Inherited an autograph book. Need advice

[Tom_in_CA]

Hello everyone. New to the forum

I've just inherited our late father's autograph book. When he was a boy, he used to spend summers with a relative in Hollywood. That was from about 1941 to '43. He would stake out all the movie sets, radio show studios, etc... and get autographs.

Some of these I recognize, but others are just scribbles, or are just names I don't recognize (since I'm not too knowledgeable about the stars of that era).

Some of the ones I recognize are: Harpo Marx, Lou Costello, Phil Silvers (that must've been from his radio days, eh?), Charles Coburn, Hedy Lamarr, Cary Grant, etc... But there is page after page of others that I just don't know, not being an old-movie buff.

My question is, where can a person find out the value of these? Is it better to sell as an entire book, or better value by parsing out page by page, separating out individual autographs? Where does a person go about getting the best value? If on Ebay (for example), how can I identify all these? Is there a guide for ID'ing old autographs somewhere?

thanx!

[AutoHound]

Is there a financial reason why you need to sell the autographs? It sounds like you have an incredible collection there and it would be a shame for them to go for less than they are worth or not be stored properly. One would think that the book could be a nice reminder of your father...
I had the value of my collection evaluated for home insurance reasons, using several "kelly blue book" type books I bought off amazon.com and a professional memorabilia dealer in my town.
So there are ways to get it evaluated, but with a collection like that, it would be a shame to sell it. On the other hand, if you do decide to sell some of them, I'd definitely be interested in making you an offer on some...

[Tom_in_CA]

Hi autohound. Yes, no one in the family is into autographs, therefore, no one has a compelling need to collect or hold on to it. And it would be better in the hands of someone who can appreciate it, know what they've got, etc.... And yes, everything of value is being split amongst the heirs. So if it has no value, fine. But if it has value, it is to be split 4 ways. I'm in charge of evaluating this particular portion of stuff.

So where does a person go to evaluate autographs of this era? ID them, etc...?

thanx!

[whiskeydoodles]

WoW! It sounds like you have acquired an autograph collector's dream! I am sure they will be quite valuable.
I'm not really sure about where you should go to be evaluated as I've never done that sort of thing. But as AutoHound said, if you are selling any, I would definitely love to have a look I watch a lot of old movies so if you wanted to send me pics of your autographs I could help you identify them. It's a step in getting them evaluated

Email me or PM me and I'd be happy to help try and ID them for you!
Good Luck =D
Deanna

[guilder1st]

I would contact one of the major auction houses. Like Christies or Sotheby and ask them for some advice. They have their own experts that can help you identify and put a general price on the book. Don't cut up the book, keep it as is. If the book gets cut up it loses some of its value. You can also use Sanders Price guide for Autographs to give you some idea of value.

[Tom_in_CA]

whisky-doodles and guilder1st. Thanx for your input. I am studying the "Sanders" site. Good link!

I think what I'll do for now is to scan all the pages/autographs, and post them here, page by page. Once I've got them all ID'd (as many as can be), then I'll have a better idea of how to shop it around. Stay tuned for photos!! {thumb2}

[Tom_in_CA]

I went to start posting each page, but got this error message: "attachment board quota has been reached". Guess I'll try again tomorrow?

[whiskeydoodles]

If you have a photobucket account you can upload the photos there and then post the links on here {thumb2}
Hope this helps!

Deanna

[Tom_in_CA]

Whiskeydoodle, I'll have to resort to that I suppose. Question for you though: Is this a daily quota? Or is the quota reached forever, for good on this forum?

[Selise]

The quota has been reached on here for ages. The only way to post photos is to upload to Photobucket.

And Christies or Sotheby's are probably your best bet