Some volumes, for which the demand was indeed slender several generations ago, are today the real prizes of literature. Take for example the earlier pamphlets and books of Poe, which today are virtually beyond the means of the average collector. But this circumstance need not stifle collecting enthusiasm. There are other volumes, which, while no longer cheap in terms of dollars and cents, should nevertheless double or treble in value, or perhaps even better than that, as time goes on. Of course it would be foolish to promise this as a certainty, and we shall therefore content ourselves with pointing out some “first edition nuggets” that seem to have an excellent chance of “coming into the money” at some future period. But before doing so, let us whisper in your ear, the desirability—we might almost say the necessity—of only acquiring “firsts” in fine condition. Yes, we know they’re hard to get, and also that they cost more, but in our opinion, they’re well worth the difference. Auction records have demonstrated this time and time again. And now, let us “amble beyond our preamble,” and point out a few, present-day good buys.

Were we going into this branch of literary speculation, we should endeavor to acquire the first edition, first issue of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” and which was published in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1855. No need to specify here all the necessary “points,” because, unless you are a 100% bibliophile, you will probably do better acquiring this treasure through some trustworthy and sophisticated rare book dealer. In his worthy volume, “The Romance of Great Books and Their Authors,” John T. Winterich quotes an assertion made by A. Edward Newton to the effect that the first edition of the “Leaves of Grass” will reach a higher figure than any other important book published in the nineteenth century. When this declaration was made in 1924, asserts Mr. Winterich, “Leaves of Grass” was selling in the market for $200 or less. Three years later a copy was auctioned for $800, and in the interval since, the price has risen, at auction and rare booksellers’ catalogues, to as high as $3,000, with no indication that a summit of value has been reached. The Chaucer Head Bookshop, of New York, recently offered a fine copy without foxing for $1,000.

Another book with a definite speculative future is the first issue of the first edition of Mark Twain’s first book, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches”, with the original blue cloth binding, and all the “points”. It was published in New York in 1867, and at the Effrem Zimbalist sale, held at the Parke-Bernet Galleries on Nov. 15, an immaculate copy brought $610. Beadle, the daddy of lurid American literature on a large scale, had previously published in No. 3 of his “Dime Book of Fun” an abridged version of the “Frog”. And if you should happen to run across a copy in good condition, there should be no difficulty in collecting at least $200 therefore.

Or if pocket-book limitations do not justify “eating quite so high on the hog”, we commend the issues of HARPER’S MAGAZINE from January to August, 1894 inclusive. These contain the first printing of George Du Maurier’s “Trilby”. It was later published in book form, but a picture and a paragraph, which J. McNeil Whistler claimed lampooned him, were omitted from the latter, although they had appeared in the magazine, which explains why it is more sought after by collectors than the book.

Bound volumes of the Du Maurier HARPER’S without the covers are not particularly scarce and hardly to be considered from the standpoint of a speculative future. Therefore, endeavor to secure the unbound monthly parts in good condition, and with the original wrappers. At the William Harris Arnold sale in 1924, they brought $70.

(To be continued.)