e appropriately apparelled, or it cannot be referred to as
a fine copy. In the matter of large paper copies it is necessary to
form a separate judgment in each case. One thing is certain, that the
man who collects large paper books as large paper books is a vulgarian
and a fool. He who collects such large paper books as mature judgment
determines are appropriate, and because he sees them to have genuine
points of merit over and above small paper copies, is a book lover. In a
charming little volume, written by an American bibliophile, I read the
following passage, confirming in part the foregoing:--

'Good editions of good books, though they may often be expensive, cannot
be too highly commended. One can turn to a page in inviting letterpress
so much easier than to a page of an unattractive volume.'[4]

FOOTNOTES:

[3] Blades' _Enemies of Books_ (p. 25).

[4] Ellwanger's _Story of my House_, p. 213.

_Book Values._

It would be impossible to tell all the causes which go towards
determining the value of a book and which cause it to fluctuate in
price. There is but one way to arrive at a reliable knowledge of book
values, and that is to begin stall-hunting as soon as you leave school
or college and continue until past middle age, absorbing information
from stalls, from catalogues, and from sale-rooms. The records of prices
at which books have been sold in the auction rooms, and which are
regularly issued, are useless in the hands of an inexperienced person.
To make up your mind on Monday that you are going to begin a career of
successful bargain-hunting and book-collecting is only to be defrauded
on all the other five remaining days. Experience must be bought, and an
eye for a good copy of a book, or for a bargain of any kind, only comes
after years of practice. I admit that if a man begins collecting some
particular class of books, say Angling books, he may sooner arrive at
safe judgment alone; but even here he has a pretty wide field to make
blunders in. When Gabriel Naude wrote his pamphlet, _Avis pour dresser
une Bibliotheque_, he laid down his first rule thus:--'The first means
is to take the counsel and advice of such as are able to give it _viva
voce_.' This was written more than two hundred years ago, and still no
better advice could possibly be given to a book collector. By all means
find a man whom you can trust, and whose knowledge is ample, and stick
to him. Do not yourself bid in the auction room