RARE MAGAZINES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIX, 29 January 1936, Page 3

RARE MAGAZINES

GROWTH IN VALUE CALL FOR FIRST EDITIONS DEMAND IN AMERICA A hook 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 uninteiesting looking of all, says a writer in _ the “New York Times.” It was a National Geographic dated 1888 and was worth, he declared at least £2O, possibly £4O. Recently a collector paid the round sum of £4O for an even more recent issue of the same publication, one dated January, 1800, needed for his otherwise complete file. Thus it seems that books are not the only publications that come to be classed as “rare and valuable.” While magazines do not command the extremely high prices paid for rare books, tiiere are so many more of them that others than the erudite bibliophile can profitably take an iu tcrest in them.

Certain factors determine the value of old magazines. There are “lirst editions” —the initial issue of any periodical; lirst appearance in print o; famous poems or stories or the early ell’orts 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 complete a collection. INQUIRY FOR “FIRSTS”

Because of these facts, “firsts” of even the obscure magazines may he valuable; “firsts” of better known magazines are usually the highest, priced issues. The first issue of the* English periodical “Flight” was needed bv 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. Dreisci, Cabell and Boyd, sells for £5. One of Mark Twain’s earliest appearances in print was with “Yankee Frightening the Squatter” in the May h 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 Three Days in an Open Boat,” in Harper’s of December, 1800, made that magazine worth £1 15s at a sale. Du Manner's “Trilby,” that ran in serial form in Harper's from January to June, 1894, makes issues of that period worth 35s to £2 each. The American Kcview 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 yellowbacks. These dime-novel thrillers flourished in the period between 188(5 and 1910, disappeared into attics and basements, and recently have begun to come to light again. Valued as bits of Americana, for their colourful illus-

t.rations and for their hair-raising tales that amuse mow rather than thrill, they have, increased steadily in worth even during the last several years, which can be said of few other types of magazines. Early comic periodicals such as the “Carpet Bag,” 1851 to 1853; “Vanity Fair,” 1859-03, and “Puck,” 1870-1918, are well worth remembering, as arc 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 ; , are highly valued, .Incidentally, lirst .prints ,o: Fosteifs songs in sheet-music form alsi constitute'•collectors’ items.

With the; exception of certain issues, complete files of .most magazines arc worth more than.;scattered numbers. “National Geographic,” the leader, ia valued in a complete set, 1888 to date, at £2OO to ,£(i00. Aset of “Puck” has brought • £3O. All of the Frank Reade stories that appeared, in the. Frank Reade Library,. 18(5 in number, would be worth around- £2OO. A .