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CHAPTER VI
SOME OLD BOOKSELLERS
O F the many obscure callings by which men gain a livelihood in New York none is more useful than that of the antiquarian booksellers, of whom there were in 1885 about twenty in the city. The favorite home of this class was then the region trav- ersed by William and Nassau streets, which may be said to be bounded somewhat indefinitely, by Cliff Street on the east and Broadway on the west.
These establishments displayed no gilded signs or plate-glass windows to the public gaze. They never advertised in the public prints; they rather avoided than sought publicity, being hidden away in musty, ill- smelling apartments, up many flights of narrow stairs, or at the end of long, dimly-lighted passages. Their customers in person were few, their chief patrons being the collectors and bibliophiles of the entire country, and these were reached by catalogues issued quarterly. These catalogues were often extensive and elaborate, and displayed much wit and ingenuity in their con- struction. The first page of a catalogue of 1868, for instance, reads as follows:
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"Two thousand seven hundred personals, funeral sermons, eulogies, biographical sketches, memorials, &c., which may be bought - if any one wants them .- of -, who, on receipt of the trifling number of cents hinted at just to the left of the place and date of imprint will take pleasure in sending any one or more of them, at his own expense, to any place where Uncle Sam keeps a post-office."
The "Motto" is the following sentiment from Horace Greeley:
"A man who does not care enough about his rela- tions to pay four shillings for a funeral sermon on his grandfather, or even on his mother-in-law, is a born ingrate, and meaner than a goat thief."
Another is a "catalogue of about two bushels of tidbits relating to that never-to-be-forgotten scrim- mage the American Revolution, for sale by -- , book peddler." In his preface to the same the old bookseller thus refers to some of the bores that infect a bookseller's shop:
" At the instance of a considerable number of friendly critics who have heretofore more than made up by their willingness to give good advice for their reluc- tance to buy anything, but who without doubt are only waiting for me to show a proper and becoming appre- ciation of their views, I have requested the printer to put the A's at one end of this list and the W's at an- other, and call it a catalogue. As I am now for the
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first time trying to cater to a class of pundits who know what's what, I have not ventured to apply the terms rare and scarce, nor any one of the endless changes which may be rung upon them by the hand of a master. I trust, however, that I shall be par- doned (as I have a family to support) for mentioning that a considerable number of my tidbits were con- sidered by Mr. Stevens worthy a place in his catalogue of nuggets, and that not a few of them are so uncommon that they have escaped the notice of the compiler of that invaluable handbook, Sabin's Dictionary, and his hundred-eyed corps of assistants. Perhaps - as is constitutional with me - I have been modester than I could afford, and that I ought to have made an un- sparing use of the adjectives and peppered my book with them, hit or miss. The die is cast, however; quite likely I may not sell a tidbit; but I am determined this once to give my modesty the rein, and like Lord Timothy Dexter, let critic or customer pepper or salt this, my first catalogue, to suit himself.
"Having chosen my exemplar, I will be no less attentive to the convenience of my critics and cus- tomers than was his Lord Timothyship to the wants of his readers. I have therefore copied for their use, from a recent auction catalogue, a few of the adjec- tives and persuasives applied to such of the commoner tidbits as the owner had been able to 'buy at a bar- gain.' 'Scarce,' 'Very scarce,' 'Rare,' 'Very Rare,'
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"Tres Rare' (that's French). 'Unattainable except at public sale.' 'Not mentioned by Rich.' 'We have never sold a copy.' 'We are unable to record any other copy.'
The immense private collections which are from time to time unloaded upon the market hurt the trade and are greatly dreaded by the old booksellers. Such a collection was the Brinley library, sold at auction in New York.
In his catalogue, issued soon after the sale, one of the tradesmen thus labors with the deluded buyers who will purchase at auction rather than of the trade:
"This sale footed up nearly $49,000. Mr. Brinley, by his will, not less wisely than generously, gave to five public libraries $24,500, to be bought out or, as a book-peddler would express it, in trade.
"The libraries of the favored institutions fought nobly. So nobly that it is doubtful if the bequests will make the estate a dollar the poorer. Of books so rare that I know nothing about their value, I will say as little as I know. Rare books that I had seen sold before, sold high. The greater part of the catalogue sold very high. Hundreds of common books - so common that they may readily be found in bookstores, and yet not unworthy a place in this splendid collec- tion - sold at prices far beyond what any bookseller would dare to ask. Buyers of such, except 'on account,' generally got their fingers burnt. I had myself just
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enough of that sort of experience to know how it feels. Having by mistake bought lot 1785 for $15, I had it resold on my account; it brought $7. At the reselling the librarians did not rally worth a cent. I would have cheerfully given their institutions a dollar apiece all round if they had stood by me.
"Lot 163, Chalmers Annals, found an appreciative buyer at $18.50. I sold the young gentleman from the country, who bid $18, a much better copy the next morning for half the money. The same buyer secured lot 176, Phillips's Paper Currency, at $7.50. I can generally furnish it at five, ten off to public libraries. I may leave them nothing by will, but mean to do my level best by them as long as I live.
"Lot 205, Trumbull's United States, somebody must have been in a great hurry for. It brought $3. The next bidder is my affinity, if I could only find him. I should be happy to sell him a clean, uncut copy for a dollar.
"Lot 234, Knox's Journal, lacking a portrait and a title-page, was snapped up at $16. I have a copy which could be made as good as Mr. Brinley's by pulling out a title-page - it already fills the bill in lacking a portrait - which I am dying to sell for ten.
"No. 289, Drake's Address, sold for $2. If the previous bidder will send a small boy with seventy- five cents he will get a copy by return boy.
"No. 325, Lechford, $2.75. I have a few more
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left of the same sort at $1.50. No. 374, Noah Web- ster's version of Winthrop's Journal, $10. I sold as good a copy not long since at $4. Numbers 267 and 390, Commissionary Wilson's Orderly Book and Easton's King Philip, as it is called for short, are num- bers I. and II. of Munsell's Historical Series, in 10 volumes, which during the large paper and limited edition mania used to sell as high as $400 per set. The two volumes brought $26.50. A complete set in half morocco will be found in this catalogue at $35.
"No. 331, Papers Concerning the Attack on Hatfield and Deerfield, wiped out sixteen of the ten thousand dollars given to Yale College. It used to sell at a much higher figure, but times have changed. I sold a copy a short time ago for five.
"No. 412, News from New England, 2 copies, both found purchasers at $2.25. I have a copy, see my No. 274, at seventy-five cents.
"No. 767, James Fitch's Connecticut Election Sermon, Cambridge, 1674, the first printed, sold for $38. In a note to lot 2154 Dr. Trumbull, the cata- loguer, says: 'Five [Conn. Election] sermons were printed in Cambridge and Boston before a press was established in Connecticut. Of these five, four will be found elsewhere in this catalogue.' That's so, and the four, which were the first, third, fourth and fifth, brought an average of $25.50 each. In the same note Dr. Trumbull, whose notes are always interesting,
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says further: 'Mr. Brinley began this collection nearly forty years ago, and allowed no opportunity of com- pleting and perfecting it to escape.' I sold a beautiful copy of the one which Mr. Brinley did not have a short time ago for $15. I always sent my catalogue to the gentlemen who bought the other four, but buyers at auction of course save the book-peddlers' profit.
"Of numbers 975, 1029, 50, 81, 96 and 1117, 'Mathers,' good copies will be found in this catalogue at peddlers' prices. Numbers 1356, 7, Drake's Witchcraft Delusion, small and large paper, sold for $9.00 and $10.50 in paper. I sell them at five and six. No. 1359, Drake's Annals of Witchcraft, sold for $8.75 in cloth. I sell it for $2.50 in paper. An- other half dollar would buy a cloth jacket for it, leav- ing nearly two-thirds of the money toward buying the buyer a jacket.
"No. 1377 was bought by the author for $2.25. For the money I would have given him three copies. I catalogue it at seventy-five cents and always send him my catalogues.
"I have an indistinct recollection of having in my early youth read a short list of conundrums, each one of which was too much for an eastern king whose reputation for wisdom stood high. Had Solomon - I think that was the king's name - attended the Brinley sale I am convinced that in his list of things . which no fellow can find out would be ranked as the
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knottiest the question why book-buyers in bookshops are so stingy and in book auctions so lavish."
There are specialists, even among the dealers in dead books, one being known to his fellows as dealing largely in genealogies and kindred works; another makes a specialty of rare foreign books and prints; another confines himself to rare Americana; while a fourth devotes his energies exclusively to the collection and sale of American pamphlets. A chance service rendered one of the guild, in the discovery of a rare volume, gained me his good will, a seat at his fireside, and a share in the racy anecdotes with which he en- livened it; these anecdotes covered a wide range of subjects, and included reminiscences of the famous literary men of two generations who had frequented his shop. Some of these reminiscences I am sure will interest the reader.
Of Poe he said: "The character drawn of Poe by his various biographers and critics may with safety be pronounced an excess of exaggeration, but this is not to be much wondered at when it is considered that these men were his rivals, either as poets or prose- writers, and it is well known that such are generally as jealous of each other as are the ladies who are hand- some of those who desire to be considered so. It is an old truism, and as true as it is old, that in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. I therefore will show you my opinion of this gifted but unfortunate genius: it
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may be estimated as worth little, but it has this merit: It comes from an eye- and ear-witness, and this, it must be remembered, is the very highest of legal evi- dence. For eight months or more, 'one house con- tained us, us one table fed.' During that time I saw much of him, and had an opportunity of conversing with him often; and I must say I never saw him the least affected with liquor, nor ever descend to any known vice, while he was one of the most courteous, gentlemanly and intelligent companions I have ever met. Besides, he had an extra inducement to be a good man, for he had a wife of matchless beauty and loveliness; her eye could match that of any houri, and her face defy the genius of a Canova to imitate; her temper and disposition were of surpassing sweet- ness; in addition, she seemed as much devoted to him and his every interest as a young mother is to her first-born. During this time he wrote his longest prose romance, entitled the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym. Poe had a remarkably pleasing and prepossessing countenance - what the ladies would call decidedly handsome. He died after a brief and fitful career at Baltimore, October, 1849, where his remains lie interred in an obscure burying-ground."
Of Simms he showed this entry in his diary, under date of October 15, 1868: "To-day I had the pleasure of a call from William Gilmore Simms, the novelist. He is quite affable in conversation, and apparently
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well stocked with general information, which he can impart with fluency. He appears somewhat down- cast, or rather, I should say, has a melancholy cast of countenance: he is advanced in years, with a profusion of hair around his face, chin and throat - is apparently between sixty and seventy years of age. I requested him to enroll his name in my autograph-book, which he did with readiness. He remarked that he was often requested to do so, especially by the ladies. I replied that this was a debt which every man incurred when he became public property either by his words, actions, or writings. He acquiesced in the justice of the remark. Mr. Simms was in search of a copy of Johnson's History of the Seminoles, to aid him in making a new book. He was accompanied by Mr. Duykinck."
Halleck he thus introduced: "On a certain occasion I was passing a Roman Catholic church in New York: seeing the doors open and throngs of people pressing in, I stepped inside to see what I could see. I had not well got inside when I beheld Fitzgreene Halleck standing uncovered, with reverential attitude, among the crowd of unshorn and unwashed worshipers. I remained till I saw him leave. In doing so he made a courteous bow, as is the polite custom of the humblest of these people on taking their departure.
"On the subject of compliments paid him for poeti- cal talents, Mr. Halleck once said to me, 'They are
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generally made by those who are ignorant or who have a desire to please or flatter, or perhaps a com- bination of all. As a general thing, they are devoid of sincerity, and rather offensive than pleasing. There is no general rule without its exception, however, and in my bagful of compliments I cherish one which comes under that rule, and reflecting upon it affords me real pleasure as it did then. On a warm day in summer a young man came into the office with a countenance glowing with ardor, innocence, and honesty, and his eyes beaming with enthusiasm. Said he, "Is Mr. Halleck to be found here ?" I answered in the affirma- tive. Continued he, with evidently increased emotion, "Could I see him ?" - "You see him now," I replied. He grasped me by the hand with a hearty vigorousness that added to my conviction of his sincerity. Said he, "I am happy, most happy, in having had the pleasure at last of seeing one whose poems have afforded me no ordinary gratification and delight. I have longed to see you, and I have dreamt that I have seen you, but now I behold you with mine own eyes. God bless you for ever and ever! I have come eleven hundred miles, from the banks of the Miami in Ohio, mainly for that purpose, and I have been compensated for my pains."'
"Mr. Halleck told me that he had been solicited to write a life of his early and beloved friend Drake. 'But,' said he, 'I did not well see how I could grant
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such a request: I had no lever for my fulcrum. What could I say about one who had studied pharmacy, dissection, written a few poems, and then left the scene of action ? I had no material, and a mere meaningless eulogy would have been out of the question.'
"In personal appearance Halleck was rather below the medium height and well built: in walking he had a rather slow and shuffling gait, as if something afflicted his feet; a florid, bland, and pleasant countenance; a bright gray eye; was remarkably pleasant and courte- ous in conversation, and, as a natural consequence, much beloved by all who had the pleasure of his ac- quaintance. But to that brilliancy in conversation which some of his admirers have been pleased to attrib- ute to him, in my opinion he could lay no claim. His library was sold at auction in New York on the evening of October 12, 1868. If the collection disposed of on that occasion was really his library in full, it must be confessed it was a sorry affair and meager in the extreme. In surveying the collection a judge of the value of such property would perhaps pronounce it worth from one hundred and twenty-five to one hun- dred and fifty dollars. The books brought fabulous prices - at least ten times their value. The company was large, good-humored, and just in the frame of mind to be a little more than liberal, doubtless stimulated to be so from a desire to possess a relic of the departed poet who had added fame to the literature of his
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country. The following are the names of a few of the books and the prices they brought: Nicholas Nickleby, with the author's autograph, $18; Bryant's little volume of poems entitled Thirty Poems, with the author's autograph, $11; Campbell's Poems, with Halleck's autograph, $8.50; Catalogue of the Straw- berry Hill Collection, $16; Barnaby Rudge, presenta- tion copy by the author to Halleck, $15; Coleridge's Poems, with a few notes by Halleck, $10; Fanny, a poem by Mr. Halleck, $10. The sum-total realized for his library was twelve hundred and fifty dollars."
Aaron Burr was the subject of some interesting reminiscences: "Shortly after I came to New York, Aaron Burr was pointed out to me as he was slowly wending his way up Broadway, between Chambers Street and the old theater, on the City Hall side. I
frequently afterward met him in this and other streets. He was always an object of interest, inasmuch as he had become an historical character, somewhat notori- ously so. I will attempt to describe his appearance, or rather how he appeared to me: He was small, thin and attenuated in form, perhaps a little over five feet in height, weight not much over a hundred pounds. He walked with .a slow, measured and feeble step, stooping considerably, occasionally with both hands behind his back. He had a keen face and deep-set, dark eye, his hat set deep on his head, the back part sunk down to the collar of the coat and the back
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brim somewhat turned upward. He was dressed in threadbare black cloth, having the appearance of what is known as shabby genteel. His countenance wore a melancholy aspect, and his whole appearance be- tokened one dejected, forsaken, forgotten or cast aside, and conscious of his position. He was invari- ably alone when I saw him, except on a single occa- sion: that was on the sidewalk in Broadway fronting what is now the Astor House, where he was standing talking very familiarly with a young woman whom he held by one hand. His countenance on that occasion was cheerful, lighted up and bland - alto- gether different from what it appeared to me when I saw him alone and in conversation with himself. Burr must have been a very exact man in his business- affairs. His receipt-book came into my possession. I found there receipts for a load of wood, a carpenter's work for one day, a pair of boots, milk for a certain number of weeks, suit of clothes, besides numerous other small transactions that but few would think of taking a receipt for. The book was but a sorry, cheap affair, and could not have cost when new more than fifty cents."
Edwin Forrest he thus mentioned: "At the time when Forrest was earning his reputation on the board of the Bowery Theatre I was connected with that institution, and of course had an opportunity of seeing him every night he performed. Mr. Forrest appeared
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to be possessed of the perfection of physical form, more especially conspicuous when arrayed in some peculiar costumes which tended to display it to the best advantage. He had a stentorian voice, and must have had lungs not less invulnerable than one of Homer's heroes. He had a fine masculine face and prepossessing countenance, much resembling many of the notable Greeks and Romans whose portraits have come down to our time, and a keen intellectual eye. His countenance at times assumed an air of hauteur which doubtless had become a habit, either from personating characters of this stamp or from a consciousness of his merited popularity. He left the impression on the beholder of one intoxicated with success and the repletion of human applause. He kept aloof from all around him, and condescended to no social intercourse with any one on the stage, and appeared to entertain a contempt for his audience. . . . He has now lost that mercurial, youthful appear- ance which was then so conspicuous, and which doubt- less aided in laying the foundation of his widespread reputation. He was then straight as an arrow and elastic as a circus-rider, the very beau-ideal of physical perfection : now he bears the marks of decay, or rather, as is said of grain just before harvest, he has a ripe appearance. If he would consult his renown he would retire from the stage, and never set foot upon it again."
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The reminiscences also touched on Bryant, Parton, Mrs. Siddons and several eminent divines and jour- nalists. Of the latter class the fullest related to James Gordon Bennett, founder of the Herald, and his coadjutor, William H. Attree. "I remember enter- ing the subterranean office of Mr. Bennett early in the career of the Herald and purchasing a single copy of the paper, for which I paid the sum of one cent only. On this occasion the proprietor, editor, and vendor was seated at his desk busily engaged in writing, and appeared to pay little or no attention to me as I entered. On making known my object in coming in, he requested me to put my money down on the counter and help myself to a paper: all the time he continued his writing operations. The office was a single, oblong, under- ground room. Its furniture consisted of a counter, which also served as a desk, constructed from two flour-barrels, perhaps empty, standing apart from each other about four feet, with a single plank cover- ing both; a chair, placed in the center, upon which sat the editor busy at his vocation, with an inkstand by his right hand; on the end nearest the door were placed the papers for sale. I attribute the success of the Herald to a combination of circumstances - to the peculiar fitness of its editor for his position, to its cheapness, and its advertising patronage, which was considerable. In the fourth place, it early secured the assistance of William H. Attree, a man of uncom-
.
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mon abilities as a reporter and a concocter of pithy as well as ludicrous chapters greatly calculated to captivate many readers. In fact, this clever and talented assistant in some respects never had his match. He did not, as other reporters do, take down in short- hand what the speaker or reader said, but sat and heard the passing discourse like any other casual spectator: when over he would go home to his room, write out in full all that had been said on the occasion, and that entirely from memory. On a certain occa- sion I hinted to him my incredulity about his ability to report as he had frequently informed me. To put the matter beyond doubt, he requested me to accom- pany him to Clinton Hall to hear some literary mag- nate let off his intellectual steam. I accordingly accompanied him as per arrangement. We were seated together in the same pew. He placed his hands in his pockets and continued in that position during the delivery of the discourse, and when it was finished he remarked to me that I would not only find the sub- stance of this harangue in the Herald the next day, but that I would find it word for word. On the follow- ing morning I procured the paper, and read the report of what I had heard the previous evening; and I must say I was struck with astonishment at its perfect accuracy. Before Mr. Attree's time reporting for the press in New York was a mere outline or sketch of what had been said or done, but he infused life and
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soul into his department of journalism. His reports were full, accurate, graphic; and, what is more, he frequently flattered the vanity of the speaker by mak- ing a much better speech for him than he possibly could for himself. Poor Attree died in 1849, and is entombed at Greenwood."
CHAPTER VII
A NEW YORK CURIOSITY SHOP
TT was kept by a descendant of one of the old island families, and his stock was confined almost entirely to relics, coats of arms, pedigrees, and other souvenirs of the early Dutch families of Manhattan. The most striking feature observed on entering was the array of tall eight-day clocks extending around the four sides of the room, in some places two ranks deep. The cases were mostly of oak, beautifully inlaid, and which bore on the base the coat of arms, and in some instances the name, of the family for whom they were made. Beekman, Kouwenhoven, Leiter, Van Wester- velt, Brower, Van Hardenburgh, Weber, De Groot, Prevoorst, Schermerhorn, and Van Wyck, were the most prominent names noticed. There were thirty of these clocks - two of great historical interest. All were of heavy and elaborate workmanship, and, be- sides the carving and inlaid work on the cases, were prettily decorated on the arch above the face with vines and flowers. Most had eight astronomical movements, giving, in addition to the hour, minute, and second, the day of the month and week, the phases of sun and
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