ertain books, such as
Lady Elizabeth Tirrwhyt's _Prayers_, 1574, bound in gold, and said to
have belonged to Queen Elizabeth (1220 guineas);[4] Henry VIII.'s
_Prayers_, 1544, printed on vellum,[5] and enriched with notes by the
King, the Queen, Prince Edward, and Princess Mary (610 guineas, as
above mentioned); and a third folio Shakespeare, 1663-64, with both
titles, but represented as being almost unique in that state, L435.
What a contrast to the old prices! Even in our time and memory, the
first folio could be had in fine state for L50 or L60, the second for
L5, 5s., the third for L50, and the fourth for L5, 5s. George Daniel,
we are informed by his representatives, gave about L220 for his first
Shakespeare to William Pickering, and Mr. Corser kept his 1632 book in
his dining-room at Stand Rectory among the commoner volumes, although
it was a fine copy. A middling set now fetches L600 or thereabout.

The earlier standard both for English and foreign rarities was
undoubtedly much lower. In Osborne's Catalogue for 1751, the _Toledo
Missal_, described as the scarcest volume in the world, was valued
only at L35. In the Heber, and even in the Bright sale, from L10 to
L25 secured some of the greatest gems in ancient English literature.

At the Frere auction at Sotheby's, 1896, however, the realisation of
the Fenn books beat every record, considering that the copies were
generally so poor; and it was hard indeed to see where the value was
in a Herbert's Ames accompanied by an extra volume of typographical
fragments, of which many were mutilated and many were worthless
(L255).

The _Book of St. Albans_, 1486, as it is usually designated, has
descended a little from its original rank as a first-class rarity
owing to the successive discovery of unknown copies. The romance
connected with the acquisition of the Grenville one has been more than
once printed; but the _Chronicles of England_, from the same press,
especially on vellum, maintains its reputation for the utmost rarity,
although there were two impressions; and the same may be said of the
issues by William of Mecklin, Caxton, and Gerard de Leeu, all and any
of which could not, if complete, fail to command very high prices even
on paper.

L4900 for the second edition of the Mainz Psalter, 1459, appears (as
we have observed) to be the largest sum ever paid in this country for
a single work; and the vellum copy of the Gutenberg Bible follows,
L900 behind; at least at