The Snowball Effect , Condition and Rarity

After securing Tom Brown’s School Days, which I regard as a cornerstone of the collection, several other things came along notably the limited signed edition of For The Train, a copy of Doublets ( second ed.) and around 40 other items for the rest of 1992 from book fairs and catalogues. I think I became aware at this point that a snowball was rolling and that Tom Brown’s School Days had been a catalyst for further acquisitions.

In 1993 I concentrated on finding editions of the 6/- Macmillan Alice’s and built up a good series in good condition and overall adding a further 40 items to the collection, then housed in my grandfather’s splendid antique cabinet.

I began to realise condition as fundamental and passed over a number of first editions of, for example, Rhyme ? And Reason? ( 1883) before choosing a fine copy for £120 in the wonderful children’s book shop of Glenda Wallis in Bath, which was a price based on the fine condition ( rather than very good, good, fair or poor). This principle held throughout the 25 years and although not as insistent as Morris Parrish I put condition at the top of the agenda as often as rarity allowed .

 At the London June Book Fairs in 1993, at the Café Royale, I found my copy of Parrish’s Tour in 1867, one of 66 unnumbered copies, still in original glassine wrapper and box. This privately printed rare book contains a transcript of Dodgson’s Russian trip with his companion Henry Liddon and is definitely one of the books that a rare book collector will be teased about for not reading. As  this copy has been protected in wrapper and box it is in very fine condition, to be admired, but not handled or, heaven forbid, read.  The bookseller said that it had come to him via a niece of Morris Parrish. This was the first time that I had experienced the collector’s dilemma – a  jaw-dropping wonderment at the discovery of the book coupled with a visceral fear of the financial consequences. I was entering unchartered territory. I baulked at the price on the book, £250, and was advised by the bookseller to go for a walk, establish in my own mind if I really wanted the book and to then return if I did to talk about price. This was one of those almost fabled items which one read about in bibliographies – principally The Lewis Carroll Handbook, known as WMGC after its’ editors – and in collection catalogues – and was highly desirable. You might see it once and never again. I returned and haggled for all I was worth ( pun) until the price looked bearable at £190. All these years later I still marvel at this beautifully produced item and haven’t seen another copy for sale in wrapper and box since.