Notes for Collectors
SHAKESPEARE still leads in the sale-room as on the stage. Lord Leigh's set of the four Folios--of 1623, 1632, 1664 and 1685—brought the very substantial sum of £6,000 at Messrs. Sotheby's on June 29th. These copies had slight defects or they would have fetched even more. They were bought for America. It may be hoped that they will be exhibited or used. There is one American collector who is reputed to have a vault full of Shakespeare Folios and Quartos which he will not produce for the inspection of the learned. Happily such men are exceptional. The late Mr. Huntington, who spent millions in acquiring the best pictures and the rarest books, gave the public access to them and left them all to California. Another exceptional item in the same day's sale was one of the two perfect copies known of Paynter's Palace of Pleasure (1566)— a book that every literary historian mentions as an example of Elizabethan prose. Paynter was a civil servant and beguiled his office hours by translating Boccaccio, as Chaucer, another official, had done long before. Paynter's rare book fetched £1,900. But the Britwell copy of it, with the second volume of 1567, containing stories from Bandello, was sold in New York last year for £3,200. First editions of notable English books are the most coveted items now, and their prices increase with their age.
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