THE owner of a book dating back well-over a century has discovered its shocking value.
She brought the rare item to Antiques Roadshow for a second look after inheriting it from her late mother-in-law.
The owner of an old book was left in tears at its evaluation by Antiques Roadshow[/caption]
They inherited the memoranda from their late mother-in-law[/caption]
“My mother-in-law was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she had a lot of interesting books,” the owner told appraiser Ken Gloss during an episode of the PBS series.
“My husband and I were looking through her things — we found it in the kind of bag you get when you buy a card, and she had put it in there, I guess, forgotten about it.”
The book had a title that read, “Walt Whitman’s Memoranda of the War: Written on the Spot in 1863-1866.”
Whitman was a legendary American poet and essayist, arguably most known for his Leaves of Grass verse collection, per the Poetry Foundation.
Some may also know his poem, O Captain! My Captain! and of Whitman’s fondness of fellow essayist and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The owner immediately recognized the name and figured it could potentially be Whitman’s original works if old enough.
“I know enough about books to know that — gee — if it’s old, it might be rare, and I knew enough about Walt Whitman to know that he self-published his own work,” she added.
She also continued that her mother-in-law’s family had lived in Camden, New Jersey, where Whitman also lived and died in 1892.
NOTABLE NOTATION
The book also showed an inscription to what would’ve been her mother-in-law’s “many great uncles.”
Gloss immediately confirmed that her research and conclusion were correct, it was, in fact, Whitman’s works, self-published in Camden.
However, it wasn’t that aspect of the book that interested the appraiser; instead, it was the previously mentioned inscription with the two letters of “WW” at the bottom, Whitman’s initials.
“It’s a very, very nice inscription,” he emphasized.
Gloss explained that the book was a slightly later version than the first and had some signs of wear, taking its value down just a bit.
Still, the decrease was almost completely negated by the rarity and specialty of the inscription.
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JUDGEMENT JUSTIFIED
“The fact that it’s not a first edition is a little bit of a detraction, the fact, though, that it has a fabulous inscription just adds to it,” he told the owner.
So, what’s it worth?
Gloss said that considering everything, it would be valued conservatively at around $10,000 to $12,000.
That alone nearly brought the owner to tears.
“If you don’t mind, I’m gonna cry. My mother-in-law’s been dead for just a while, and I feel like I’ve justified her — my mother-in-law was right,” she said.
Gloss added that it was “wonderful,” and without the inscription, it might only be worth around $700 to $800.
Family heirlooms often share special histories and can be worth serious money.
The owner of a handkerchief from World War 2 passed down by their father also had an inscription to thank for its evaluation of $10,000.
A signature within the photo album belonging to a different owner’s grandparents also made it worth $15,000.
