BARGAIN IN SALEROOM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20384, 12 October 1929, Page 8 (Supplement)

BARGAIN IN SALEROOM.

FIRST EDITION OF " ALICE." One of n bundle of books purchased for a few shillings in a London saleroom by a young Grimsby man, Mr. Cyril Doddington. may lca'd to him realising his life's ambition—a medical career. The volume that opens up this prospect is believed to be a first edition of Lewis Carroll's " Alice in Wonderland," illustrated by Tenniel. The book was first published by Macmillan in 1865, but the author was dissatisfied and the few copies which had been issued were called in and a new edition was published in the following year. All save some half a dozen copies "of the first impression were thus destroyed. and one of fhese is thought to havo fallen into Sir. Doddington's hands. An 1865 edition was sold to Dr. Rosenbach, the American collector at Sotheby's last year for £SOOO. Sir. Doddington states that for 10 years he had been a collector of old books. Ho devoted all his spare time to visiting bookstalls. salerooms and second-hand shops. " Sfany a time." he said, " I have spent my last shilling on what friends called old rubbish." But ono volume ho bought in Norwich for sixpence he sold for £4O. and now he has a collection of more than 1000 books. Sir. Doddington showed a Daily Mail correspondent his copy of " Alice " and said:—"This is my greatest discovery. I have refused an offer of £BOO for it. As you see. it is complete, though some of the pages are somewhat loose. The binding is green cloth and leather and the title page bears the publisher's name and the date 1865. T bought it with other books in a Grimsby sale-room."