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Henry B. Wheatley examines the historical fluctuations in the prices of books as an indicator of broader economic and intellectual development. The text analyzes how factors such as scarcity, mechanical innovation, and changing social values influence the market value of printed works over time.

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER IX PRICES OF EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE

Roxburghe, £10, 15s. Same copy, Beckford (1882), £14. Colonel Stanley, £22.

Lodge’s (Thomas) Rosalynde, 1598.

Longman (1815), £20 (imperfect). Heber, £5, 10s. Ouvry (1882), £63.

Lok’s (Henry) Ecclesiastes (London: Richard Field, 1597).

Longmans (1815), £28. Sotheby’s (March 1817), £6, 16s. G. Daniel, £38, 10s.

The first editions of Milton’s works have greatly increased in price. Not many years ago a copy of the first edition of the “Paradise Lost” could be obtained for about five pounds, but now a good copy is worth at least four times as much. The prices vary considerably with the date of the title-page, of which there are several issues. G. Daniel’s fine copy sold in 1864 for £28, 10s.

Milton’s Maske (Comus), 1637.

Loscombe, £25. G. Daniel, £36.

—— Poems, 1645, first edition,

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