Árbók Landsbókasafns Íslands - Nýr flokkur - 01.01.1983, Page 52

52
BRÉF WILLARDS FISKES
So far from “this copy being undoubtedly the best of them all”
(that is, of existing copies) it is greatly surpassed by three of the
existing copies which have been carefully examined by me, namely,
1) One of the two belonging to the Great Royal Library of Copen-
hagen, 2) that belonging to the University Library of Copenhagen,
and 3) that belonging to Dr. Rolf Arpi of Upsala. In some respect
better than this, is the second copy of the Copenhagen Royal Library.
The English engraving (of the 17th century) at the beginning and
end of the book have nothing to do with the Testament of 1540,
having been inserted by some owner of the volume. They are such as
are to be found in innumerable manuals of devotion printed in
England in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The binding seems to me to be a good deal later than the printing
of the volume, but I am not a very good judge of that.
The lack of a folio (B viij) does not, perhaps, greatly diminish the
intrinsic value of the volume, but it seriously affects the marketable vol-
ume — a diminution usually estimated by book-buyers, in the case of
very early printed volumes, at from 10 to 20%. The condition of the
fmal six leaves, containing the Register and the Epilogue, is to say the
least regrettable - the beginning (3 to 4 words) of all the lines on the
obverse of the ultimate folio, and the last words of every line on the
reverse, being totally illegible. This is a very serious defect.
Before leaving London I submitted the volume to Mr. Quaritch
(the famous antiquarian bookseller), to Mr. George Allen (buyer of
old and rare books for the principal great libraries of America), to
two other auctioneers and dealers in old books, and to the authorities
of the British Museum. I told them all of the copies in existence
known to me, and, in particular, that, so far as I was informed, only
one, and that an imperfect copy, existed in any public library of
Great Britain. And then I asked them what they would offer for the
volume. Some priced it very low indeed, and the highest price did not
reach a third of your last estimate.
Considering the unexpected defects of the copy and the fact that
the inserted engravings at the beginning and end have no value
whatever, I cannot give the £75 demanded. Instead of that I enclose
my check for £65 — a sum far in excess of what the volume would
bring (except under very extraordinary circumstances) in any of the
book-marts of the world. At the same time I do not wish to stand in
the way of a better bargain, if one be possible. Therefore should the