Rare Bible found in bookstore, sold on eBay.
One of the most exciting things about book collecting is that you never know where and when that rare book will turn up.
Here is a true story of one of our better rare book finds. This took place in the summer of 2006. At the time I was doing some route sales for a friend of mine and it took me into a lot of small towns in upstate New York. I stumbled upon an out-of-the-way bookshop during my travels. It might be generous to call it a bookshop, for the owner is never there and you have to make an appointment to see the stock. I went through this tiny town in the Leatherstocking Region of Otsego County and saw a small sign on an old storefront advertising BOOKS. No one was there, but I took down the number and called a few days later. It took quite a few days for the owner to respond. He is a very friendly and talkative fellow but I’m afraid that he enjoys his golf game more that he does his bookstore, for it was some time before I could get an appointment to see him. I am glad that I persevered, because I uncovered a rare item in my search.
The shop, once I got in it, was a jumble of books piles and full shelves. There are still some places like this in the Northeast, where you can get right down on your hands and knees and shuffle through piles of books and paper. The books were all fairly overpriced, in my opinion, but we made a great bargain by buying a large quantity, and we were both pleased at the result. The books were all of very good quality, and there was one surprise!
In the couple of piles of books that I stacked up was a New Testament dated 1790. The publisher was Hugh Gaine of New York. I knew that Gaine items were good, but did not realize how good. I asked the owner what he wanted for it, and I passed him a ten-dollar bill.
Upon returning home I did some research and found out some interesting things about the volume. I decided to list it on eBay, and here is what the listing looked like:
RARE 1790 Hugh Gaine New Testament
First New York Testament
Rare First New York New Testament
The New
TESTAMENT
of our
Lord and Saviour
JESUS CHRIST,
Newly Translated out of the
Original Greek:
and with the
Former Translations
Diligently Compared and Revised.
Appointed to the Read in Churches.
New-York: Printed and Sold by Hugh Gaine, at his Book-Store and Printing-Office, at the Bible, in Hanover-Square.
M,DCC,XC.
Full leather, 6.5 x 4, rear joint cracked and partially split, loss at the spine ends. No endpapers, with the Table of Kindred as the last page.
Evans’ American Bibliography no. 22359 notes the following errors, which are present in this book: Acts viii. 9. sorcercy, for sorcery; Phil. iv. 15. beginning, for beginning.
Rumball-Petrie’s Rare Bibles, An Introduction for Collectors and a Descriptive Check-List ) has the following note for this piece: “No. 142. First New York Testament. 1790. Printed in New York by Hugh Gaine, it is a duodecimo without pagination.”
Hills’ The English Bible in America, A Bibliography of Editions of the Bible & the New Testament Published in America 1777-1957 has the following: “No 1789. Unpaged: 168 leaves. Title has initials H. G. in script letters in oval design; Order of Books on verso. Table of Kindred at the end. Errors - [same as above]. This is the first New Testament printed in New York.
Isaiah Thomas’ The History of Printing in America (first appearing in 1810), notes that Gaine was born in Ireland and set up a press in New York about 1750, publishing in Hanover Square for about 40 years.
Did you notice what research was used, and how it added to the value of the listing?
The book sold for $4,000.
After subtracting the eBay fees and my $10 investment we made a tidy profit.
Does this happen very often? Are there rare books out there waiting to be discovered? The answer is…YES. It happens often enough here to keep the bills paid and groceries on the table. Remember, I bought it from a DEALER and paid his asking price!
Have you made any great collectible book discoveries? Our readers would love to hear about them. Feel free to add your story to the comments page (click on the title above to open this post to full-page, and the comment box is at the bottom).
