A rather lacklustre week was suddenly brightened when my husband arrived home with some real auction treasures! And he didn't even know he had them. Books are not very popular sellers at auction sales and my husband usually buys them all, as they go very cheaply. On the day after the auction I started to receive excited phone calls about the treasures he was unearthing. I was supposed to go home and rest as I had a cold, but I went home and took photos for hours.
The book I am going to share today is one that somehow touched my heartstrings, and I have no idea if it has monetary value. A father had sent the book he made to his son (presumably at boarding school) explaining the history of World War One using stamps he had collected. I see he seemed to lose heart when the Second World War arrived. At first I feared his son had perished, but as I have continued to browse through the book collection, I noticed his father had sent him another book in 1947, after WWII ended. Stamps is one area I struggle dreadfully with, and I don't have a clue if any of the stamps are worth anything. If anyone would like to see a closer photo, just let me know.
(I think the father, rather cleverly, converted an old atlas into his own book!)
Buying, sorting and selling books is very hard work, and a killer if you have allergies. 98% of books are basically worth nothing, but for me, and my husband, the outstanding 2% make all the work and sneezing more than worth it. For the most part books are slow sellers, as you have to find exactly the right buyer to pay the price the book is worth. (And I usually try to keep mine almost half of the price the book is commonly sold for.) It does make for a lovely, unexpected windfall, sometimes years later, when I finally make a sale of a valuable book. I have listed this hand written book for a starting price of R450. ($34).
@onetree
Awesome find @onetree. where did you list this for sale?
Ultimately value is determined by what people are willing to pay, and sometimes, like this book, you hit a unique item.
I agree 100% !!!
I listed it in South Africa
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/305204430/WOW_Handwritten_Book_Using_Stamps_To_Illustrate_WWI_By_A_Ingledew_To_His_Son_On_Armistice_Day_1920.html
All the best - I hope the right people see it and bid it up and up! This would make an excellent gift for someone.
Incredible find! The father was very dedicated to his son' s education and well being! The hand writing is very nice, the place of write was in Wales, Cardiff. Evidently his legal offices were in Swansea and London. He must have been a very well established lawyer. I wonder about his life after the war and his son's occupation. This is amazing and intriguing.
Thanks for the happy energy!
Cheers.
I have been going through a mountain of books from the family that was sold on the auction. It seemed the family remained very wealthy and moved to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and then to South Africa. The son maintained an interest in the military, and the wife or grand daughter had an abiding passion for art. I discovered the grand son had to appear before the South African High Court for insider trading in 2004 and after then the information seems to have dried up.
Thank you very much for your reply! @onetree. This family is very interesting, it's just like reading old classic British novel written about life in India. This could be made into a film with some adaptation and imagination added.
Cheers.
Great find
Thank you!
Wow what a grate post. Thank you for your upvote. Followed, upvoted and resteemed.
Thank you!!!!
@onetree got you a $1.38 @minnowbooster upgoat, nice! (Image: pixabay.com)
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Interesting bit of history there.
I agree, I love finds like this. 😁