No. 21. Desiderata, or, Books Wanted to Purchase, by Bernard Quaritch, 15 Piccadilly, London. April, 1872

Bernard Quaritch, London, bookseller's catalogue, 1872. Printed self-wrappers, 8vo,. 8 pp. An uncommon survival of a separate catalogue devoted to books wanted. No other copy located of this one, although the Library of Congress appears to have otehrs similar and Quaritch catalogues of the period include mention of other Desiderata catalogues numbered '2' and '15'. Quaritch not infrequently included a page or two of desiderata at the end of his sale catalogues. The 8 pages here are densely packed with items wanted, including "cheap" copies of Shakespeare 2nd and 4th folios. Elsewhere, Quaritch advertises that his desiderata are circulated frequently to an extensive network of agents across Europe, often permitting him to procure out-of-print works. It was not until the 20th century that The Clique and later Bookdealer provided a dedicated publication in which booksellers generally could advertise their wants, with an efficient system for responses to be sent to the publisher and then distributed to the relevant advertisers. Quaritch is forthright about the pricing for books offered tohim: "Any Gentleman having some of the books of this List for sale at a fair value, will oblige by stating to Mr. Quaritch their titles, dates, condition and price. Offers of Books WITHOUT a price, are declined; and need not be made. When Owners of Books offer them above the market value, they receive no answer. Some edgewear and creasing to fore-edges, rear wrapper with small tears and loss including a few characters of text, otherwise Good.