fURNBULL LIBRARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20705, 1 May 1929, Page 7

fURNBULL LIBRARY.

SIXTY THOUSAND BOOKS. t m ~~ RARE AND VALUABLE COLLECTION. i . _ {Special to Dailt Times.) WELLINGTON, April 30. Speaking at the Rotary Club’s luncheon ♦6-day in the Turnbull Library (Wellington) , Mr Johannes C. Andersen, the librarian, said that when Mr Turnbull Hied 12 or 13 years ago he bad been collecting books for only 25 years. In that short time he had acquired a library of about 60,000 books. “Numerically alone, this wag a feat, but when the library is examined,” said Mr Andersen, “it is found that these 60,000 books are largely composed of the cream of English literature, so that tbe quality of the library is even superior to the quantity of the books it contains. That is to say, they 'are books that, have since proved to be the kind not only that literary people want, but that collectors also desire. Some people think that it is mere age that gives value to a book, but age' is only incidental. It is, first of all, the fact that the book is by a man who has made hie mark in literature, and, secondly, the fact that there are not enough of the books to go round, that give the extraordinary value to books that have lately fetched remarkably high prices. . ‘ "If the sale lists are examined,” continued Mr Andersen, “it will be found that the books that fetch most are those by file best writers, and those, of the poets and the beat writers in prose—writers who, in addition to fine writing, have overlaid their language with the iridescence of imagination. Mr Turnbull intended it primarily as a collection of New Zealand and Australian literature, including also tbe islands of tbe Pacific, and as a collection of this kind it has only one rival for completeness — the Mitchell Library in Sydney. Even in this section of the library there are books of inestimable value, such as the manuscript journal kept on Captain Cook’s ship Endeavour, on its first visit to New Zealand.” Dealing with the prices that, rare books bring, Mr Andersen said that Defoe’s three volumes of “ Robinson Crusoe ” (first editions) were recently sold for £2500. If, then, the first edition of these volumes was worth £2300. what was the full set of nine volumes worth, which the Turnbull Library contains? For a copy of the first edition of Browning’s first book, “ Pauline,” Mr Turnbull paid 130 guineas,, and for the first edition of Mrs Browning’s:first book, “The Battle of Marathon.” he paid 70 guineas. A few months ago these two were sold in America—one for £2300 and the other for £3500. Again, for a copy of the first edition of Milton’s “ Masque Comus ” Mr Turnbull paid no less than £854. The book is now worth £3OOO and upwards The books of Thomas Hardy, only recently dead, were already beginning to show that they were desired by collectors. ‘ His "Wessex Poems” would now fetch £3OO. Conrad, another modem ■novelist, was another whose early editions were' much sought for. Mr Turnbull Bought a copy of his first book, with an inscription in it by Conrad himself, for 18 guineas. A similar book with an inscription not so good was recently sold for £425. Feilding’s “Tom Jones” recently fetched £SBOO, and a copy of this is in the library.. “I may say,” continued Mr Andersen, “ that the Turnbull Library is known outside New Zealand much more than in New Zealand. At the present time it is worth between £250,000 and £500.000, and I am certain that within 10 years it wilt be near the £1,000.000 mark, although I think my estimate of 10 years is five years too many. The only thing to regret is that the English section in which these high prices are obtained is not now being kept up to date. The proper policy is that it should be a collection of New Zealand works principally, and English literature incidentally, but it would be wise if that policy could be amended eo as to include the. current works in English poetry, especially, because it is the current writers who are producing the works that will command nigh figures in the future.”