GEORGE D. SMITH
“G. D. S.” as he is known in the New York Auction Rooms. Like “G. B. S.” of London, he is something of an enigma. What are the qualities which have made him, as he undoubtedly is, the greatest bookseller in the world? From a photograph by Arnold Genthe
There is no affectation of dignity or of knowledge about him, and it is well that there is not. No one knows all there is to know about books; a man might know much more than he—such men there are—and yet lack the qualities which have enabled him to secure and retain the confidence and commissions of his patrons. He is practically the main support of the auction-rooms in this country, and I have frequently seen him leave a sale at which he had purchased every important book that came up. He had knowledge and confidence enough for that, and I cannot see why his frankness and lack of affectation should be counted against him. It takes all kinds of men to make a world, and George is several kinds in himself.
Twenty-five years ago, in London, early in my book-collecting days, I came across a bundle of dusty volumes in an old book-shop in the Strand,—the shop and that part of the Strand have long since disappeared,—and bought the lot for, as I remember, two guineas. Subsequently, upon going through the contents carefully, I found that I had acquired what appeared to be quite a valuable little parcel. There were the following:—
“Tales from Shakespeare”: Baldwin and Cradock, fifth edition, 1831.
Lamb’s “Prose Works”: 3 volumes, Moxon, 1836.