A Hybrid Copy of the New Yorker

A copy of the New Yorker's seventh issue from April 4, 1925 was sold on eBay in November. Bidding opened at $75. Two bidders placed one bid each in the last hour or so. The magazine sold for $560. But what exactly did the high bidder win?

Regarding condition there is a problem stated up front.  "The front and back covers have been pasted down along the spine edge (not blocking any text)" according to the item description, and "Complete original issue." The eBay seller further states, "A better than good but not quite very good issue from the New Yorker's first year. the seventh issue published. Scarce."

Well, not quite. The photographs, assuming they are correct, tell another story. The exquisite cover by Ilonka Karasz is true. The pages inside the magazine though are not from the April 4 issue at all. Rather, they are from the magazine's fifth issue of March 21. The April 4 cover has been attached incorrectly to the March 21 issue. All the internal pages and even the back cover belong to the earlier fifth issue, not the seventh.  Thus this rare copy of the magazine is actually not a complete copy but a hybrid.

Ilonka Karasz, The New Yorker, April 4, 1925

"The Talk of the Town:  The Key to the Padlocks"
The New Yorker, March 21, 1925, page 1

Reginald Marsh, Right half of The Kit Kat (or the Good Bad) Ball--An Impression
The New Yorker, March 21, 1925, page 3

"Profiles:  A Timid Little Man"
Illustration of Arthur Hopkins by Hans Stengel
The New Yorker, March 21, 1925, page 9

"Rotary Club Celebrates"
The New Yorker, March 21, 1925, page 19

Back Cover, advertisement for G. P. Putnam's Sons, The New Yorker, March 21, 1925

EBay Listing Ended November 11, 2014

EBay Item Description

EBay Bid History

Note:  Here are four links which should verify everything I've said here. Two of them are to blog posts of mine about the fifth and seventh issues, and two are links to the New Yorker archives.
My blog post: A Look at the New Yorker's Fifth Issue.
The New Yorker's Archive March 21, 1925
My blog post:  A Look at the New Yorker's Seventh Issue:  April 4, 1925
The New Yorker's Archive:  April 4, 1925

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