CONDITION versus PRICE versus RARITY.
Hello Folks,
I recently obtained a copy of what could be termed as a quite rare book,....namely....authur...WILLIAM AUGUSTUS OSBALDISTON title...THE BRITISH SPORTSMAN,OR,NOBLEMAN,GENTLEMAN,AND FARMER'S DICTIONARY,OF RECREATION AND AMUSEMENT...London...printed by J=2EStead...sold by Champante and Whitrow...1792... The book is in remarkably good condition for its age,well bound in leather,clean and tight.[Out of 42 copper plate prints 10 are absent,also one leaf of text.] Prior to obtaining the book,I found that very few copies of this book were available,all mainly in libraries or universities,one other copy existed, but was deemed to be a later edition,.....The Universal Sportsman,....by Osbaldiston,...the Dublin issue. Having checked with the British library,Cambridge uni.lib.and on c=2Eo.p.a.c. I decided that missing prints and text was not that important,so I bought the book...=A390.00 sterling...[the missing plates and text will be replaced with fascimile copies.] My collection is based soley on first editions of books about game fishing in Ireland,so buying this book was slightly off topic [Irish],but bear in mind that the Dublin issue was a later edn,. So with reference to the subject [Condition/Price/Rarity] What might you have done. All the best for now, John. |
Of the copies Michael has listed, number 3 (Arnold Books, New Zealand)
grabs my attention. It is described as "An attractive presentable copy of the rare hand coloured version". It is also significantly cheaper than the two copies being sold by Joseph Felcone, which have only black and white plates. None of the six COPAC entries for this work (http://tinyurl.com/7eecn) says anything about hand-coloured plates, so I'm wondering whether the coloured copy isn't in fact a copy that has been hand-coloured by one (or more) of its owners. That is to say, perhaps the hand-coloured version is rare because in fact there is no such version. I found surprisingly little information online about this book. Google turned up under a dozen pages, one of which contained a copy up for auction, with an estimated price of GBP 200-300 (http://dukes-auctions.com/Catalogues/Pf141102/page9.htm). There's no description of its condition, though, and it doesn't state whether the plates are coloured or not, so it doesn't help much. I could find nothing to confirm that there was indeed a hand-coloured version. The next step perhaps would be to get hold of the microfilm (Woodbridge, CT : Research Publications, Inc., 1983) and see whether that has coloured plates. If I there was indeed a hand-coloured version, then I would probably have paid the extra and bought that copy. If there wasn't, and the hand-coloured copy being offered for sale is simply a copy that someone happens to have coloured in along the way, then the OP's copy seems like the best deal. There are a couple of other things which are a mystery to me. According to some of the COPAC entries, this book was first issued in 42 parts, and I would have expected loose copies of the parts to be knocking around. Yet there are none. I suppose that could be explained if they were somewhat fragile and subject to frequent use by sporting types who literally read them to pieces. But if that is indeed the case it would mean that Osbaldiston had been something of a staple of 18th and early 19th century sporting literature. And if he had in fact been such a staple then there is a further mystery; why has his name fallen into such obscurity today? An exact phrase search for "William Augustus Osbaldiston" turns up no web pages at all on Google, and a search for Osbaldiston + "The British Sportsman" turns up only a handful of pages, none of which really give any information about the book or its author. Nor is it included in Richard William Cox's online bibliography of British sporting literature (http://tinyurl.com/cesrl). Is it listed in Norah M. Titley's 1985 bibliography of British sporting artists, perhaps? Or G. Holme's Old English Sporting Books (1924)? Perhaps the OP can enlighten us with some information about the book and its author. John http://rarebooksinjapan.com |
As a rider to all that, the reason I'm interested in all this
background stuff about the book and its author is that "CONDITION versus PRICE versus RARITY" is a three-legged beast that won't stand up. To make it stand up you need the fourth leg, which is desirability. To put it bluntly, if this is a book that no one with an interest in sporting history or anything else gives a damn about, then, even if the only copy in the world is in perfect condition and is being sold for a penny, it is only really worth having for sentimental reasons. I'm sure it's worth much more than a penny, but until one can ascertain to what extent this is a book that someone with an interest in the field might wish to own it's difficult to get a clear sense of its value. There are several grey areas here, and the bibliographical and biographical background of the book and its author may hold the key to clearing them up. John http://rarebooksinjapan.com |
I wrote:
According to some of the COPAC entries, this book was first issued in 42 parts, and I would have expected loose copies of the parts to be knocking around. Yet there are none. Michael Adams replied: The Edinburgh copy is one such. You mean it is bound from the parts? Yes, it would appear so, from the description. It seems rather a coincidence though that the book calls for 42 plates. Not a coincidence. Each of the original parts would have contained one plate. Copies bound from the parts would therefore have contained 42 plates. Copies printed from the same blocks after the part run had run out would also have contained 42 plates. Also 42 seems a rather odd figure for a part work as against 12, 24, etc. I won't quibble with that. I don't recall coming across a 42-part work before, though I've not really come across works in 12 or 24 parts either. I've had a few Dickens firsts bound from the parts, and the standard for novels in the 19th century was 20 parts issued in 19 instalments (the final issue contained two parts). Other than that, I can't really say. Also the Dublin edition was published more or less contemporaneously, if the 1792 in most of the descriptions of the Dublin edition are to be believed, which would be a bit difficult unless the Title Pages and prefaces of both Editions were issued last. Well, without having copies to hand it is difficult to say, but the Cambridge and National Library of Scotland entries on COPAC give a putative date of 1792-96, and the Edinburgh copy notes that it is the *preface* which is dated 1792. Other copies are catalogued as undated. I think we can assume that the book itself is undated as such, that the preface (which is dated) came out with the first part in 1792, and that the ensuing parts were issued monthly, which is why it is assumed by some cataloguers that the final part was issued in 1796. Again its doubtful if there would be sufficient market for a part work in Dublin. Oh, I don't know. The Protestant ascendancy had to do *something* other than collect rents, live on the fat of the land and play the oppressor! Why would they not leaf through a monthly journal on the pastimes of the fine, upstanding British gentleman? But perhaps you are right. Anyway, there is no evidence that the parts were issued serially in Ireland, only that the finished product was published there in book form. John http://rarebooksinjapan.com |
On 7 Sep 2005 12:10:48 -0700, "John R. Yamamoto-Wilson"
wrote: I'm sure it's worth much more than a penny, but until one can ascertain to what extent this is a book that someone with an interest in the field might wish to own it's difficult to get a clear sense of its value. Or one could take the easy way out (well the Sotheby's/Christies way out, anyway) and note it's come up for auction about 30 times in the last 25 years, most copies boasting a complement of 42 hand colored (or coloured) plates, some with various minor faults, at prices as low as $85 for an incomplete (but more complete than the OPs) copy to a high of $1850. Several fully colored copies have sold recently (1990s forward) for about $850, several others, complete but with no mention of coloring for around $300-350. A nice book, then, with continuing interest, but not rare in commerce. |
R. Totale wrote: On 7 Sep 2005 12:10:48 -0700, "John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote: I'm sure it's worth much more than a penny, but until one can ascertain to what extent this is a book that someone with an interest in the field might wish to own it's difficult to get a clear sense of its value. Or one could take the easy way out (well the Sotheby's/Christies way out, anyway) and note it's come up for auction about 30 times in the last 25 years, most copies boasting a complement of 42 hand colored (or coloured) plates, some with various minor faults, at prices as low as $85 for an incomplete (but more complete than the OPs) copy to a high of $1850. Several fully colored copies have sold recently (1990s forward) for about $850, several others, complete but with no mention of coloring for around $300-350. A nice book, then, with continuing interest, but not rare in commerce. Well gentlemen, It would seem that I have achieved not too bad a purchace in obtaining this book. Both the content and the author especially will require a lot of further research on my part.As most of you say, very little seems to be known of the author. Desirability...for myself ,that tends to go hand in hand with price. I base mostly all my collection purchases,on condition first then price takeing into account rarity, if the price does not meet my approval,then I do not desire it. The english short title catalogue lists three editions,one of which.... london...[1792/96] this edn.with dated preface,issued 42 parts,watermarks on paperdated 1794/95. Your remarks on ''hand coloured prints'' ...yes...that is going to be very hard to prove one way or the other. I thank you all very much for your interest, comments, and time. All the very best for now, John |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:44 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
CollectingBanter.com