Prices of Books

THIRD FOLIO, 1664 (some copies dated 1663)

This edition is scarcer than the second, owing to the copies having been destroyed in the Fire of London. The title-page of 1663 has the portrait, and that of 1664 is without it. Mr. Thorpe, in one of his catalogues, said that he had “refused £10 for the title of 1663.” Mr. Quaritch gave £11 for one in 1895 at Sotheby’s.

The following is a list of the prices that some copies have realised:—

B. Worsley (1678), £1, 8s. 6d. Smallwood (1684), 15s. 6d. Richard Wright, M.D. (1787), £1, 1s. Allen (1795), £6, 6s. Steevens (1800), £8, 8s. Roxburghe (1812), £35. Stanley (1813), £16, 16s. Broadley (1832), £11, 5s. William Combes (1837), £5, 7s. 6d. (some leaves inlaid). Stowe (Duke of Buckingham), 1849, £35 (margin of portrait mended, title lined). Lord Stuart de Rothesay, £50 (tall copy, with duplicate titles). Miss Currer (1862), £43, 10s. (original calf). Addington, £130 (large and fine copy). S. Daniel (1864), £46. H. Perkins (1873), £105 (1/8-inch taller than Daniel’s copy). Beresford-Hope (1882), £72, 10s. (portrait and title inlaid). Ouvry (1882), £116. Earl of Aylesford (1888), £93 (13½ in. by 8 in.). F. Perkins (1889), £100. Halliwell Phillipps (1889), £24 (title mounted, portrait, verses, and last leaf mounted). Brayton Ives (1891), 950 dollars (£190), portrait from fourth edition. Hawley (1894), £205. Hildyard, 1895 (with two title-pages), £280. Misc. Coll. (Sotheby’s), 1895, original calf, £350.

FOURTH FOLIO, 1685

Dibdin says of this that it “has little to recommend it, either on the score of rarity or intrinsic worth.” Even now the prices are not very high, and it is only required to complete the set of folios.

The following are some of the prices that this volume has realised:—

Richard Wright, M.D. (1787), £1, 1s. Steevens (1800), £2, 12s. 6d. Roxburghe (1812), £6, 6s. Broadley (1832), £2, 2s. William Combes (1837), £2, 5s. Stowe (Duke of Buckingham), 1849, £4, 6s. Daniel (1864), £21, 10s. H. Perkins (1873), £22. Beresford-Hope (1882), £24. Ouvry (1882), £28. Choice library of a gentleman (1882), £17, 10s. Chevalier de Chatelain (1882), £7, 5s. (imperfections supplied in MS.). Addington (1886), £23 10s. (good tall copy). Old Essex library (Lord Petre), 1886, £31, 10s. (old calf). Earl of Aylesford (1888), £29 (14¼ in. by 9¼ in.). F. Perkins (1889), £14 (portrait and last two leaves slightly repaired). Halliwell Phillipps (1889), £30 (perfect copy, in original calf). Brayton Ives (1891), New York, 210 dollars (£42). Early English Poetry (Sotheby, 1892), £31. Birket Foster (1894), £25. Alfred Crampton (1896), £42 (14⅜ in. by 9⅛ in.).

SEPARATE PLAYS

All’s Well that Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, first editions in first folio.

Hamlet (Printed for N. L. and John Trundell), 1603, two copies known.

(1) Duke of Devonshire, purchased of Payne and Foss, 1825 (in vol. containing twelve early editions of this play), for £250 (wanting last leaf).

(2) British Museum, wanting title-page. Bought by Mr. Rooney of Dublin in 1856 for small sum, sold to Boone for £70, purchased of them by Halliwell Phillipps for £120. It was sold subsequently to the British Museum.

–– (L. R. for N. L.) 1604.

(1) Duke of Devonshire. (2) Earl Howe. (3) H. Huth.

Henry IV., Part 1 (P. S. for Andrew Wise), 1598.

–– (S. S. for Andrew Wise), 1599.

Steevens, £3, 10s. Roxburghe, £6, 6s. White Knights, £18, 7s. 6d. Utterson, £14. Halliwell (May 1857), £75. G. Daniel (1864), £115, 10s.

Henry IV., Part 2 (V. S. for A. Wise and W. Apsley), 1600.

Steevens, two copies (Dibdin, “Library Companion,” 805), £3, 13s., £2, 15s. Smyth (1797), £8, 8s. Roxburghe, £2. 4s. Heber (Part 2), £40. Utterson (1852), £17, 10s. Halliwell Phillipps, £100—sold to Mr. Huth. F. Perkins, 1889 (Heber’s copy), £225.

Henry V., “Chronicle History” (Thomas Creede for T. Millington & J. Burby), 1600.

Steevens (inlaid), £27, 6s. Kemble, resold (Sotheby, April 1821), £18, 7s. 6d. Heber (Part 2), £24, 3s.—bought by Mr. Daniel. Bought at Daniel’s sale (1864) for 220 guineas by Lilly. (Fine copy.)

Henry VI., Parts 1 and 2, first editions in folio. Part 3 (“The true Tragedie of Richard, Duke of York”), P.S. for T. Millington, 1595.

Chalmers (Part 1), £131.

–– (W. W. for T. Millington), 1600.

Steevens, £1, 16s. Rhodes, £5, 7s. 6d. (one leaf MS.). Jolley, £10, 10s. Halliwell (1857), £60.

Henry VIII., Julius Cæsar, King John, first editions in folio.

True Chronicle Historie of King Lear (Nathaniel Butter, St. Paul’s Churchyard), 1608.

Steevens, £28. Dent, £14, 5s. Strettell, £15. Edwards (1804), £15, 4s. 6d. Heber (Part 2), £32. Halliwell (1856), £22, 10s.—bought for Mr. Huth. Birket Foster (1894), £100.

There were second and third editions published in the same year with Butter’s name, but without place.

Love’s Labour Lost (W. W. for Cuthbert Burby), 1598.

Dent, £26. Bindley, £40, 10s. Rhodes, £53, 11s. Heber (Part 2), £40 (Bindley’s copy); came into the possession of George Daniel, who valued it at £200. It sold for 330 guineas at Daniel’s sale. F. Perkins (1859), £70 (headlines cut into, and last leaf mended). Thomas Gaisford (1890), £140.

Macbeth, Measure for Measure, first editions in folio.

Merchant of Venice (J. Roberts), 1600.

Steevens, £2, 2s., £2 (two copies, both inlaid). Roxburghe, £2, 14s.; resold to Jadis, £6, 6s.; resold to Holland (1860), £15. Heber (Part 2), £12. Jolley, £14. Utterson (1852), £16. Halliwell (1859), £21. F. Perkins (1889), £121. W. H. Crawford (1891), £111. Sir Cecil Domville, 1897, (fine copy), £315.

–– (J. R. for Thomas Heyes), 1600.

Duke of Grafton, £9, 9s. Bindley, £22, 1s. Roxburghe, £10. Heber (Part 2), £33, 10s. Field, £13, 15s. Gardner (1854), £32—bought by Mr. Tite. Halliwell (1856), £37—bought by Mr. Huth. Daniel, £99, 15s. F. W. Cosens (1890), £270. W. H. Crawford (1891), £111. Birket Foster (1894), £146.

Merry Wives of Windsor (T. C. for Arthur Johnson), 1602.

Bindley, £18. Steevens, £28—purchased by Malone; resold to Heber. Heber (Part 2), £40; bought by G. Daniel; sold at his sale in 1864 for 330 guineas to Lilly. Thomas Gaisford (1890), £385.

Merry Wives of Windsor, for Arthur Johnston, 1619.

Roxburghe, £1, 3s. Steevens, £1, 4s. Dent, £8. Heber (Part 2), £7. Halliwell (1856), £16—bought by Mr. Tite. Halliwell (1858), £14. 5s.

Midsummer Night’s Dreame (Thomas Fisher), 1600.

Steevens (part of a leaf wanting), £25, 10s. Bindley, £22, 10s. Heber (Part 2, very fine), £36—bought by Daniel; sold at his sale in 1864 for 230 guineas to Lilly. Brayton Ives (New York), 1891, 725 dollars. Birket Foster (1894), £122 (large copy).

–– (James Roberts), 1600.

Boswell, £2, 1s. Roxburghe, £3, 3s. Duke of Grafton, £4, 8s. Dent, £4, 10s. Heber (Part 4, fine), £7—bought by Daniel; sold at his sale for £36—bought by Lilly. Gardner (1854), £12, 15s. Sotheby, 1857 (Berry), £21. F. Perkins (1889), £61 (three headlines shaved).

Much Ado about Nothing (V. S. for A. Wise and W. Apsley), 1600.

Smyth (1797), £7, 10s. Steevens, £2, 12s. 6d. Roxburghe, £2, 17s. Broadley (1832), £2, 19s. Bindley, £17, 17s.

Heber, Part 2 (finest copy known, with rough edges), £18—bought by Daniel; sold at his sale (1864) for 255 guineas—Toovey. Halliwell (1857), £65—bought by Mr. Huth. Halliwell Phillipps (1889), £50 (several leaves in facsimile). F. Perkins (1889), £75 (headlines cut into). Thomas Gaisford (1890), £130.

Othello (N. O. for T. Walkley), 1622.

Steevens (with MS. notes), £29, 8s. Gilchrist, £19, 10s. Dent, £22. Bindley, £56, 14s.; resold Heber (Part 2), for £28; bought by Daniel; sold at his sale for £155 to Lilly. William Combes (1837), £15, 5s. F. Perkins (1889), £130.