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| The first is a sphere, an ill cut, ill drawn sphere, which is not Elzevirian at all. The mark was used in the seventeenth century by many other booksellers and printers. The second, on the other hand, is a true Elzevirian sphere, from a play of Moliere's, printed in 1675. Observe the comparatively neat drawing of the second sphere, and be not led away after spurious imitations. |
OLD BOOKS? WHEN WERE THE FIRST BOOKSHOPS OPENED? WE REALLY SHOULD KNOW THIS, AS A MATTER OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE - IN HOLLAND, 1580
AS COLLECTORS, WE HAVE TO BURY OURSELVES IN READING MATERIAL; THE OLDER THE BETTER
The only sure way to commence collecting sensibly, intelligently and profitably (with mitigated risk), is to prepare well in advance of making heavy and targeted investments, by reading as much about the field of interest, as possible, including some of the oldest reference material available. I make a point of acquiring the earliest books written on the subject (any subject) of which I'm interested. I don't want summarized versions or interpretations from the modernists; which of course, harshly critiques what I am doing with this blog. At least I am using one of the very old, and well researched texts, that was available for book collectors in 1892.
New guidebooks and hobby overviews are, of course, sensible acquisitions, as long as they are companioned by those of considerable vintage, preferably first or revised editions, that are not obviously abbreviated for space, to meet publisher demands. There was a little more flexibility in the early days of publishing, than today, when word counts and pages to be printed, can even kill a project before it hits the presses. I have been an assistant on two regional histories, that were eventually published, but not before cost became such a factor, that many fine, and historically important photographs, had to be pulled to bring the page count down. The point I want to make, is that getting reading material, on your collecting interests, should be all-encompassing, and span the ages, to include the first publications right up to the most recent. Then you can judge for yourself what is missing in the newer editions, and what shortfalls are contained in the earliest. This isn't just about price-guides. A collector needs a thorough and balanced overview, and loads of inside knowledge, about what they plan, or are already collecting. Many hobby collectors mess up early on, because they believe it is possible to learn by immersion. That's often too late to avoid making serious investment errors in judgement. As you will read in this blog, as reference, even minute differences, in size and cut of books during the printing and publishing process, can devalue each according to the precise nature of the flaw. Like stamps, or hockey and baseball cards. If you don't know how to grade what you are collecting, you must upgrade as quickly as possible. Your investment will not be what you think it is, when one day, you decided to cash in your chips. I have seen this a thousand or more times, when collectors bring me their prized possessions, and I have to give them bad news about valuation according to condition. A book, for example, can lose up to seventy-five percent of its appraised value, because it is missing its dustjacket, and somewhat similar if it has an inscription that wasn't written in by the author. A written-in book is no longer a fine condition copy, even if it has never been read through!
I would like to lead with an example about antiquarian and rare books, but if you were to read between the lines, you would appreciate that all collectors need to know everything possible, about the origins of their type of collectable; or the antiques they wish to have multiples of, down the road. As a book collector and seller, for most of the past twenty years, I have never missed an opportunity to read as much as possible, in terms of the biographies of revered dealers, who ran shops around the world. I have always wanted to know what their opinions were, and why they chose the books they did, as specialties of their shops; which by the way, often became legendary landmarks even for tourists in general, who might never afford one of the old books, but felt they had to visit regardless. These are fascinating tales, of literature and history, and there are many embedded stories about world famous authors like James Joyce haunting these new and used book shops, dating well back in the 1900's. There is a rich social / cultural history to be derived from these stories, of old books shops and their illustrious proprietors.
I found a new edition of the 1892 text, entitled "Books and Bookmen," by Andrew Lang, published by Longman, Green & Company, and it's the perfect antiquarian text about "book collecting," to begin this launch of my newly refurbished blog, entitled "Ted Currie - Antique Head." There is material in this book that is relevant to many other fields of collecting, and its advisories can be applied to just about any antique interest where condition is the end-all; being beyond just the printed and bound words this author addresses. I have read hundreds of texts about collecting books, and yet this one by Andrew Lang, corrected a half dozen misconceptions I've had about the industry of publishing books; and, for example, when the first book shops began appearing on the urban landscapes. For the next few editions of this blog, I'd like to present material from this important book, which by the way, Suzanne, my business partner, bought me as a Christmas present, from a bookshop in Orillia, Ontario. You don't have to be a book collector to benefit from this collector's wisdom. You don't have to be a collector at all, to find this information useful, and enlightening, in regards to investing generally in antiques, even just one piece. If you didn't know when the first bookshops of this world were opened, then you will learn something from the text of "Books and Bookmen." The title of the opening chapter is "Elzevirs." Ever heard of them? Well, I hadn't until I started reading this book, so join me for a little re-education about the earliest years of books and collecting them.
BOOKS AND BOOKMEN - ELZEVIRS
"The Countryman - 'You know how much, for some time past, the editions of the Elzevirs have been in demand. The fancy for them has even penetrated into the country. I am acquainted with a man there who denies himself necessaries for the sake of collecting into a library (where other books are scarce enough) as many little Elzevirs as he can lay his hands upon. He is dying of hunger and his consolation is to be able to say, 'I have all the poets whom the Elzevirs printed. I have ten examples of each of them, all with red letters, and all of the right date'. This, no doubt, is a craze, for, good as the books are, if he kept them to read them, one example would be enough.' The Parisian. 'If he had wanted to read them, I would not have advised him to buy Elzevirs. The editions of minor authors which these booksellers published, even editions 'of the right date,' as you say, are not too correct. Nothing is good in the books but the type and the paper. Your friend would have done better to use the editions of Gryphius or Estienne'."
"This fragment of a literary dialogue I translate from, 'Entretiens sur les Contes de Fees,' a book which contains more of old talk about books and booksellers than about fairies and folk-lore. The 'Entretiens' were published in 1699, about sixteen years after the Elzevirs ceased to be publishers. The fragment is valuable: first, because it shows us how early the taste for collecting Elzevirs was fully developed, and secondly, because it contains very sound criticism of the mania. Already, in the seventeenth century, lovers of the tiny Elzevirian books, waxed pathetic over dates, already they knew that a 'Caesar' of 1635, was the right 'Caesar,' passages, as in the first edition of 'Virgil,' of 1636. As early as 1699, too, the Parisian critic, knew that the editions were not very correct, and that the paper, type, ornaments, and format were their main attractions. To these we must now add the rarity of really good Elzevirs. Though Elzevirs have been more fashionable than at present (1890's), they are still regarded by novelists as the great prize of the book collector. You read in novels about 'priceless little Elzevirs,' about books, 'as rare as an old Elzevir.' I have met, in the works of a lady novelist, (but not elsewhere), with an Elzevir 'Theocritus.' The late Mr. Hepworth Dixon introduced into one of his romances, a romantic Elzevir Greek Testament,' worth its weight in gold. Casual remarks of this kind encourage a popular delusion, that all Elzevirs are pearls of considerable price. When a man is first smitten with the pleasant fever of book-collecting, it is for Elzevirs that he searches. At first he thinks himself in amazing luck. In Booksellers' Row and in Castle Street, he 'picks up,' for a shilling or two, Elzevirs, real or supposed. To the beginner, any book with a sphere on the title-page is an Elzevir. For the beginner's instruction, two copies of spheres are printed here (above). The first is a sphere, an ill cut, ill drawn sphere, which is not Elzevirian at all. The mark was used in the seventeenth century by many other booksellers and printers. The second, on the other hand, is a true Elzevirian sphere, from a play of Moliere's, printed in 1675. Observe the comparatively neat drawing of the second sphere, and be not led away after spurious imitations.
"Beware, too, of the vulgar error of fancying that little duodecimos, with the mark of the fox and the bee's nest, and the motto 'Quaerendo,' come from the press of the Elzevirs. The mark is that of Abraham Wolfgang, which name is not a pseudonym for Elzevir. There are three sorts of Elzevir pseudonyms. First, they occasionally reprinted the full title-page, publisher's name and all, of the book they printed. Secondly, when they printed books of a 'dangerous' sort, Jansenist pamphlets and so forth, they used pseudonyms like 'Nic Schouten,' on the 'Lettres Provinciales' of Pascal. Thirdly, there are real pseudonyms employed by the Elzevirs. John and Daniel, printing at Leyden (1652-1655), used the false name, 'Jean Sambix.' The Elzevirs of Amsterdam, often placed the name 'Jacques le Jeune,' on their title pages. The collector who remembers these things must also see that his purchases have the right ornaments at the heads of chapters, the right tailpieces at the ends. Two of the most frequently recurring ornaments are the so-called 'Tete de Buffle,' and the 'Sirene.' More or less clumsy copies of these and other Elzevirian ornaments, are common enough in books of the period, even among those printed out of the Low Countries; for example, in books published in Paris."
The author goes on to point out "a brief sketch of the history of the Elzevirs." "The founder of the family, a Flemish bookbinder, Louis, left Louvain and settled in Leyden in 1580. He bought a house opposite the university, and opened a book shop. Another shop, on college ground, was opened in 1587. Louis was a good bookseller, but a very ordinary publisher. It was not till shortly before his death, in 1617, that his grandson Isaac bought a set of types and other material. Louis left six sons. Two of these, Matthew and Bonaventure, kept on the business, dating ex-officina Elzeviriana. In 1625, Bonaventure and Abraham (son of Matthew), became partners. The 'good dates,' of Elzevirian books began in 1626. The two Elzevirs chose excellent types, and after nine years' endeavours, turned out the beautiful 'Caesar' of 1635. Their classical series in petit format, was opened with 'Horace," and 'Ovid' in 1629. In 1641, they began their elegant piracies of French plays, and poetry with 'Le Cid.' It was worth while being pirated by the Elzevirs, who turned you out like a gentleman, with fleurons and red letters, and a pretty frontispiece. The modern pirate dresses you in rags, prints you murderously, and binds you, if he binds you at all, in some hideous example of 'cloth extra,' all gilt, like archaic gingerbread.
"Bonaventure and Abraham both died in 1652. They did not depart before publishing (in 1628), in grand format, a desirable work on fencing. Thibault's 'Academi de l'Espee.' The Tibbald also killed by the book. John and Daniel Elzevir came next. They brought out the 'Imitation,' (Thomae a Kempis canonici regularis ord. S. Augustini De Imitatione Christi, libri iv); I wish by taking thought I could add eight milimetres to the stature of my copy. In 1655 Daniel joined a cousin, Louis, in Amsterdam, and John stayed in Leyden. John died in 1661; his widow struggled on, but her son, Abraham (1681), let it fall into ruins. Abraham died in 1712. The Elzevirs of Amsterdam lasted till 1680, when Daniel died, and the business was wound up. The type, by Christopher Van Dyck, was sold in 1681, by Daniel's widow."
Andrew Lang, author of the text, writes, "After he has learned all these matters, the amateur has still a great deal to acquire. He may now know a real Elzevir from a book, which is not an Elzevir at all. But there are enormous differences of value, rarity, and excellence among the productions of the Elzevirian press. The bookstalls teem with small 'cropped,' dingy, dirty, battered Elzevirian editions of the classics, not 'of the good date.' On these it is not worth while to expend a couple of shillings, especially as Elzevirian type is too small, to be read with comfort, by most modern eyes. No, let the collector save his money; avoid littering his shelves with what he will soon find to be rubbish, and let him wait the chance of acquiring a really beautiful and rare Elzevir.
Meantime, and before we come to describe Elzevirs of the first flight, let it be remembered that the 'taller' the copy, the less harmed and nipped by the binder's shears the better. 'Men scarcely know how beautiful fire is,' says Shelley; and we may say that most men hardly know how beautiful an Elzevir was, in its uncut and original form. The Elzevirs we have may be 'dear,' but they are certainly 'dumpy twelves'. Their fair proportions have been docked by the binder. At the Beckford sale, there was a pearl of a book, a 'Marot;' not an Elzevir, indeed, but a book published by Wetstein, a follower of the Elzevirs. This exquisite pair of volumes bound in blue morocco, was absolutely unimpaired, and was a sight to bring happy tears into the eyes of the amateur of Elzevirs. There was a gracious svelte elegance about these tomes, an appealing and exquisite delicacy of proportion, that linger like sweet music in the memory. I have a copy, though murderously bound in that ecclesiastical sort of brown calf antique, which goes well with hymn books, and reminds one of cakes of chocolate. But my copy is only some 128 milometres in height, wheras the uncut Beckford copy (it had belonged to the great Pixerecourt) was at least 130 milimetres high. Beside the uncut example, mine looks like Cinderalla's plain sister, beside the beauty of the family. Now the moral is that only tall Elzevirs are beautiful, only tall Elzevirs preserve their ancient proportions, only tall Elzevirs are worth collecting. Dr. Lemuel Gulliver remarks that the King of Lilliput was taller than any of his court by almost the breadth of a nail, and that his attitude filled the minds of all with awe. Well, the Philistine may think a few millimetres more or less, in the height of an Elzevir, are of little importance. When he comes to sell, he will discover the difference. An uncut, or almost uncut copy of a good Elzevir, may be worth fifty to sixty pounds or more (1892); an ordinary copy may bring fewer pence. The binders usually pare down the top and bottom, more than the sides. I have a 'Rabelais,' of good date, with the red title (1663), and some of the pages have never been opened at the sides. But the height is only some 122 millimetres, a mere dwarf. Therefore the collector of Elzevirs should have one of those useful ivory-handled knives, on which the French measures are marked, and thus he will at once be able to satisfy himself, as to the exact height of any example which he encounters."
Since I began collecting books, as a rather modestly proportioned buyer, with mere coins jingling in my pocket, I have worried less about these conditions, of maximum valuation, based on appearances, and more about the content that is appealing to the modern old book enthusiast. I buy the best quality vintage non-fiction texts I can, for resale, at the lowest possible prices I can afford to offer, and still make a profit. But in my profession, especially as relates to books, I still have to know the levels of collecting from the top-down, because it is always potential, especially dealing with estates, that an original, and sized perfectly, Elzevir, might be found in the collection.
"The nature of the collector's craze, which compels rich men and poor men to desire the very same books, has made it inevitable that the rich shall set the fashion. The fashion for rare books, like the market price and the state of the odds on the Turf, 'follows the money.' A wealthy sportsman could make the darkest horse in his stable, a favorite, if he only backed him largely enough, and probably a millionaire could set up a taste for the first editions, of Mrs. Hannah More's works, if he went about paying large sums for them. There are a few exceptions to this general rule, that the fashion follows the money. Sometimes the money follows what (still to use the sporting metaphor) we may call, 'the talent.' A clever man writes a bibliography of a certain author (having first carefully provided himself with that author's works), and then the rich collector loses his head and invests heavily, perhaps in Restif de la Bretonne. Nodier sometimes made efforts of this kind, but Nodier was often before his age. He possessed a beautiful example of Perrault's 'Contes de ma Mere l'Oye" (Paris 1697), and he tried to write it into reputation. But in Nodier's time, it did not sell for more than six or seven pounds. The price of this pleasant fountain-head of fairy tales, is now, literally beyond rubies. In recent catalogues (old books) of M. Danascene Morgand, and M. Fontaine, one finds no example of Perrault's first Paris editions. Both merchants offer the Dutch reprint at prices varying from sixty pounds to eighty pounds. Brunet says, but perhaps too hastily, that the Amsterdam is as rare as the original Paris edition. I have only seen one copy of the latter, in the private collection of a London Bookseller. Nodier did not succeed in making it fashionable in his own day; he was less fortunate than Motteley, who found a quantity of uncut Elzevirs lurking in Hungary, and then wrote on them till they became a treasure." The above passage was, of course, taken from the same book by good Mr. Lang, author of "Books and Bookmen."
This book was not written for those who didn't have at least, a basic understanding of books, and rare first editions; and how they were printed and bound, as related to what makes them most desirable by collectors, for their investment value. It is a little tricky to follow, but it does make a pretty clear point; that collecting books is not just about content, and like collecting stamps and coins, and even todays sports cards, printing and production, including cutting, are very integral to the valuations placed on each product. If a stamp isn't perfect, even in mint condition, it will be rated accordingly in terms of cash value. Perfection is a pretty big deal to ardent, and purist collectors, of which I am only one of two. As a dealer, who occasionally has to veer into this domain, of "mint" condition collectables, versus less than perfect examples, I have no choice but to appreciate descriptions, such as what Mr. Lang has written about in the passage above. I like toys that have been loved and played with by former owners. Many toy collectors will only buy mint examples, and despite what I think, as being kind of sad, that these toys have never been played with, I must surrender to their, the collector's convictions to the contrary; these are the only ones they are willing to purchase. So I avoid these terms and conditions, and bring in toys that have been previously enjoyed and celebrated, and I'm usually able to find buyers who don't care about the number of scratches, or the fact it doesn't come with an original box. The same holds for me, when I buy and sell books. I am respectful of pristine copies, but seeing as I very seldom buy one at its appraised value, to re-sell, I am easily satisfied, by an old book that has its physical integrity, intact, yet shows that it has been read with great enthusiasm and care. I can buy these copies affordably, and pass them on to book lovers, with a modest mark-up. But we have no choice as antique dealers, to know as much as possible, about the grading of the items we purchase, and then offer for sale; and that can include such items today as vintage vinyl (records) which have to be graded on the same scale of wear and play-quality. I have watched son Robert, spend hour upon hour, examining the vintage vinyl he has purchased from customers, to make sure he can adjust the asking prices, to reflect the wear on each. He grades them severely, and prices them according to the way each record plays, and appears, including the condition of the album covers. It's not done by all vintage vinyl sellers, but he insists on putting in the extra effort, to ensure customers are aware of the differences in condition, that will affect play on a turn-table.
When you see an art admirer in a shop like ours, or a silver sleuth, with a magnifying glass, examining a piece of inventory, it shows a determination to uncover details of the subject items, find previous repairs, damage, flaws, wear, that will affect their potential investment. We always have a number of small magnifying glasses with us, when we travel shop to shop, because inevitably, we will find something that requires a much closer inspection, afforded only by such devices. And yes, it can make all the difference, especially with hallmarks on silver, signatures and other identifying marks on art pieces. I look for brush hairs, dried in paintings, that confirm originality. Others look for the competence of brush strokes and palete knife imprints, because they know the methods employed by artists they happen to collect. Being persnickety and studious, is the fail-safe, you won't be duped, but instead buy genuine articles. There are a lot of hazards for collectors out there, and as far as frauds and reproductions, they are getting better all the time, and sometimes even fool the collectors and dealers.
A customer brought me in an original painting, he said was the work of a master, and potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In less than five seconds, I had to inform him that he had brought in a print, and not an original, signed art piece. He wouldn't believe me, until I managed to loosen some fasteners on the back, and removed the print to show him. Crest-fallen is a pretty good description of the chap, on the way out of the store. Another lady brought in an antique map, that was a modern era reprint, and in fact, it said so in the fine print, on the bottom of the graphics. We have people who visit the local thrift shop, and bring us back china they believe to be worth a lot of money. I point out to them, that if it has "dishwasher safe," or "detergent safe," or something similar, it is a cheap, valueless reproduction of an original china design. Flow blue china is being so heavily reproduced, and we've seen so many pieces come in, over the counter, that we can save these folks the effort of hauling them out of the box, as soon as we see the first plate or cup, and the blue that has been used in the design. Repros, so very many, and some folks are understandably confused, between modern day adaptations and original, and valuable flow-blue dinnerware.
The little text, written about books and bookmen, from 1892, offers good advice about avoiding poor copies of originals, and as this trend goes back centuries, there really isn't any excuse for making investment mistakes today, with this much reference material available.
Please join me tomorrow, for another chapter of advice about old books and their valuations.
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