The Historical Auction Series No.1 The Henry C. Murphy Sale March 3-March 8, 1884

“The great Murphy book sale in Clinton Hall, New York, was well attended yesterday afternoon and evening by the same representatives of colleges, libraries and private collections that have been present since the commencement of the auction on Monday. Bidding was more active than at any of the previous occasions, owing to the arrival of several important orders from Henry Stevens of London, representing the British Museum, for important works. They came on the steamer Servia yesterday morning, and had they arrived before the commencement of the sale, as it was expected they would, the steamer being due on Saturday, there would have been a difference of $2,500 in the receipts of the sale. The orders, in many cases, extended fifty times the prices at which the books were being sold. This fact shows that higher prices can be obtained for rare books on America in England than people in this country are willing to give. The information that the British Museum was anxious to secure some of the works had the affect of pushing up prices to a figure exceeding that obtained at the previous meetings. It was noticeable…that some of the best works that should be preserved in the Congressional or State libraries, or by the historical associations throughout the country, were permitted to go into the possession of English buyers. It is safe to assume that these works will never again appear for sale. …”

The Brooklyn Eagle’s last day of coverage on the Murphy Sale, is again page one.

“For true literary merit as well as possessing the charm of rare antiquity is the Jesuit Relations, in forty-one volumes, thirty-six of which are the original editions. This set is said to be the most complete ever offered for sale, and the collection was a work of fifty years. Mr. Murphy’s agents purchased the volumes one by one at the great European sales and in the book markets of London, Paris, …and Amsterdam…The Jesuit Relations are among the most important publications extent relating to the discovery and settlement of Canada, being the narratives of the Jesuit missionaries who lived among the Indians from 1632 to 1679. The bidding on Mr. Murphy’s set began with an offer of $1,000 from Mr. Joseph Sabin. Mr. George Hannah, of the Brooklyn Mercantile Library [ ÆM Editor’s Note: later, the Brooklyn Public Library], saw him and went $500 better. Mr. Sabin raised him $500 more, and the two bid the price up to $3,600, at which it was knocked down to Mr. Sabin….”

The sale ultimately realized more than $50,000.

This is just a single data point on what will become, in time, a tableau of data points. It is a single collection sold 119 years ago. Certainly nothing like it has occurred in many decades. In time we can all understand what happened to these books and why such sales no longer take place. For now we can only speculate.

As for Mr. Murphy we can say this. He was an impassioned and life-long collector. For some, as it was for him, book collecting is a wild and demanding passion that, carried to the highest levels, achieves immortality. Mr. Murphy and his books meet this standard. May all book collectors aspire to greatness and, in the ways they can, achieve it.