RARE MAGAZINES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 98, 6 February 1936, Page 10

RARE MAGAZINES

INCREASE IN THEIR VALUE. CALL FOR FIRST EDITIONS. A book dealer in San Francisco was thumbing through a pile of dog-eared magazines he had just purchased when suddenly* he pounced with a cry of joy upon one of the most uninteresting looking of all, says a writer in the New York “Times.” It was a “National Geographic” dated 188 S, and worth, ho declared, at least £2O, possibly £4O. Recently 7 a collector paid the round sum of £lO for an even more recent issue of the same publication, one dated January 7, 1895, needed for his otherwise complete file. Thus it seems that hooks are not the only publications that come to be classed as “rare and valuable.” While magazines do not command tlie extremely high prices paid for rare books, there are so many more of them that others than the erudite bibliophile can profitably take an interest in them. Certain factors determine the value of old magazines. There are “first editions”—the initial issue of any periodical; first appearance in print of famous poems or stories or the early efforts of a famous author; illustrations with inherent worth, or by famous artists, or carrying historical interest; or someone’s need of a particular issue to comnlete a collection.

Inquiry for “Firsts” Because of these facts, “firsts” qf oven the obscure magazines may be valuable; “firsts” of better-known magazines are usually the highest priced issues. The first issue of the English periodical “Flight” was needed by the Los Angeles Library to complete its file. It cost £lO. Among more recent “firsts” is that of the American “Spectator,” 1924, which, published with the collector in mind, and autographed by Nathan, O’Neill, Dreiser, Cabell and Boyd, sells for £5. One of Mark Twain’s earliest appearances in print was with “Yankee Frightening the Squatter” in the May l, 1852, issue of the Boston “Carpet Bag,” an early comic periodical. Because of its scarcity no recent sales records for that issue are available, but the same author’s “Forty Throe Days in an Open Boat” in “Harper’s of December, 1866, made that magazine worth £1 15s at a sale. Du Mamie r’s “Trilby,” that ran in serial form in “Harper’s” from January to June, 1894, makes issues of that period worth 32s to £2 each. The American “Review” of January, 1845, carrying Poe’s “Raven,” sells for around £9, The Yellowbacks.” Of the illustrated magazines, Godey’s “Lady’s Book” is one of the most interesting. An 1845 issue recently brought £3 15s. This magazine is prized chiefly for its colourful illustrations of old styles, and single pages of these bring as high as 4s each. One of the most interesting sections of the magazine field is that of the yellow hacks. These dime novel thrillers flourished in the period between 1880 and 1910, disappeared into attics and basements, and recently have begun io some to light- again. Value as bits of Americana, lor their colourful illustintions and for their hair-raising tales that amuse now rather than thrill, they have increased steadily in worth even during the last several years, which can be said of few other types of maga-

zines. Early comic periodicals such as the “Carpet Bag,” 1851 to 1853; “Vanity Fair,” 1859-63, and “Puck, 18-6-1918, are well worth remembering, as are also most early aviation magazines, French, English and American, Magazines that contain “firsts” of Stephen Foster’s songs, such as the old Clark’s “School Visitor,” are highly valued. Incidentally, first prints of Foster’s songs in sheet music form also constitute collectors’ items. With the exception of certain issues, complete files of most magazines are worth more than scattered numbers. “National Geographic,” the leader, is valued in a complete set, 1888 to date, at £2OO to £6OO. A set of “Puck has brought £3O. All of the Frank Rcade stories that appeared m the liank Reade Library, 186 in number, would he worth around £2OO.