‘Collector’s items’

By David Chesanow | August 11, 2010 | Category: Autographs, Collector's items, Manuscripts

Autograph dealer Ed Bomsey of Edward N. Bomsey Autographs (www.bomsey-autographs.com) in Virginia has sent around an e-mail noting he’s added many new additions to the listings on his site. I made Ed’s acquaintance a couple of months ago: A former lawyer whose collecting interests I plan to feature on AmeriCollector.com’s “What the Experts Collect,” Ed is erudite and friendly; he was the president of the The Manuscript Society (www.manuscript.org) from 2008 and chairman its ethics committee; he’s a former director of the Professional Autograph Dealers Association (www.padaweb.org); and he’s a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (www.abaa.org) and a life member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (www.uacc.info).

To me, Ed is an autograph seller of the old school: He has really nice autograph material, has very high professional standard, genuine loves working with collectors and – please note – takes pains to price his items reasonably: As he told me, “I believe that items I get at a reasonable cost can be marketed at a reasonable cost.” He also does appraisals.

[Show as slideshow]

Images courtesy of Edward M. Bomsey Autographs, Inc.,
www.bomsey-autographs.com

I was interested to read about Rick Norsigian, 64, who paints public schools in Fresno, Calif.: He picked up a hoard of glass photographic negatives 10 years ago for $45 (bargaining down from $70) that may possibly be the work of the great Ansel Adams, whose beautiful monochrome images of Yosemite National Park are a staple of Sierra Club calendars. Norsigian has been researching his find – on the Internet, no doubt – and now there’s speculation that these may be Adams plates long believed to be destroyed and lost forever. A possible value of $200 million has been blithely bandied about: That includes reproduction rights, projected print sales, yada yada yada.

Now, I can be as gullible as the next guy, but when I first heard about the airhead newscaster on “Headline News” say, with an earnest face, $200 million – more than the GNP of a lot of Third World countries – for a bunch of glass negatives, I said something that Stephanie Irwin, who designs this site, advised me not to write down in case kids are reading this. An article in the July 28 Wall Street Journal made me feel justified in reacting as I did: Photography experts pointed out that (1) about twelve gazillion visitors to Yosemite in the 1920s were photographing El Capitán and anything else in sight, so there’s no proof yet that these plates were made by Ansel Adams, and (2) even if they WERE made by Adams, the value is in the PRINTS made from the plates, not in the plates themselves. So it’s not like the happy owner just won the California State Lottery’s MEGA Millions.

This news item reminded me of an “Antiques Roadshow” appraisal in which the expert noted that Adams signed the prints he made himself – which are the most valuable – while those made by his trusted assistant he only initialed and are therefore less valuable.

Personally, I hope the plates that Norsigian picked up ARE proven to be by Ansel Adams and that he can cash them in for enough to retire very comfortably and even have a Ferrari to drive in his dotage – never having to pick up a paint roller again. I especially admire him for taking the chance and for doing the research: That’s the beauty of the Internet Age, spammers and phishers and identity thieves aside: You can do a lot of the checking yourself. This is a lesson for all of us collectors: Be cynical, but don’t give up!

If autographs are your thing, or you’re thinking of buying a special gift for someone for the holidays, I urge you to check out Ed’s very well organized site. For some reason, I’ve been finding that quite a few booksellers listing their stock on Advanced Book Exchange (a.k.a. ABE, www.abebooks.com) and Alibris (www.alibris.com) are incredibly sloppy or downright deceptive in their descriptions. Here are some recent experiences I’ve had:

One bookseller in Portland described a book as having been signed TWICE by the author. I knew for a fact that the book in question has a preface with a printed signature, so I asked her to conform that the book was signed twice; she confirmed this. When I received the book – which was not in as good a condition as described – and discovered that in fact it was signed only ONCE and the other signature was printed she got huffy, saying the book was still a good deal and she wouldn’t accept the return.
Another bookseller sold me an 1883 book whose original title page had been removed and replaced with a glued-in photocopy. The photocopy was on new, heavier stock, not the cheap-o stuff they sometimes give you for free at Office Max in return for used LaserJet cartridges. Again, this was curiously absent from the description. Was this a deliberate attempt to deceive? Did the seller think I wouldn’t NOTICE? I’m waiting for an answer to my e-mail.
A bookseller in Falls Church, Va., sold me an 1857 map of Western Washington, describing it as “V.G–. Light browning at one fold. Nice map.” One teensy-weensy problem: A rectangular chunk – almost half the border on one of the long sides – had been cut away. The map can’t be framed and is useless as a collectible. The seller was at least nice about, noting, “The map was issued and inserted in the Serial volume as you see it. Nevertheless I should have mentioned it in the description.” He offered me a partial refund if I want to keep it or a full refund if I want to keep it. (It’s going back.)
A bookseller in Texas listed a book as “inscribed by the author.” Because the autograph of the author in question is rare, and the book was priced cheaply at relatively at $300, I asked to see a scan: The inscription was NOT in the author’s handwriting; what’s more, it was signed with initials, and the initials were not the author’s! I pointed out this small detail: The seller insisted that the inscription was the author’s and still has it listed.

I mentioned these disappointments to a bookseller in Georgia who is extremely conscientious about his descriptions. He replied: “Some (booksellers) are lazy and some are just incompetent.” Word to the wise: Request scans whenever possible. In lieu of a scan, don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions: Ask for a very detailed description of the item, including condition issues, the exact wording of any inscription, the presence or lack of a dust jacket, whether it is a true first or a later book club copy (check the back cover near the spine: There’s usually a pressed-in letter or design to indicate this) and what the seller’s return policy is.