Page:Livingston, Auction Prices of Books, 1905, Volume 1.djvu/12

viii PREFACE Another class of books which has been generally excluded are extra illustrated books whose real value lay in the inserted matter, prints, autographs, etc. Auction records of such books are of slight value unless a very extended description of their make-up is given.

Collected series, or volumes made up of several books bound together and sold as a lot, not separately, have generally been thrown out, though here again there are many exceptions. Some few items imperfectly described have also, from necessity, been omitted.

Aside from these exclusions the record as here printed is believed to be a representative one. It must, however, be used with intelligence and caution.

Those who are familiar with the descriptions of rare books as printed in the catalogues of the various auctioneers know that, prepared though they generally are by experts, the work is done in haste and inaccuracies are numerous. Each time such a description is reprinted new errors are likely to creep in.

In the preparation of this work, after the various descriptions of the several copies of the same edition of the same book had been brought together, serious discrepancies in descriptions were often-times brought to light. It was then necessary to consult some of the important bibliographical works of reference in an effort to make the dissimilar descriptions agree and to find out if possible just which was correct.

The value of rare books in these days, as collectors well know, depends much upon condition, and the difficulty of giving an accurate description of each item sold is the greatest weakness in every publication of this sort. In the present work we have endeavored to mention (in a condensed statement) all important imperfections, which are pointed out in the entries in the " Book-Prices Current," or in the auctioneers' catalogues. But as the catalogues (especially those of the early sales) have sometimes failed to make mention of imperfections, the earlier records, or many of them must be used, as indeed must all auction quotations, with a grain of caution.

The limitations, too, of the record, to such lots only as bring a price in excess of a fixed minimum, again calls for constant caution in using the book. There are many books here recorded which have once, or twice, or a few times only, brought a figure which admits them to our record, though in some cases these are records of ten or twenty years ago. In most cases where our record shows a few sales of this sort, just above our minimum price, the probability