Chalcographimania or, the Portrait-Collector and Printseller's Chronicle, with Infatuations of euery Description. A humorous poem in four books. With copious notes explanatory. By Satiricus Sculptor [i.e. S. W. H. Ireland] |
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AUCTIONEERS, &c. |
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 | Chalcographimania |  |
AUCTIONEERS, &c.
“Crimp'd leaves are wafted by the gale;
“Hail Autumn;” cried my gallant knight:—
“For print sales 'gin by candle-light:
“The drenching rain from spout now sputters,
“And mud in tides rolls down the gutters;
“To me more sweet that Summer's sun,
“Bereft of evening Auctions' fun:
“Sale follows Sale in proud array;
“The Auctioneer begins his reign,
“And I now grace the bidding train;
“No sound so sweet as when upon
“My lot, falls hammer, with—Gone, Gone .”
As senior of our grand procession;
Lo! R---ch---rds---n shall grace my lays ,
So worthy Catalogus' praise;
Of prints unique and portraits rare;
To satisfy Collector's itch,
And make blank leaves of Granger rich:
For he who such an errant fop is,
To turn up snout at sight of copies;
And in his Granger mighty huffer,
Originals will only suffer;
Must ev'ry niggard thought unbend,
And mind make up huge sums to spend;
Yet let him squander what he will,
One third of Granger he can't fill,
Wherefore one page in ev'ry three,
Alas! a yawning blank must be .
On lot that's choice knows how to dwell :
His mind is honest—nature good,
Yet sometimes, be it understood,
He can grow hot like other men,
And woe betide his carcase then,
Who rashly dares to brave his choler,
For me, I would not for a dollar:
Witness when once at fam'd Knock-Out ,
'Twixt R---ch---rds---n and Gr---v---s was rout;
Hurl'd quick at sconce a quartern loaf,
So hard; that had it come with noddle,
In rueful contact, Gr---v---'s, poor coddle,
So dire is passion—naughty sin .
Yet plain I'll speak and prove commender,
Of this same veteran portrait-vender;
Had old minx Fortune acted fair,
And for deserts dealt out due share;
From trade ere this he had been steering,
Nor still prov'd Knight of Auctioneering.
And such reward he merits well,
And would have tasted, if foul spell,
Had not entrapp'd him in the net,
By wily Scottish cunning set :
As I'll rehearse in rhyming lore,
Ere Chalcographian race is run,
And Catalogus' story done.
Nor less with Latin stor'd than Greek ;
Lo! Chr---st---e view the hammer wielding,
As Square does stick, pourtray'd by Fielding;
And tells alike—untruths comme ça:
For Auctioneer would give emetic,
That was not vers'd in prose-poetic;
In fine it must till day of doom,
Of pulpit rank the great heir-loom.
Still though I've learned nam'd my knight,
With ignorance I've known him fright
Such share of sense as I possess:
Witness when once he laid great stress,
As porter held up lot before us,
A picture bright of painter Florus,
Which knight with acumen quite keen,
Pronounc'd chef d'œuvre—Florentine;
Was call'd the Raphael of the Flemish;
'Twas Francis Florus name no doubt,
Turn'd Ch---st---'s senses inside out .
At sale of Bishop's stores—of Ely ,
Friend Catalogus bled quite freely;
Thus easing well lin'd purse of wad,
Since Going, Going—claim'd his Nod.
While Clarendon due share impress'd;
Whereby this truth appears quite plain
If bidder was in mirthful vein,
To common sense 'tis render'd clear,
As much delight felt auctioneer;
Who profits gaining chuckled gaily;
So thus o'erjoy'd I'll bid him vale.
Puffed up with pride and vain conceit;
In Auction's guise I next array,
The King-street K---ng and friend L---ch---e;
Who well nigh robb'd of sense the grain,
That stocks my Chalcographian's brain;
As they the wond'rous stores unlock'd,
And down to ardent bidders knock'd,
Within their well attended room,
A Farmer's hoards and eke a Coombe:
Devoted to Shaksperian creed:
And Tooke who butted with sharp Horne,
'Gainst Ministers, like Unicorn;
And with Big-wigs made hurly-burley,
Diversions printing—nam'd of Purley:
From wonders such as these 'tis plain,
With Catalogus K---ng must reign,
'Mongst pulpit tribe that makes oration,
A monstrous brilliant constellation .
To others now I'll tune my lays.
To L---gh and S---th---by's in the Strand,
I wend my way:—to fame well-known,
Whose acts are grac'd with honour's zone,
Since unlike some that might be quoted,
For deeds unfair they are not noted ,
Mere putters-up and knockers-down;
Yet ne'ertheless all-bounteous fate,
Hath dealt to them collections great,
That won my Chalcographian's heart,
Who ne'er yet fail'd to play his part:
Witness the stores of All---n's vat
Whose wit is like his brewing—flat:
A Tyson's prints and medals rare ,
That made our Catalogus stare;
Like Hindoo running fearful muck ,
Or screaming pig that's newly stuck,
At sight of hound—who Doloroso,
Now weeps o'er false Shaksperian lore ,
Which sprang from Maisterre Ireland's store;
For having ap'd the muse's god .
To Boucher praises must be pour'd,
With Marquis Townshend's classic hoard;
While still to sweeten more the posset,
Come books of dirty snarling G---ss---t;
Procur'd an help-mate for disporting .
So much for Auction pedigree,
Of S---th---by and companion L---gh.
His creatures lord's in selling state ;
Whose wither'd phiz you'll ever find,
The portrait of his hungry mind;
Beside him view his vixen wife;
That breathes with raven's croak her spite,
A most infuriate Belgic sprite;
That naught e'er suffers to go by,
Her finger always in the pye .
'Twas here great Catalogus saw,
Rare sights and clapp'd on them his claw.
When Argyle's Duke to sale resign'd,
Delights of Chalcographian's mind;
And Udney's choice collection too,
With Spencer's pass'd in grand review ;
Was when fine proofs—bewitching host,
Were brought the hammer's blow to share,
Impressions matchless, bright, and rare;
Which Ph---ll---p--- singing blithe Te Deum,
Had chose for sale at great M---s---um;
Whereas he should have borne to dwelling
No more than duplicates for selling ,
But northern sense is ne'er in mist,
And proofs we know to mill bring grist.
While to Museum thus I'm led,
Of D---gh---t---n something should be said;
From all collections purse to fill;
Till Rembrandt's etching, prime landscape ,
Call'd coach, brought D---gh---n into scrape,
Who finding guilt will courage alter,
On being prov'd a base defaulter;
Restor'd whate'er he still possess'd,
And thus the case was lull'd to rest.
Now claims my Catalogus' smile,
Whose mental attributes may be,
In words condens'd no more than three,
Wherefore he is—so wills it fate,
Conceited—stupid—obstinate;
'Tis true he oft appalls with wonder,
When hammer's blow re-echoes thunder,
Thus what his elocution lacks,
Is made good by tremendous whacks;
My knight, electrified by thump.
O! what a famous row was made,
With Chalcographians and the Trade,
When dainty lots of Lake deceas'd ,
Heroic bidders finely fleec'd:
Or when with Chalcographian rage,
He warr'd for Basiologian page,
Suppos'd from Fife's great Lord to come,
Whereas I swear 'twas all an hum ,
Than Champagne's brew'd from hops, like beer;
To prove that none this secret know;
Since sale, in hand, upon my life,
I've had the volume fam'd of F---fe.
Optics 'tis plain there's no deceiving
Seeing and feeling is believing.
Would rank with auction dons—a god,
And hails him—high sublimity.
Yet though on stilts he now appears,
If we retrace a few short years,
We view him serving out to many,
In Lambeth Marsh prints at one penny,
Which strung in rows the hovel grac'd,
With dust and cobwebs thick enchas'd .
Not far from thence in Lambeth Road.
Of P---ls---r stands the known abode ,
As price 'gainst price was eager wag'd:
Thus either sharp print-selling brother,
Strove hard to undersell the other ;
To D---dd in crowds Collectors flock;
Till last in search of fortune's fane,
He shows off in Saint Martin's Lane,
Where I fame's trump now boist'rous blowing,
Thrice hail him knight—of Going—going .
Collectors, Ev---ns to thy knock-down;
When Roxburgh's fam'd gigantic sale,
Made Catalogus' pocket wail,
Nor did a Stanley's choice editions,
Cause less enfuriate competitions
With Bibliomanians, lur'd at finding
To paper large join'd splendid binding.
Of Catalogus, I'll unbend
To halt at Auction-room of S---nd---rs;
His neighbours at Saint Dunstan's church;
The fleeting hours by striking bell.
Such brains as grace of those the scull,
From whence the din recording flows.
For Johnny Sc---tt to wield birch broom,
Of last deeds making thus the clearance,
Ere Jacky made his disappearance ;
Immerg'd in black dishonour's tide,
For whoso from his bail can fly
Is stamp'd with guilt of deadly dye,
And ev'ry moral thrill effac'd.
From knock-down knight—but Auction Mart
Claims at her hand corrective whip,
The deep deceptive veil to strip,
That robs fair trader of his due;
By specious holding forth to view,
An eye-entrapping gew-gaw show,
With nothing save external glow;
Like winter's sickly rays, that bring
To mind the beams of dawning spring,
Teach us 'tis winter to our cost:
So Marts, like these, may lure the eye
Of thoughtless idiots passing by;
But he that trusts, deceiv'd will be,
And knowledge gain with golden key;
For nought, save money's precious loss,
Will make him know true ore from dross.
The dealer and auctioneer whose feats I now discuss, is a very good-hearted honest man, to whom portrait collectors and illustrators are under infinite obligation for the numerous copies from old and rare portraits which he has ushered into publicity. Neither is C---lf---ld less to be commended for such copies as Sir John Hotham, with a string of others too numerous for insertion in the present volume.
Every individual possessing the slightest knowledge of illustrating Granger's Biographical History, must allow the justice of the above remark, for so numerous have been the collectors for this work, that the market is completely cleared of portraits possessing any claim to scarcity, independent of which such heads as are procurable have more than quadrupled their value within the last twenty years.
It gave me great pleasure to find R---ch---rds---n was the auctioneer selected to catalogue and dispose of the collections of Sir William Musgrave and Mr. Tighe, as they no doubt proved extremely lucrative to the vender.
As the present term may not be generally understood, I shall in the most laconic way possible explain this chicanery of the printselling trade. When a Knock Out is decided upon by a select number of printsellers, it is agreed between them that whoever begins bidding for any lot is not to be opposed by the others leagued of the party; wherefore as all competitorship is thus in a great measure done away, the property falls an easy prey to the junto, and thus the poor proprietor is fleeced of half the sum his prints would have produced had every dealer acted honourably. The sale being over, these honest gentlemen repair with their lots to an adjoining ale-house, where they resell the property among themselves, which is technically termed knocking out, and whatsoever additional sum is thus acquired, this gracious set expend upon beef-steaks and a copious booze.
The foregoing couplets being sufficiently explanatory of the event in question, it only remains for me to assure the reader that the circumstance may be relied upon as a matter of fact, which neither of the parties if applied to could have the effrontery to deny.
Master J---hnny of Noble Author renown, was by no means backward in letting R---ch---rds---n into a good thing, whose pocket has smarted to the tune of several hundreds, by the predatory incursions of our Northern Adventurer.
The personage now before us, who owes his origin to a very expert parent, is the most classical of our auctioneering fraternity, having been gifted with scholastic education, that has inducted him to a knowledge of the Greek and Roman writers. As a vender he ranks very fair, and in private life his character will stand the test of the most minute enquiry.
I must confess that I felt no small share of surprise on witnessing this egregious blunder from a person of education, and more particularly as the father of our Auctioneer had a knowledge of the several schools of painting at his tongue's end: in order therefore to avoid such mistakes in future, I would advise Mr. C--- to make Pilkington his pulpit companion.
Among other lucky windfalls that have come under the hammer of this personage, the collection of the late Bishop of Ely was not the least in magnitude, and consequently productive of considerable profit.
This brace of Hammertonians have no cause to complain of the frowns of fortune, having been honoured with the disposal of the most famous Chalcographian hoards; witness the sales of those famous collectors Farmer and Coombe, which brought immense sums, together with the property of Mr. Reed, who, as a commentator on Shakspeare has, in many instances handed his name down as a literary character with honour to posterity. In addition to these must be named the library of the late John Horne Tooke, who figured most conspicuously as a political character during the North, Chatham, and Pitt administrations; while his deep research as a scientific scholar is indelibly stamped on the annals of literature by the acumen displayed in his Diversions of Purley, than which perhaps a more learned production never issued from the press of this or any other country.
If the abilities of these individuals in their vocation are not very prominent, their characters however are unimpeachable, being fair and honest dealers in all their transactions through life, as every one must allow who has had any concern with them.
Mr. All---n, of hop-renown, who is not only a buyer but a vender also, seems to collect for the express purpose of selling again. Far different from this was the conduct of the liberal Mr. Tys---n deceased, whose judgment was conspicuously displayed at the sale of his rare collection of prints and medals, which afforded a real treat to every lover and judge of the arts.
In the East Indies it frequently occurs that a native will chew laudanum to such an excess, that the most raging delirium ensues; in which frenzied state the afflicted party seizes the first weapon he can find, and rushing out with the gesticulations of fury imprinted on his visage, runs forward, and will stab any unfortunate being that does not clear the way at his approach. Such is the explanation of Running a Muck, which terminates in death, as the sufferer proceeds till exhausted, when he drops down and expires, from the effect produced by this powerful deleterious drug.
The gentleman now figuring in our Chalcographimanian drama, must certainly have been afflicted at some period of his life with the hydrophobia, having evinced in a certain senatorial meeting the most rooted antipathy to the race of hounds: neither is he less acrimonious upon the subject of the Ireland forgeries, which he originally purchased, but growing weary of his acquisition, brought them to the hammer, when the price bid was so trifling in comparison with what he had originally paid, that the property was bought in and now continues in Mr. D---'s keeping, who never glances at this modern antique, without experiencing an emotion similar to that which results from the working of a plentiful dose of ipecacuanha.
It has frequently afforded me a matter of astonishment to think how this literary fraud could have so long duped the world, and involved in its deceptious vortex such personages as a Parr, Wharton, and Sheridan, not omitting Jemmy Boswell, of Johnsonian renown; nor can I even refrain from smiling whensoever the volumes of Malone and Chalmers, together with the pamphlets of Boaden, Waldron, Wyatt, and Philalethes, otherwise—Webb, Esq. chance to fall in my way. All this however verifies the words of Martial, when he says, Stultus labor est ineptiarum.
The three collections above noted came to the hammer of these auctioneers. As for the Doctor and his prime copies he certainly must have possessed some unaccountable talismanic charm to effect this inroad upon a wealthy lady's affections; for as to the exterior form divine, he might well have exclaimed with Richard, “Why love forswore me in my motlter's womb.”
This auctioneer has two famous auxiliaries in D---dd and H---ll---nd; the former puffing and purchasing, while the latter, instead of flourishing off panegyrics, is contented to flourish the hammer, being denied the aid of finished enunciation, both by nature and a lack of scholastic acquirements.
The lanky appearance of Ph---ll---p---'s countenance is doubtless owing to the tongue and temper of his Dutch help-mate, who strictly verifies this old French proverb; “La langue des femmes est leur epée, et elles ne la laissent pas rouiller.”
Th---ne having furnished Mr. Cracherode, who left his collection to the British Museum, with numerous prints, recognized the rare portrait of Doctor Moore, by Faithorne, when finding that he was outbid by W---db---rn the dealer, he made the circumstance public.
D---gh---n the artist being countenanced by the Prince Regent, and on terms of intimacy with B---lo who held a situation in the British Museum, procured admission whensoever he wished, under the plea of making copies of rare etchings; instead of which his practice was to select the choicest prints he could find from Cracherode's collection in particular, with which he was in the habit of walking off. Among the valuable Chalcographic specimens thus procured, was the above-mentioned extra rare and fine etching known by the name of Coach, in consequence of one of those vehicles being introduced into the design. Of this print D---gh---n executed a precise copy, and then disposed of one of the impression to W---db---rn as being an original, when the latter, anxious to ascertain the fact for a certainty, and well aware that there was one deposited in the Museum in Cracherode's bequest, he repaired thither for the purpose of comparing the impressions, but upon inspection of the folios, this coach landscape could not be found; when a strict enquiry was instituted, the result of which proved a complete discovery of the depredations in question.
Whatsoever may be wanting on the score of rhetorical tropes, such deficiency is amply compensated by the most liberal use of this vender's hammer, who, though from North of the Tweed, was not as I have before stated a competent match for the Norfolk Br---nt. Sir James L---k---'s effects, which were very numerous, and sold for high prices, were consigned to St---w---rt, who had no cause to complain of the result, which was extremely beneficial to his pocket.
Basiologia is a small folio, containing fine impressious of many rare portraits by the Passes and others, of which volume very few indeed have made their appearance. The contents of the last that was sold by St---w---rt, netted upwards of five hundred and fifty-five pounds; and was universally supposed to have belonged to the Earl of Fife, well known to possess a copy; but in this conjecture the Chalcographimanians labour under a most egregious error, as the volume in question, to my certain knowledge, is still in his lordship's library.
Nil intra est oleam, nil extra est in noce duri.HOR.
Some years back an imperfect copy of the Basiologia was purchased by a well-known bookseller, who is dubbed by his tribe with the significant appellation of Measter B---y---ns, for eighteen-pence, which he relinquished at the Knock Out for an advance of six pounds. This new purchaser then disposed of his acquisition for forty-five pounds the day after he brought his bargain into the market; on which he conceived that he had outdone all former outdoings, but to his mortification ascertained when too late, that the next possessor procured two hundred and seventy guineas for the prints, within three days after his disposal of them.
This auctioneer also disposed of a collection which was falsely said to belong to a foreign Marquis, whereas it was the property of M---j---r Bl---gr---ve, who, possessing no Chalcographic knowledge, was completely imposed upon by a set of fawning scycophantic Italians, amongst whom one bearing the ludicrous appellation of Tom Punch, was not only the most prominent in adding to the collection, but also in puffing the lots during the period of the sale. It is merely necessary to add by way of proving the rascality of these foreigners, that the collection, consisting of German and Italian prints, which originally cost the Major several thousand pounds, did not after payment of customhouse duties realize as many hundreds.
Facts are rather stubborn things. The events above recorded will stand the test of the most rigid scrutiny, and strongly display the wonderful vicissitudes that frequently attend upon man.
This supercilious print-vender was originally an errand boy to R---d of the Strand, who in course of time began to think that money might be realized by setting up a small shop on the Surrey side of the water, and in order to ascertain this he took what was then little better than a hut, placing P---ls---r there to sell for him. The latter finding that the scheme answered, persuaded R---d that it was a useless speculation, and in consequence of this his master relinquished the shop, which P---ls---r instantly took, where he gradually got forward in the world, and now figures among print-sellers a very noted personage. This man, to increase his profits, has also taken an auction shop under the carpet-warehouse in Leicester-fields, which fairly ranks with others in the metropolis of a similar class.
No sooner had D---dd set up than a violent competition for the acquirement of custom took place between these Surrey heroes, each sneaking by candle-light to the other's window, in order to ascertain the prices marked upon prints, according to which they either encreased or decreased the sums at which they intended to sell their own commodities.
As an Auctioneer D---dd, though extremely ignorant, has had remarkable success, nor was the disposal of G---n---ral D---dsw---ll's collection one of the most insignificant boons of fortune. As to his pronunciation he calls a print admirably fine, and so forth. On the score of consummate effrontery no knight of the hammer can surpass him, as he literally will sit at his own table, while H---ll---nd is vending his own prints, and bid with as much assurance as if he were a total stranger. He does not perhaps bear in recollection that there are such things as acts of parliament, and that a clause in one, relating to auctioneers, prohibits any such vender from bidding more than once, which must either be at the commencement or termination of the bidding. By such conduct as this however the man has got forward, and being desirous to imitate the Great, has taken his country dwelling near Buckingham House. These grand ideas however sometimes experience a temporary degradation, as proved the case in R---ch---rds---n's sale room, when D---dd having given a person named R---wl---s the lie, the latter reminded him of a former period, saying, that although he then looked so big, time was that he had not wherewith to purchase a pound of potatoes; which so enraged mine Auctioneer, that blows ensued, and glorious milling match proved the result, to the infinite delight of the Chalcographimanian crew assembled.
This man is an Auctioneer, and when that is said, his history is at once enrolled: the R---xb---r---gh collection, which was very extensive, was much enriched by H---rb---rt and the Sc---tt's, while the St---nl---y library had to boast the choicest editions, which were farther enhanced in value by a display of the most sumptuous bindings.
As a specimen of the prices at which the lots sold at the sale of this nobleman's effects, I shall first quote as instances the following works from the printing press of Caxton. £ s. Literary Festival, folio, purchased by Earl Spencer ...105 0 The prouffytable Boke for Manes Soule, called the Chastysing of Goddes Children, folio ..................140 0 The Golden Legend, or Lives of the Saints, 1483, folio..31 0 The Life of St. Jerome, quarto ....................... 121 0 Catherine of Tenis, folio ............................. 95 0 Tullius of Old Age and Friendship, 1481, folio ....... 115 0 The Mirrour of the World, 1480, folio (the fairest and finest of Caxton existing ............................ 351 15 £ s. The Kalendayr of Shyppers, folio ..................... 180 0 The Boke of St. Alban's, folio, made perfect by MS. .. 147 0 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, MSS. on vellum, with illuminations, purchased by the Duke of Devonshire ... 357 0
I have not been able to trace the early prices of all the Caxtons mentioned in the above list, but the subjoined specimens will abundantly testify the rapid progress of the Bibliomania among Collectors. At Mr. West's sale in 1775, the following forming part of the above volumes, sold as under: At Mr. West's. At D. of R. £ s. £ s. The Prouffytable Boke for Mane's Soule, &c.....5 0..140 0 The Mirror of the World, &c. ...... .... ..... 2 13..351 15 The Golden Legend ............................... 12 15.. 31 0 Tullius of Old Age and Friendship ................ 5 10..115 0 The Boke of St. Albans ...........................13 0..147 0
The 17th of June, 1812, proved however the grand climax in book vending, for at no time, and in no country, did lots realize prices at which they were knocked down by Mr. Evans. No. 6,292. Il Decamerone di Boccacio, 1471 .....£2,260
Of the present rarity of this edition of the Decameron, it is perhaps sufficient to state, that no other perfect copy is known to exist, after the fruitless research of more than three hundred years. No. 6,348. The Boke of the Fayt of Armes of Chyvalrye, folio, Caxton, 1479, bought by Mr. Nornaville, for .. 336 0 No. 6,343. The Veray trew History of the Valiant Knight Jason, folio, 1492. Of this rare edition no other copy is known; bought by the Duke of Devonshire ...... 94 10 £ s. No. 6,350. The Recuyeil of the Histories of Troye, &c. Caxton, 1473. This matchless copy of the first book printed in the English language, belonged to Elizabeth Grey, Queen of Edward IV. bought by the Duke of Devonshire, for......................................1060 10 No. 6,353. The most Pytiful History of the noble Appolyn, king of Thrye, quarto, very rare, W. de Worde, 1519, bought by Mr. Nornaville, for ................. 115 10 No. 6,360. The History of Blanchardyn and the Princess Eglantyne, folio, Caxton. Unique, but unfortunately imperfect; bought by Earl Spencer, for .............. 215 5 No. 6,361. The right Pleasaunt and Goodlie Historye of the four Sonnes of Alman, folio; bought by Mr. Heber, for .................................................. 55 0 No. 6376. The lyfe of Vergilius, rare, quarto, bought by the Marquis of Blandford, for ........................ 54 12 No. 6,377. The Storye of Frederyke of Jenne, wood cuts, 1518; bought by Triphook for ................... 65 2 No. 6,378. The Story of Mary of Nemegen, 1518, bought by Triphook, for...................................... 67 0 The day's sale amounted to ......................... 5035 7
In addition to the above specimens of the Bibliomanian furor, I may farther note. £ s. Webb's Discourse of English Poeterie, which sold for .. 64 0 The Paradyse of Daintye Devises ...................... 53 15 The Passetime of Pleasure, by Stephen Hawys ........... 81 0 The Example of Virtue by the same Hand ............... 60 0 The History of Boccus and Sydracke ................... 30 0 The Contraverse between a Lover and a Jay ............ 39 0 The Spectacle of Lovers by Will Walter ............... 43 0 Guistarde and Sigesmunde ............................. 54 0 The Castell of Pleasure .............................. 65 0 A Translation of the Ship of Fools.................... 64 0 A Littel Treatise of the Horse, the Sheep, the Goos, by J. Lydgate ........................................... 44 0 The Love and Complaints between Mars and Venus ....... 60 0 £ s. Gower's Confessions of Amantes ...................... 336 0 Another neither so old nor so ugly (such is the value of deformity) ........................................... 18 6
Great sales of books by auction, to the amount of £40,000, have been made within these three years, and it was early computed, that the Roxburgh sale would produce twenty-five or thirty thousand pounds more. A collection of two-penny portraits of criminals and other remarkable characters, chiefly persons tried at the Old Bailey, sold at this sale for £94. 10s.; and a collection of halfpenny ballads and garlands pasted in three volumes, for £478. 15s. Four years ago £32. was deemed a fair price for the first edition of Shakspeare's works, in folio, 1623; but in these Bibliomanian times, the collector conceives that he has purchased a bargain, if he procures the said volume for one hundred guineas, the price which it brought at the Duke of Roxburgh's sale. For a more elaborate account of the Bookmania, and particularly of the Decameron of Boccacio, vide vol. 5, page 272, &c. of the General Chronicle and Literary Magazine, from May to August 1812.
As another convincing proof of the astonishing rise which has taken place in the price of old books, I have farther to instance, that less than twenty years back the rare dramatic pieces of Ferrex and Porrex, and Gorboduc were purchased of Otridge, in the Strand, for five shillings: it would be needless to say at what an advanced price they would sell at the present day.
The vender above-mentioned cuts but a very so-so figure in rhetoric, when employed in the hammer exercise however loud he bawls; and as for his enunciation, in lieu of the word place, he never utters a sentence without pronouncing it plāase, in the very broadest manner possible.
The vender in question was in the constant habit of making cash advances to S---t, who used to vest property in his hands as a security for the same. He also sold the remnant of the Scottish hoards when the game was up, and hic et ubique proved the order of the day. Another mode resorted to, whereby the Auctioneer now under review has realized money, is the following.
The custom is to purchase stock of booksellers in want of ready cash, and not a few dealings of this kind has he had with a knight commercially deceased. These purchases are forwarded to book-binders, of whom he has many in constant employ, that give the most gay appearance to publications of mean repute; when such volumes are not only calculated to captivate his neighbours, the young students in the Temple, but the casual passenger also, to the manifest detriment of the fair trader. By practices such as these our Hammertonian has so well succeeded in feathering his nest, that he can always command £1000. at his banker's, or any other sum to answer the call of every distressed book-wight who cannot raise wind sufficient to draw in his paper kites.
This fact is known throughout the trade, from one of whom I gleaned the information some short time back, coupled with the following relation: that since J---n has been at hide and seek, his itch for auctions was such that he could not refrain from entering a house where property was selling off, when lo! in the middle of the sale, an individual arrived, who had some time previous bailed our run-away, and was consequently fixed with the payment of debt and costs. No sooner therefore did he recognize his man, than seizing him by the collar, he demanded instant remuneration in the face of the whole company, branding S---tt at the same time with every epithet that appertains to a b---d. The pressing nature of the case not admitting of evasion, prompt measures were pursued, and the exasperated creditor, as I was informed, procured immediate satisfaction.
These receptacles, which are a complete nuisance to society, call aloud for the corrective interference of our legislature, as independent of the tinselled rubbish with which they decoy the unsuspecting passengers, they are farther instrumental in depriving the auctioneer of that custom to which he has a just claim, in consequence of the enormous rental of large premises, that he is compelled to tenant, as well as the burthensome government duties to which he is necessarily subjected.
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