Salt Lake Telegram | 1931-06-11 | Page 10 | World's Greatest Thrill Declared to be That Which Comes When Book Bought for 10 Cents Brings $10,000

Worlds World's Greatest Thrill Declared To Be That Which Comes When Book Bought for 10 Cents Brings firings Finds Finds' Are Few but Bibliophiles Bibliophiles Bibliophiles philes Continue Search for Rarities By CHARLES nONCE HONCE NEW YORK June 11 Possibly MV-Possibly none of those which ch are supposed supposed supposed sup sup- posed to come once In a lifetime can equal that of picking up a book for 10 0 cents and selling it for or r even 1000 That there are plenty of books In Inthe inthe the he world that sell for 1000 or more has hns ins been demonstrated time after aftertime aftertime time Ime at book auctions and private sales ales In fact there is a book shop in n New York which sells nothing but buti books and manuscripts priced at 1000 1000 or more Do any o of these extremely valuable books ever er come to light in attics old trunks or in the dime bins of book bookstores bookstores stores tores Yes occasionally occasionally just just enough nough times to cause hope to spring eternal in the heart of the bibliophile that hat some day he will come upon a a copy opy of Poes Poe's first volume of verse erse or orsome orsome some ome other rare and valuable work ork Just the other day Mrs Charles L. L Couch wife of the president of a Buffalo coal firm and a book collector collector col- col lector ector attended the thc sale of household household household house house- hold effects and antiques in a Bufalo Buffalo Buffalo falo alo home buying a 3 halt half dozen dozen books for or 25 cents each Later she found that hat one a copy of Hawthorne's Letter first edition Scarlet was as a usually quoted at more than 1000 FEW COPIES LEFT Although more than 2000 WOO copies of f the first edition of The Scarlet Letter were published about the middle of March 1850 time has taken its Ls toll and only a few survive to toda to- to day da As a bibliographer observes The Scarlet Letter has done uncommonly uncommonly uncommonly well vell for a book that inaugurated inaugurated rated its commercial career for 75 cents a copy It has become particularly particularly par- par in recent years ears one of the great collecting desiderata of Ameri- Ameri American Amerian can an literature At the sale of the Wakeman collection collection col- col lection of American authors in the spring of 1924 a copy of the first edItion edition edI- edI tion ion which Hawthorne presented to tolis his lis sister Elizabeth sold for In December 1928 another copy of the I first edition inscribed by Hawthorne to his sis sister law brought 1250 At that time ordinary good copies of the book without inscriptions inscriptions were being quoted at from to in book sellers' sellers catalogs The upward trend has become so pronounced pronounced pro pro- however that succeeding seasons seMons are arc certain to record advances advances advances ad ad- vances in value particularly for fine copies O ONE E QUOTED HIGHER HIGHER's HIGHERs s 's turned out to be a fact fad Later is s quoted the book above 1000 me ine other of Hawthorne's books i L a tI greater value alue The pinnacle wa was attained by Fanshawe Fanshaw for which Hawthorne unwittingly created created created cre cre- cre- cre the market through sion While Fanshawe is a rarity It cannot compete In bibliographical or romantic interest with The Scarlet Letter considered one of the few great productions of American let let- The latter was a success from the start The first edition was ex exhausted exhausted exhausted ex- ex hausted in 10 days The first edition was as bound in brown cloth and bears the Imprint of Ticknor Reed d Fields of Bos Bos- ton