Has anyone here been on Antiques Roadshow?

[imagine.ink]

I just found out that I "won" tickets through their online lottery system for the NYC appearance of Antiques Roadshow in August.

Apparently, thousands of people apply for tickets and a random lottery determines who actually gets them.  You have to choose among the cities that Roadshow has chosen for the season and you can only enter one time.

This year, the Antiques Roadshow is making appearances at:

Bismarck, ND

Santa Clara, CA

Birmingham, AL

Austin, TX

Albuquerque, NM

Chicago, IL

New York NY

Charleston, WV

I just chose NYC from that list because it seemed the closest to where I live.  I never expected I would win tickets from the lottery.

I've tried a couple of years in the past and never won.

So now I get to choose what 4 items to bring (2 items for each guest and they send two tickets). 

I already know one item (a small antique toy wooden rocking horse that I bought from my antique dealer friend Paul a couple of years ago --- he has since passed away).  At the time I bought it, he told me he got it from a Washington, D.C. estate and that it probably dates to the mid-nineteenth century.  It's really cool, with some kind of weighted mechanism inside that makes the front leg move up and down when it's rocked.    

Now, the search is on for some other cool things to bring that I know nothing or very little about!

[emmbook]

<<The book appraisal didn't go very well. It was a Modern Library illustrated Alice in Wonderland that I thought might be special (I still think so, but haven't done anything with it), but the book appraiser had no information and no interest.>>

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The Roadshow appraiser was wrong. The illustrated Alice is one of the scarcest Modern Library titles -- so much so that it was considered a "ghost" until one turned up in the early 1990s. It never appeared in any ML catalogs, and even advanced ML collectors had never seen one in the pre-Internet era.  It sold on eBay in headier times for as much as $1,250. The last two copies sold here at $395, one with the original acetate jacket and one without. (The missing jacket would be a fatal flaw for most collectors.)

The publishing history has been well-documented on Scott Kamin's ML site and elsewhere online. There were about 3,000 copies made from the leftover sheets of a BOMC dividend book. (Your title page should be on a stub with the ML imprint, and the bottom margins should show signs of re-trimming.) There were about 1,000 copies, in both the acetate jacket and a specially made slipcase, that were given away at a Philco convention in the late 1940s. There's an uncommon variant binding with a different cover illustration -- only 100 copies or so.

[messilane]

"Frankly, if I have trouble seeing things, it is very simple for me to increase the magnification of the screen, fig. Anyone can do it on any computer. On Windows machines control+ the wheel on the mouse will increase or decrease the size from 25% to 400%. "

Why should they have to, when you could just post in a readable font? Works both ways, eh?

Please note that I also post in a large font, and have no intentions of changing things.

[jeanpaulbooks]

"I chalk it up to a vast left-wing conspiracy based in Redmond"

What, you don't think it's a result of Obamacare?

[imagine.ink]

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@figtree3 wrote:

Imagine.ink,

I don't know anything about the horse, but wanted to say that I hope you have a great experience in your visit to the Antiques Roadshow.  The only reason I've never tried to attend is that very few of my possessions would be worth appraising by those people (watching the show has taught me that).

Enjoy!

Fig

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Thank you, Fig!

[imagine.ink]

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@lostandfoundbooks wrote:

I attended quite a few years ago when the show was in Hartford. I brought a box of 30-40 pieces of vintage butterfly wing jewelry that my mother had collected, and a book. They were pretty interested in the jewelry, and they "consulted" about feature filming, but I think I let on that I knew too much about the value--they really want people who'll be shocked and awed when the price is revealed. The book appraisal didn't go very well. It was a Modern Library illustrated Alice in Wonderland that I thought might be special (I still think so, but haven't done anything with it), but the book appraiser had no information and no interest. He said it was worth about $20.00, and since I had already done some research that indicated it was an uncommon ML, I was disappointed. It was a good experience, however--lots of friendly people with interesting stories about their stuff. 

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That's why I would never bring a book to the Antiques Roadshow.

Emmspostingid is right:  That is the most valuable Modern Library book, according to something Satnrose posted years ago.  I tried to find his exact post about that book, which I committed to memory in case I ever found that Illustrated Modern Library, but his post  must have "fallen off the face" of the Board.

I really believe you can get more detailed and exact information about any published book here on the BSB than the Antiques Roadshow could provide.  Let's face it, due to time constraints, they only have a few minutes to do an appraisal, whereas the folks here will spend a lot of time researching the most minuscule minutaie.

Three cheers for the BSB! 

[lludwig]

lostandfoundbooks - I suspect that the appraiser was not really a 'book' expert and just saw that it was a Modern Library and gave it the off-hand treatment. Even inexperienced booksellers might think the same that it was a $10-20 book, same as some booksellers think that all book clubs are worthless.

One of the things that I like about Pawn Stars is that when a customer brings a book in to sell, they call in the book expert.

emmspostingid - Great post! So true about the The illustrated Alice - the Holy Grail for ML collectors. Scot's site is so packed full of information and I need to email him about a couple of things - some things to add and some questions I have.

One of the things that you said was in the ballpark of what I wanted to ask Scot and had just added it to my list the other day. Professorbooknoddle discussed BOMC and ML once or twice and talked about BOMC dividends and Modern Library. I didn't understand clearly what he said and in fact I think he even said he only "thought" it but wasn't sure. Anyway from what I recall his reference was that BOMC gave ML out as dividends but now that I read your post maybe it was the reverse - that some BOMCs were packaged as ML.

imagine.ink - One doesn't see people bringing books to be valued on the Roadshow very often.  I don't watch as much as I used to, but books don't seem to be a hot item on that show. For that reason, they may not even have a book expert on-hand.

[lludwig]

imagine.ink - On Satnrose's Book Quiz thread, I had reposted  the quiz questions that he used to post on the original book board.

On page 10 is the question. I used to use invisible ink for the answer so that people could either read it or take a guess. 

92. What is the most valuable Modern Library book?

92. The "Illustrated Modern Library" edition of Alice in Wonderland

I recently started at the beginning to read them all as a refresher course. It's been a nice reminder of how people would provide additional information and later post their own questions. Nice to see that the thread is still being kept alive. 

[imagine.ink]

Here is the Antique Roadshow's current list of book and manuscript appraisers:

Books & Manuscripts

• Austin, Richard
• Coover, Christopher
• Cowan, C. Wesley
• Ehling, Ian
• Gammon, Martin
• Gloss, Ken
• Gray, Devon
• Lecky, Thomas
• Massey, Stephen
• Sanders, Ken
• Schulman, John
• Wahlgren, Francis
• Whitehurst, Stuart
• Williamson, Catherine

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/appraisers/

[lludwig]

imagine ink Thanks!  Appreciate the list. I recognize a number of them. Guess whomwever was there for the ML just didn't anything about it and lumped it in with most other ML. 

I wonder if you can find out ahead of time who is going to be the appraiser?  I imagine that, for the most part, whichever ones are closest to the city and are available. 

If I ever have a book that was way beyond my skills, I'd contact the sister of one of my son's best friends who worked in rare books for one big name auction house in NY and now works for another one. . My younger son has been living in a studio apt of the family home for several years and has become part of the family. In fact he just got back from the winter home of his friend's uncle. He and his friend went out and boutght new clothes after they arrived since they felt very underdressed! Met some interesting people including the founder of Blackwater. He was in the 'community' to give a talk (book tour) and to make this book related,  my son bought his book, had him sign it and gave him his business card. 

Anyway when I had met the mother and we were talking about what we did and we said that we were booksellers, she said that was similar to what her daughter did and then mentioned the auction house hahahaha Not ever close in comparsion! 

[jeanpaulbooks]

The Spring Issue of Fine Books & Collections has an article about the Antiques Roadshow. It gives a good account of what happens at the show as well as recounting the day of some participants who had their books appraised. Fine Books & Collection is an informative magazine with a lot of information about current book-selling, auctions, and interesting stories. If you don't subscribe, it's worth considering.

[imagine.ink]

Thanks, Jeanpaul.

I just placed an order for the back issue. 

[lostandfoundbooks]

imagine.ink - I pounced on that illustrated Alice at a book sale solely due to the information about Modern Libraries posted on the old book board. Although I post infrequently, I've been reading the board for a very long time. I offer a belated thank you to satnrose, and to all of you here for the expertise you've shared. If I can find it without disturbing too many piles, I'll post a picture of the elusive Alice.  

[tapestries]

My sister got tickets and then searched wildly for something to get appraised.  She ended up bringing a cousin who had a journal of our Great Great (great?)Grand who journaled  his yearsout west with that Custer guy..

[the*bumping*squirrel]

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@tapestries wrote:

My sister got tickets and then searched wildly for something to get appraised.  She ended up bringing a cousin.

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Was the cousin valuable?

.

[tapestries]

Oh yes.