Books handsomely and elaborately bound, especially when bearing the imprint of some famous binder, generally command prices at auction and from dealers, rather in excess of their true value. There is always a ready market for such books among wealthy collectors. A desired book with the pages in good condition, but in a shabby binding, can generally be bought, and then equally well bound by a competent binder, at a saving under the price of another copy already resplendent in crushed levant. On the other hand, a book in an elaborately jeweled binding of excessive value often sells at auction for less than the original cost of the binding. A book bound by such a celebrated binder as Roger Payne will hold its value while the binding remains solid, with little dependence on the contents of the book itself.
These remarks, however, as all remarks about auction prices must be, are only general, for the varying state of supply and demand is often met with in extremes in the auction room.
As the market value of books changes constantly, and depends not only on varying rarity, but also on demand, it is necessary that the collector have some idea as to what constitutes rarity, and the conditions governing demand. For this a considerable amount of study is necessary. It has been pointed out that rarity itself does not make for value, if there is no demand. An unique copy of a book is necessarily rare, but if no one wants it, it will not bring a price in proportion to its scarcity. This is a hard rule which one must apply, and a rule often unjust to the books themselves. Yet, while there are many books of great merit slowly disappearing from the world because of neglect, it is also true that the books most in demand and commanding the highest prices in first or early editions are, in the main, books of great intrinsic merit, well known and, for one reason or another, justly famous.
The bibliophile must judge for himself as best he may, what books indicate by their nature and celebrity a permanent value and what books command excessive prices for the moment simply because of inflated interest and demand. Conditions governing market value change in large, general movements, often affecting whole classes of books. As an example, one may note the comparatively high prices paid a century or more ago for early editions of the Greek and Latin classics, while treasures of early English literature sold for a few shillings; while at the present time these conditions are almost entirely reversed and some almost unique classic volume in extraordinary condition is required to create much of a sensation. It may be remarked here, however, that the early classics, the foundation of our present language, should have a permanent value, if such an attribute can be rightly assigned to any books at all, and it may be assumed that almost certainly the day will come when these early and important works will again be in great demand and will bring prices all the higher because of the scarcity which has accrued to them in the meantime through the loss, in one way or another, of many of the extant copies.
The greatest care is necessary in purchasing modern editions, especially of modern authors, as the number of modern books and editions, whether the books be good, bad or indifferent—the latter two adjectives usually applying, unfortunately—present an extremely complex field from which only great foresight will select books of merit which will be sought after several generations hence.
The amateur should also observe with a certain amount of suspicion books printed in very “limited” editions, with a view of establishing immediate rarity, permitting himself an interest only in those of obvious merit, where the limited edition is not necessitated by limited demand, and avoiding those books so printed of which previous editions much in demand have been issued. Privately printed books in limited editions, such as the books issued by the Villon Society, which include John Payne’s important translations from the French and Italian, and the various issues of the Kama Shastra Society[30], in which Sir Richard Burton, the gifted orientalist, was actively interested, being not only first editions and of marked literary merit, but also books fairly certain to be in demand, and rare, may generally be considered of sound value and interest. Books from famous private presses, examples of the highest state of typography of their time, such as the Kelmscott Press books printed by William Morris, or books printed by some famous printer, such as John Baskerville, of Birmingham, are almost certain to increase substantially in value in the long run over their present-day prices and are, moreover, delightful books to have.
To be properly considered with the general subject of buying, are the special copies of volumes known as “association books.” These are unique copies, connected in some direct way with the author or with some prominent personage. Because of the sentimental interest attached, these usually command high prices. Included under this heading are presentation copies with inscriptions by the author, the author’s own copy of his book, generally with autograph corrections, and books with autograph annotations by some contemporary or later, but equally famous, person or author. There is no standard by which to judge the proper value of such special copies as they are unique, and such copies may change hands several times at close intervals with a considerably varying but generally increasing price. Copies of this kind are generally held at high ransom by dealers, especially in the “high rent districts” of our large cities, and the amateur bibliophile is wiser to hope merely that, as sometimes happens, chance may throw such copies, until that time unrecognized as such, into his hands without extra premium. Dealers, and even collectors, often attempt to establish an association value in a book by inserting autograph letters or signatures of the author; but such volumes, although thus made of considerable interest, obviously cannot properly be considered under this heading.