list of actors, &c., title a reprint from the second edition, some leaves stained, and others mutilated. This sold at Heber’s sale (1834) for £57, 15s.

A copy of the first folio is now looked upon as a necessary addition to a first-class library, but there was no copy in the libraries of the Earl of Oxford, Dr. Mead, West, Askew, Crofts, Beauclerk, Heath, Willett, Bindley, or in the Sunderland or Hamilton Palace libraries.

Mr. Robert Holford is said to have given £250 for his tall copy.

The following is a list of some of the copies which have been sold since the famous Daniel copy:—

In 1882 Beresford-Hope’s copy, with verses inlaid, title repaired, in morocco by Clarke, fetched £238; and Ouvry’s sound copy, in red morocco by Clarke and Bedford, sold for £420.

The Earl of Gosford’s copy, perfect, with title and verses mounted, and margins of leaves slightly mended, was sold in 1884 for £470.

Hartley’s copy was in poor condition, although very tall (13⅜ by 8¾), title with portrait wanting, page with verses mutilated, and some leaves mended. It sold in 1887 for £255. Hartley gave £500 for it to those who had bought it at a knock-out for £75.

The Earl of Aylesford’s copy, wanting title, with verses from second edition, and five leaves stained, sold in 1888 for £200.

In 1889 F. Perkins’s copy, with title and verses mounted, sold for £415; and Halliwell Phillipps’s poor copy, with portrait, verses, preliminary and last leaf in facsimile, for £95.

W. H. Crawford’s imperfect copy, with title, verses, prefatory matter, and “Cymbeline” reprinted in facsimile, sold in 1891 for £16, 10s.

In this same year Brayton Ives’s copy, perfect, but rather short, was sold in New York for 4200 dollars (£840).

Addington’s copy, with verses inlaid, in good condition, but short (12⅝ by 8¼), fetched £280.

A copy, with title in facsimile, leaf containing verses, last leaf and a few others mended in the margin, was sold in a sale of Early English Poetry (Sotheby, 1892) for £208.

Birket Foster’s copy sold in 1894 for £255; and Mr. Toovey’s, with title and verses in facsimile, for £169.

SECOND FOLIO, 1632

The most interesting copy of the second folio is in the King’s Library. It belonged to Dr. Mead, at whose sale it was bought by Askew for £2, 12s. 6d. At Askew’s sale it was bought by Steevens for £5, 10s., an amount which he styled enormous. At Steevens’s sale this copy was bought for George III. for eighteen guineas. It formerly belonged to Charles I., who wrote in it, “Dum spiro spero, C.R.” The King presented it the night before his execution to Sir Thomas Herbert, who had written, “Ex dono serenissimi Regis Car. Servo suo Humiliss. T. Herbert.” Steevens mistook the identity of this Herbert, and wrote, “Sir Thomas Herbert was Master of the Revels to King Charles the First.” George III. wrote beneath Steevens’s note, “This is a mistake, he (Sir Thomas Herbert) having been Groom of the Bed-Chamber to King Charles I., but Sir Henry Herbert was Master of the Revels.”

Dibdin made the same mistake with respect to this price that he did with respect to the price of the Grenville first folio. He wrote, “£18, 18s.—the largest sum ever given, or likely to be given, for the book.” Now in 1895, at the Earl of Orford’s sale, the largest and finest copy known of the second folio, in the original calf binding, sold for the enormous sum of £540. This is out of all proportion to the price of the first folio, and a ridiculous amount to pay for a volume of little interest by itself, and only of value as one of the four original editions.

The next largest price realised for a second folio was £148 for Daniel’s copy, which has some rough leaves, and was bought by Daniel from Thorpe, who bought it at the Nevill Holt sale for £28, 1s.

The Earl of Aylesford’s copy, with title laid down, and without verses (13-3/16 in. by 8-3/4 in.) sold in 1888 for £140. Brayton Ives’s perfect copy was sold in New York in 1891 for 400 dollars (£80). Birket Foster’s copy sold in 1894 for £56.

It is only lately that such high prices have been obtained for this edition. The following is a list of some of the prices given at an earlier date:—

B. Worsley (1678), 16s. Digby (1680), 14s. Richard Wright, M.D. (1787), £2, 9s. and £1, 6s. Allen (1795), £4, 4s. Stanley (1813), £13, 2s. 6d. Heber, Part 1, £10, 5s.; Part 4, wanting verses opposite title-page, and last leaf inlaid, £3, 7s. Valpy (1832), £18; resold to Broadley (1832), £12, 5s. Stowe (1849), £11, 5s.

Copies Sold within the Last Twenty-five Years:—

H. Perkins (1873), £44 (fine copy). Well-known collector (Sotheby’s), 1880, £12, 15s. (verses from fourth edition printed, part of title in facsimile reprint). Ouvry (1882), £46. Beresford-Hope (1882), £35, 10s. (title mended).

Standard English Works (Puttick’s), 1886, £19. F. Perkins (1889), large copy, but worm-hole through half the volume, £47. W. H. Crawford (1891), wanting verses, £19, 10s. Smithson and others, 1896 (Puttick’s), £18, 5s. (verses and several pages wanting, and a few worm-holes). Jack, Halliday, &c. (Sotheby, July 1897), £55 (fine copy, portrait and verses mended).

Sir Henry Irving gave £100 for Dr. Johnson’s copy of the second folio, which contains many notes in the margin by Theobald and Johnson. Osborn the bookseller bought it at Theobald’s death and presented it to Johnson. Samuel Ireland gave £1 for it at Johnson’s sale in 1785. It wants title and part of another leaf.55

THIRD FOLIO, 1664 (some copies dated 1663)

This edition is scarcer than the second, owing to the copies having been destroyed in the Fire of London. The title-page of 1663 has the portrait, and that of 1664 is without it. Mr. Thorpe, in one of his catalogues, said that he had “refused £10 for the title of 1663.” Mr. Quaritch gave £11 for one in 1895 at Sotheby’s.

The following is a list of the prices that some copies have realised:—

B. Worsley (1678), £1, 8s. 6d. Smallwood (1684), 15s. 6d. Richard Wright, M.D. (1787), £1, 1s. Allen (1795), £6, 6s. Steevens (1800), £8, 8s. Roxburghe (1812), £35. Stanley (1813), £16, 16s. Broadley (1832), £11, 5s. William Combes (1837), £5, 7s. 6d. (some leaves inlaid). Stowe (Duke of Buckingham), 1849, £35 (margin of portrait mended, title lined). Lord Stuart de Rothesay, £50 (tall copy, with duplicate titles). Miss Currer (1862), £43, 10s. (original calf). Addington, £130 (large and fine copy). S. Daniel (1864), £46. H. Perkins (1873), £105 (1/8-inch taller than Daniel’s copy). Beresford-Hope (1882), £72, 10s. (portrait and title inlaid). Ouvry (1882), £116. Earl of Aylesford (1888), £93 (13½ in. by 8 in.). F. Perkins (1889), £100. Halliwell Phillipps (1889), £24 (title mounted, portrait, verses, and last leaf mounted). Brayton Ives (1891), 950 dollars (£190), portrait from fourth edition. Hawley (1894), £205. Hildyard, 1895 (with two title-pages), £280. Misc. Coll. (Sotheby’s), 1895, original calf, £350.

FOURTH FOLIO, 1685

Dibdin says of this that it “has little to recommend it, either on the score of rarity or intrinsic worth.” Even now the prices are not very high, and it is only required to complete the set of folios.

The following are some of the prices that this volume has realised:—

Richard Wright, M.D. (1787), £1, 1s. Steevens (1800), £2, 12s. 6d. Roxburghe (1812), £6, 6s. Broadley (1832), £2, 2s. William Combes (1837), £2, 5s. Stowe (Duke of Buckingham), 1849, £4, 6s. Daniel (1864), £21, 10s. H. Perkins (1873), £22. Beresford-Hope (1882), £24. Ouvry (1882), £28. Choice library of a gentleman (1882), £17, 10s. Chevalier de Chatelain (1882), £7, 5s. (imperfections supplied in MS.). Addington (1886), £23 10s. (good tall copy). Old Essex library (Lord Petre), 1886, £31, 10s. (old calf). Earl of Aylesford (1888), £29 (14¼ in. by 9¼ in.). F. Perkins (1889), £14 (portrait and last two leaves slightly repaired). Halliwell Phillipps (1889), £30 (perfect copy, in original calf). Brayton Ives (1891), New York, 210 dollars (£42). Early English Poetry (Sotheby, 1892), £31. Birket Foster (1894), £25. Alfred Crampton (1896), £42 (14⅜ in. by 9⅛ in.).

SEPARATE PLAYS

All’s Well that Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, first editions in first folio.

Hamlet (Printed for N. L. and John Trundell), 1603, two copies known.

(1) Duke of Devonshire, purchased of Payne and Foss, 1825 (in vol. containing twelve early editions of this play), for £250 (wanting last leaf).

(2) British Museum, wanting title-page. Bought by Mr. Rooney of Dublin in 1856 for small sum, sold to Boone for £70, purchased of them by Halliwell Phillipps for £120. It was sold subsequently to the British Museum.

–– (L. R. for N. L.) 1604.

(1) Duke of Devonshire. (2) Earl Howe. (3) H. Huth.

Henry IV., Part 1 (P. S. for Andrew Wise), 1598.

–– (S. S. for Andrew Wise), 1599.

Steevens, £3, 10s. Roxburghe, £6, 6s. White Knights, £18, 7s. 6d. Utterson, £14. Halliwell (May 1857), £75. G. Daniel (1864), £115, 10s.

Henry IV., Part 2 (V. S. for A. Wise and W. Apsley), 1600.

Steevens, two copies (Dibdin, “Library Companion,” 805), £3, 13s., £2, 15s. Smyth (1797), £8, 8s. Roxburghe, £2. 4s. Heber (Part 2), £40. Utterson (1852), £17, 10s. Halliwell Phillipps, £100—sold to Mr. Huth. F. Perkins, 1889 (Heber’s copy), £225.

Henry V., “Chronicle History” (Thomas Creede for T. Millington & J. Burby), 1600.

Steevens (inlaid), £27, 6s. Kemble, resold (Sotheby, April 1821), £18, 7s. 6d. Heber (Part 2), £24, 3s.—bought by Mr. Daniel. Bought at Daniel’s sale (1864) for 220 guineas by Lilly. (Fine copy.)

Henry VI., Parts 1 and 2, first editions in folio. Part 3 (“The true Tragedie of Richard, Duke of York”), P.S. for T. Millington, 1595.

Chalmers (Part 1), £131.

–– (W. W. for T. Millington), 1600.

Steevens, £1, 16s. Rhodes, £5, 7s. 6d. (one leaf MS.). Jolley, £10, 10s. Halliwell (1857), £60.

Henry VIII., Julius Cæsar, King John, first editions in folio.

True Chronicle Historie of King Lear (Nathaniel Butter, St. Paul’s Churchyard), 1608.

Steevens, £28. Dent, £14, 5s. Strettell, £15. Edwards (1804), £15, 4s. 6d. Heber (Part 2), £32. Halliwell (1856), £22, 10s.—bought for Mr. Huth. Birket Foster (1894), £100.

There were second and third editions published in the same year with Butter’s name, but without place.

Love’s Labour Lost (W. W. for Cuthbert Burby), 1598.

Dent, £26. Bindley, £40, 10s. Rhodes, £53, 11s. Heber (Part 2), £40 (Bindley’s copy); came into the possession of George Daniel, who valued it at £200. It sold for 330 guineas at Daniel’s sale. F. Perkins (1859), £70 (headlines cut into, and last leaf mended). Thomas Gaisford (1890), £140.

Macbeth, Measure for Measure, first editions in folio.

Merchant of Venice (J. Roberts), 1600.

Steevens, £2, 2s., £2 (two copies, both inlaid). Roxburghe, £2, 14s.; resold to Jadis, £6, 6s.; resold to Holland (1860), £15. Heber (Part 2), £12. Jolley, £14. Utterson (1852), £16. Halliwell (1859), £21. F. Perkins (1889), £121. W. H. Crawford (1891), £111. Sir Cecil Domville, 1897, (fine copy), £315.

–– (J. R. for Thomas Heyes), 1600.

Duke of Grafton, £9, 9s. Bindley, £22, 1s. Roxburghe, £10. Heber (Part 2), £33, 10s. Field, £13, 15s. Gardner (1854), £32—bought by Mr. Tite. Halliwell (1856), £37—bought by Mr. Huth. Daniel, £99, 15s. F. W. Cosens (1890), £270. W. H. Crawford (1891), £111. Birket Foster (1894), £146.

Merry Wives of Windsor (T. C. for Arthur Johnson), 1602.

Bindley, £18. Steevens, £28—purchased by Malone; resold to Heber. Heber (Part 2), £40; bought by G. Daniel; sold at his sale in 1864 for 330 guineas to Lilly. Thomas Gaisford (1890), £385.

Merry Wives of Windsor, for Arthur Johnston, 1619.

Roxburghe, £1, 3s. Steevens, £1, 4s. Dent, £8. Heber (Part 2), £7. Halliwell (1856), £16—bought by Mr. Tite. Halliwell (1858), £14. 5s.

Midsummer Night’s Dreame (Thomas Fisher), 1600.

Steevens (part of a leaf wanting), £25, 10s. Bindley, £22, 10s. Heber (Part 2, very fine), £36—bought by Daniel; sold at his sale in 1864 for 230 guineas to Lilly. Brayton Ives (New York), 1891, 725 dollars. Birket Foster (1894), £122 (large copy).

–– (James Roberts), 1600.

Boswell, £2, 1s. Roxburghe, £3, 3s. Duke of Grafton, £4, 8s. Dent, £4, 10s. Heber (Part 4, fine), £7—bought by Daniel; sold at his sale for £36—bought by Lilly. Gardner (1854), £12, 15s. Sotheby, 1857 (Berry), £21. F. Perkins (1889), £61 (three headlines shaved).

Much Ado about Nothing (V. S. for A. Wise and W. Apsley), 1600.

Smyth (1797), £7, 10s. Steevens, £2, 12s. 6d. Roxburghe, £2, 17s. Broadley (1832), £2, 19s. Bindley, £17, 17s.

Heber, Part 2 (finest copy known, with rough edges), £18—bought by Daniel; sold at his sale (1864) for 255 guineas—Toovey. Halliwell (1857), £65—bought by Mr. Huth. Halliwell Phillipps (1889), £50 (several leaves in facsimile). F. Perkins (1889), £75 (headlines cut into). Thomas Gaisford (1890), £130.

Othello (N. O. for T. Walkley), 1622.

Steevens (with MS. notes), £29, 8s. Gilchrist, £19, 10s. Dent, £22. Bindley, £56, 14s.; resold Heber (Part 2), for £28; bought by Daniel; sold at his sale for £155 to Lilly. William Combes (1837), £15, 5s. F. Perkins (1889), £130.

Pericles (H. Gosson), 1609.