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 (*), 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.

(*) This Society has been credited-or otherwise-with so many volumes, chiery of an erotic nature, which it never issued. that a list of the genuine volumes, issued with the authority and consent of Sir Richard Burton, may be of interest. These are: Kama Sutra, of Vatsyayana, 1883; Amanga Ranga, of Kalyana Mall, 1885; The Beharistan, of Jami, 1887; The Gulistan, of Sa'di, 1888; Alf Laylah wa Laylah (The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night), ten volumes, 1885; Supplemental Nights to The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, six volumes, 1886-1888. These vo1umes- are all listed in a four page folder, which accompanied Vol. 5, of the Supplemental Nights. The folder mentions two other volumes in preparation; The Nigaristan of Jawini, and The Scented Garden, of the Shaykh al-Nafzawi. The former translation was never issued; the latter translation, made by Sir Richard himself, was burned in MS by his wife, shortly after his death. The only translation of al-Nafzawi bearing the Kama Shastra Society imprint, was issued in 1886, in white velJum, uniform with the other single volumes listed above with the title of The Perfumed Garden. This translation, which was made through a French version, is described, and practically acknowledged as a book of the Society, in a foot-note on page 133, Vol. 10, of the Nights.

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.

< Book Buying Part 3