and have the
most limited opportunities of ascertaining or verifying values as
submitted to them by experts in the book-market; they have Lowndes,
which is almost worthless, and _Book Prices Current_, which is, of
course, more contemporary, but must be read between the lines; and the
extreme difficulty of judging what is worth having, and how much
should be given for it, has led to that frequent habit of collectors
favouring a particular dealer, or, as an alternative, pursuing a
policy highly unpleasant to dealers by acquiring direct from the
salerooms. Fortunately for booksellers the latter plan does not suit
busy men, and it is just that class, especially the merchant and the
stockbroker, the solicitor and accountant, who are their best clients.

The trade has its sorrows and trials; but it cannot be a very bad one
when we see how many live out of it, if they do not often make
fortunes. The fact is, that the motives for buying books are almost as
infinitely multifarious as the books themselves, and there exists not
the volume for which the customer will not arise, if the holder can
wait; and this customary incidence accounts for the familiar aphorism
that booksellers accumulate stock, not money--an aphorism to which the
exceedingly rare exceptions prove the rule.

Putting it differently, bookselling outside the current literature is
a form of speculation which varies according to the class of
investment which the stockholder selects; and it is quite necessary to
bear in mind the nature and tendency of the business in order to more
clearly appreciate the uncertainty of prices, and how utterly
impossible it must ever be for any ordinary book-buyer to rely on his
purchases as a representation of value. If he does not view the matter
in that light, or chooses to let the instruction or pleasure derived
from his acquisitions become a set-off against the outlay, it is very
well; what he or his heirs get for the property is in that case all
profit.

We dwell a little on this aspect of the matter, because we are quite
aware that in purchasing books many persons look at the ulterior
question, and even demand of the vendor how much the article is likely
to bring when or if re-sold. Such a contingency usually limits itself
to cases where a volume is secured for a special and temporary object,
or where funds are restricted and the fancy is purely personal.

Apart from these considerations, there are other influences always at