Auction Fever: Just in case you thought it only affected card collectors

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Posted By: Max Weder

I hate to say that I already twice amended my snipe on this auction of the library listing of the Spalding holdings , but both amendments are nowhere near the current bid, and the auction has two hours to go...Is there anything I'm missing on this auction which would suggest this value is justified?

http://offer.ebay.com/ws3/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=5114837779

Max

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Posted By: jay behrens

A link to item instead of the bidders would be a good thing

Jay

I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Mark

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5114837779

Is it just me or has everthing vintage skyrocketed over the past week? Did George W. Bush send out $300 tax refund checks again?

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Posted By: The other One (Julie)

and when his feedback comes up, click on "items for sale." Ho hum/ Must be bored...

I don't know why that relatively interesting (not a misprint)item would be selling so high...

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Posted By: Judge Dred

And the final hammer price is:

$408 (juice inclusive)

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Posted By: jay behrens

I know how to get to item by other means, but I am lazy. And when someone posts about an item, it only makes sense to have a link to the item and not to something else. Sort of defeats the purpose of getting an answer to your question.

Jay

I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: AdamBaxter

The high Bidder may have overpaid....by alot. This was an issue of The New York Public Library Bulletin and even though this may be a difficult issue of the magazine to find, I'd be surprised if it's worth over $400. My area isn't books, so I could be wrong on it's value. I took a look on ABEbooks.com and Bookfinder, which are two of the largest online book sites, and came up with several hits. The only original 1922 copy I found was at ABEbooks.com and it was only $50. This particular issue was also reprinted in 2002 and I found several hits for the reprinted edition on both sites ranging in price from $20 to $30 dollars. If anyone on the board has read it or owns a copy I'd love to hear details.

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Posted By: AdamBaxter

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=38554540

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Posted By: Behrod Hosseinzadeh

Item has been deleted. Max, did you already buy it?

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Posted By: petecld

If you can get it for $50 on abebooks and sell it on eBay for $400 I HOPE Adam bought it.

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Posted By: Max

Well, not saying who bought the ABE copy (however, be sure to bring your raincoat to Canada's wet coast, Mr. Spalding...), but often the best indicator of value on ebay is the third highest bidder in an auction, after the mano a mano action has played itself out (no mas, I say).

In this case, woo hoo , a profit of $1.51!

Max

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Posted By: Elliot

Max, I hope your paying the full tax on that "collectible" and not trying to claim that it's a book and exempt from sales taxes.

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Posted By: Max

Elliot

I get all my books shipped to Seattle, drive down every few weeks, and then smuggle them back, while wearing my three newly purchased Seattle Mariners T-Shirts <br /> (Actually, it's my spouse I'm much more worried about...)

Max

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Posted By: Jeff O

Have no fear, my law-abiding friends. I will personally alert the authorities that Max will be smuggling rare American books across the border during his next visit to Seattle. I know his accomplices and where they like to eat lunch, so I'll be sure that they are tailed.

Of course, I am open to bribery...

Jeff

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Posted By: barrysloate

Hi Adam,
I have a copy of the 1922 original and would be happy to share any information with people on the board. However, I'm currently on vacation and won't be back in the office until Aug. 30. I use the computer periodically at the town library. $408 is a lot, but I guess the information is important to people. By the way, the Spalding collection has also printed a volume which lists everything that has been stolen from the collection ( they don't use the word "stolen")since the 1922 inventory. That volume resides at the library. The list of things missing is better than what remains.

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Posted By: Max

Just so Jeff O doesn't cast further dispersions on this issue, as he did on my cross-border migration habits, I want to state that I have an iron clad alibi from 1922 to 1958 regarding the Spalding collection and its missing inventory.


(Jeff O: I'll be in the Emerald City Saturday; maybe our fellow traveller will buy us lunch...)


Max

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Posted By: Jeff O

Max (if that's your real name ), unfoturnately I have other plans on Saturday. Hopefully I'll catch up with you on your next book raid.

Jeff

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Posted By: Max

In any event, I'll be travelling in disguise

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Posted By: AdamBaxter

Barry,

Thanks for offering to share the info on Spalding's Collection with the board, I'm really looking forward to it. From your post it sounds like Spalding's best pieces aren't in the collection anymore. It's a real shame to hear that it's been ransacked over the years. I had heard that Spalding bequethed quite a few books to the library, don't know much else about the other stuff.

Best,
Adam

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Posted By: Max

The listing of the Spalding inventory poses some interesting questions for the unique items that were donated by Spalding and are now no longer in the library's collection. Do the major auction houses do any search of title or provenance? Have any of the missing items shown up at auction? The inventory is at http://catnyp.nypl.org/record=b2669595

I note that Harry Wright scorebooks 1883-1892 are listed. Hopefully Barry can advise on what is missing from the Spalding collection, because for auction purposes, bidders need to know that they aren't buying items that belong to someone else (NYPL). Given the recent spate of Harry Wright scorebooks that have been auctioned, this might prove interesting research.

Max