Harry E. Widener, on Sunk Liner, Expected to Attend Part III. Sessions
SAW BOOKS BEFORE SAILING
Caxton "Golden Legend" Bring $3,100---$1,400 Paid for Christopher Columbus's "Epistola
"The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine," translated by William Caxton and printed by Wynkyn de Words in London in 1527 was knocked down to George D. Smith for $3,100 last evening at the Robert Hoe library sale at the Anderson Auction Company galleries. It was the highest price of the day. The total for the afternoon and evening sessions was $21,837. This makes the grand total to date $1,521,845.25.
Widener Bid $49,000
The book dealers and private collectors attending the Hoe sale, as well as the officers and empolyes [sic] of the Anderson Auction Company, are deeply interested in the fate of Harry Elkins Widener, who has been one of the best known bibliophiles in America. It was for him that Dr. A. W. S. Rosenbach, at the Van Antwerp sale in London, gave $18,000 for a first folio Shakespeare, the highest price ever paid for this famous rarity. Mr. Widener, at the sale of Part I. of the Hoe library, was the under bidder for the Gutenberg Bible on vellum. He bid up to $49,000, and Henry E. Huntington obtained it for $1,000 more.
Two days before he sailed on the Mauretania for England, a few weeks ago, Mr. Widener wrote a letter to Walter M. Hill of Chicago, now attending the Hoe sale. In that letter Mr. Widener said that he expected to return on the Titanic on her maiden trip, and that he would be at the sale of Part III. of the Hoe library when it was about half over. He said that he did not expect to get many of the books, as Henry E. Huntington seemed bent on capturing the most valuable ones and that he (Widener) did not care to take the leavings.
About 5 o'clock on the evening before he sailed on the Mauretania Mr. Widener visited the Anderson auction rooms and looked over the books in Part III. He said that he expected to return by April 16 or 17 and that he would be at the Hoe sale. He mentioned his interest in some of its treasures, including the Caxton edition of John Gower's " Confessio Amantis," which will be sold to-morrow evening and which will undoubtedly bring the highest price of Part III.
Comment and discuss