Page:A history of booksellers, the old and the new.djvu/426

386 386 THOMAS TEGG. and determined to try his fortune in the pro- vinces. A few words on the book-auction trade may have a passing interest here. According to Dibdin, the first book auction of which we have any record in England occurred in 1676, when Cooper, the book- seller, prefixed the following address to his catalogue : " Reader, it hath not been usual here in England to make sale of books by way of auction, or who will give most for them ; but it having been practised in other countries, to the great advantage of both buyers and sellers, it was therefore conceived (for the encourage- ment of learning) to publish the sale of those books in this manner of way." The innovation was success- ful. Cooper established a reputation as a book- auctioneer, and in London such sales became common. In a few years we read of the practice being extended to Scotland, and to the larger towns in England, such as Leeds and York. John Dunton, with his usual versatility, took over a cargo of books to sell at Dublin, and after that date attendance at the country fairs with books to sell by auction became quite a distinct branch among the London booksellers. The leading auctioneer in Dunton's time was Edward Millington. "He had a quick wit and a wonderful fluency of speech. There was usually as much wit in his ' One, two, three !' as can be met with in a modern play. ' Where/ said Millington, ' is your generous flame for learning ? Who but a sot or a blockhead would have money in his pocket, and starve his brains ?'" At this time it appears that bids of one penny were very commonly offered and accepted. Book- auctioneering soon became a distinct trade altogether, and required not only much fluency of speech and