. John La Farge : a memoir and a study . ecially worksfrom the East, and he bought them withknowledge, as those familiar with his collec-tions well know; but when he acquired a thingit was because he found it beautiful and lovedit, and for no other reason. In 1908, when hedisposed of some of his possessions at auction,he wrote this, when it was all over, to Huneker: — Let me say that I liked your referenceto my sale— to me unfortunate— but thingshave sold badly and sales have no souls. Ihave never been a collector for every reason— and one principal one — that study is notin that way
. John La Farge : a memoir and a study . ecially worksfrom the East, and he bought them withknowledge, as those familiar with his collec-tions well know; but when he acquired a thingit was because he found it beautiful and lovedit, and for no other reason. In 1908, when hedisposed of some of his possessions at auction,he wrote this, when it was all over, to Huneker: — Let me say that I liked your referenceto my sale— to me unfortunate— but thingshave sold badly and sales have no souls. Ihave never been a collector for every reason— and one principal one — that study is notin that way — and even influences one went to Yamanakas a little while ago withtwo books to ask their value. I was told atonce six or seven hundred dollars for one —the other none whatever. And yet the onewithout price was the one I look at occasion-ally to feel the breath of poetry blow free. Butit had no duplicate to compete with it—wasunknown to trade. Some of my things, but Official Presentation of Gifts of Food— Samoa. very few, I had long. It is just fifty years agothat I bought my first Hokusai book — ima-gine the joy of first discovery. So I lit off andI have had my likings for Japan. In fact, Iknow of no artists before me. My Frenchpeople laughed at me for <Les amours exo-tiques/ But here people thought moral ill of alover of Jap art — as for the lover of Blake orGoya. I think I still have the bad name —tho I parted with the objects, almost all, someforty years ago. He had discriminated from the was with a critical mind that he had madehis first European travels. Have we not seenhow, even as a lad in the studio of Couture,he used an exacting judgment and weighedhis problems in a delicate balance ? More andmore as the years went on he came to restupon first principles, to go only for that whichhe knew to be broad and lasting. His curi-osity was insatiable. For example, he de-lighted to tell how on a visit to Venice he hadcontrived to
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