About the Collection

Volume IV, V, VI

Important notice

Brigham Young University purchased the first three parts of this catalogue in toto. It will come as no surprise to learn that they have also bought the contents of these three volumes.

We hope that you will enjoy the perusal of this last and final three-decker of Victoriana even if denied the opportunity of purchase.

D.M.

Compiler’s Foreword

Sequels seldom come up to expectations. With the exception of Huck Finn I can think of none which has bettered its predecessor. The same yardstick may be applied to catalogues. The first three volumes of this collection of Victoriana received many pleasant encomiums; I can only hope these last three will be treated as kindly, but I am not very sanguine.

I know their shortcomings and I can only say that gathering the material for them has been infinitely more difficult that it was for the earlier effort. To begin with, the world in the past five years has become intensely conscious of the Victorian period, and no doubt in the next phase of collecting it will move on with equal enthusiasm to the Edwardians. Prices have soared and I fear will continue to do so as demand outstretches availability.

The literary section of these catalogues I am not too unhappy about. It is not often that a bookseller can list over 200 G. A. Hentys, including several of his very rare two and three deckers; a presentation Pickwick; a major Conan Doyle manuscript; a very brave showing of Kiplins (65 titles in addition to 26 in Volume II) and a fine collection of Anthony Trollope—77 titles, which added to the items in Volume II make close to a hundred in all. Among this new batch may be found those twin Trollope rarities The Macdermots and The Kellys and the O’Kellys, to say nothing of a Ralph the Heir in its monthly instalments.

When it comes to the “Mixed Pickles” section of these last three parts I have failed to live up to its predecessor in the first three. There are two reasons for this. First, I rather overloaded “Mixed Pickles” originally with over 700 items, and second, I couldn’t find sufficiently interesting books at a fair price for this present and last section of the catalogue.

But enough of making excuses. One small self-applied pat on the back: the Index, over which I labored for several weeks. This is a dreary back-breaking job, pulling some 2,000 cards in and out of a box, sometimes handling one card as many as twenty times. I can only hope that it will prove rewarding.

It has been a pleasurable and educational task compiling this collection of Victoriana. The time has come, however, to call a halt lest we overload the train on its long over-sixty-year run through the 19th century. Let us pull into the station and rest a while. Next stop—Edward VII.