eBay auction for RARE 1st edition Erdnase signed by Dai Vernon

[Richard Kaufman]

Hate to see it go, but I am auctioning my first edition of The Expert at the Card Table, hardcover 1902 (green cloth with gold foil stamp) that I asked Dai Vernon to sign in the 1980s.
It is in superb condition.
Here's a link to the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... gory=14014

[Richard Kaufman]

We have a bidder!

[Temperance]

Hi

I'll give you 10 pounds for it, can't say fairer than that. I mean, it's practically falling apart and someones scribbled all over one of the pages..

10 pounds, and that's cutting my own throat :)

--Euan :whack:

[Pete Biro]

How about 10 Guinees? (SP)

[malbright]

Richard,
Can't wait to see how high this goes!

Say, I do know of one other first edition signed by The Professor, as well as several other notables. I bought it myself from a bookstore in Boston about 7 or 8 years ago for $3,500 (A steal!). Then, I got a call from the bookstore saying the book turned out to be stolen from its rightful owner, and the deal never went through. ARGH!! Seems a guy came into the bookstore with the Erdnase and a few other good ones, and sold them. As it turns out, he was a houseguest of the rightful owner and clipped the books. The owner, I was told, scoured bookstores throughout Boston looking for his cherished copies. He found it the day before it was to be shipped to me. Anyway, it was a beauty, and I believe it was also signed by Sam Horwitz and Doc Daley.

[Robert Allen]

Is the high price on this item due primarily to the signature, the edition of the book, or the juxtapostion of the two?

I'm curious since I have an autograph from Mr. Vernon from when I was a kid visiting the Magic Castle in the 1970's. I would never sell it. But I am curious.

[Richard Kaufman]

A first edition of Erdnase is worth about $1,700. Most are beat up. This one's in great condition. Also, the Vernon signature adds a unique quality to the book.
So, it is a combination of the two.