his expenditure would not exceed fifteen shillings for
the three, his profit being four times as great. Not long ago two copies
of the first edition of Keats' 'Endymion' appeared at an auction-sale in
London. Both were 'uncut,' but one was in the original form in which it
issued from the press, the other was bound in morocco. The former
realised L41, the latter L17, 5s. _Dictum sapienti sat est._

Old books, by which I intend sixteenth and early seventeenth century
volumes, are always best left alone as regards the binding. If they be at
all dilapidated, it is as well to have a case[44] made for them which can
be lettered on the back, and they can then stand upon the shelf among
one's other books. Nothing is more unseemly and incongruous than an
ancient volume in a modern cover, and, try as the most skilful binder
may, it is impossible to imitate an ancient binding so closely as to
deceive the eye even momentarily. Do not seek to make them presentable by
patching and repairing, unless they be too far gone for their value to be
of any consideration.

In the case of early-printed books and works of great rarity, never, upon
any account, tamper with your copy or seek to improve it in any way. Not
only, as I have said, is it quite impossible to impart a contemporary
appearance to a fifteenth-century book however famous and skilful the
binder, but age leaves its mark upon the constitutions of books as surely
as it does upon mankind. No volume of that age will stand the handling of
a casual reader, still less the pulling, patting, and pressing that
re-sewing and re-covering necessitate, however gently such processes be
carried out.

There is a terrible story (I hope it is untrue) told of a certain peer
who decided to send to the auction-room the six or seven Caxtons which
had descended to him with a noble library from his ancestors. As,
however, the volumes were bound in fifteenth-century sheepskin (probably
in Caxton's house) he thought that their appearance would be rendered
rather more attractive if they were rebound first of all. So he sent them
forthwith to the local binder; and on their return, now gorgeously
clothed in 'calf gilt extra' (a la school prize), he despatched them to
the London sale-room. The result may be imagined. His foolishness must
have robbed him of a sum running well into four figures!

There is another point also to be considered, and that is the _pedigree_
of a volume. The solitary impression of