John Held, Jr.: Football Scarves

A silk scarf design by the great jazz-age illustrator John Held, Jr., depicts a football center giving a thumbs up just before the play. Executed in Held's signature style from the 1920's, it is apparently one of a series of scarves depicting uniformed football players on and off the gridiron. The rare item showed up on AbeBooks in July and was quickly sold. Atypically, this design omits Jr. from the artist's signature. There are some overall condition issues, but then consider that the scarf could very well be a century old.

John Held, Jr.
AbeBooks listing accessed July 4, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/John-Held-Jr-Scarf-Football-Player/31921866513/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=readmore#&gid=1&pid=1

Sold! Okay, so it's not a book.

There were other football scarves in the series. At least one of them covered some of the action off the field:

John Held, Jr.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/10883638_printed-china-silk-scarf

And just like that the action is back on the field. Here's another player, a running back maybe:

John Held, Jr.

https://www.juliensauctions.com/en/lots/94282/john-held-jr-hand-painted-silk-scarf

Note:  Perhaps someone can add to what I have posted here about these football scarves with designs by John Held, Jr. To wit, how many of them were issued, and when? What was the original sale price? Were they advertised? It was only about a century ago. Somebody should remember something. 

04736

Sight Unseen: A Signed First Edition of Edward Gorey's The Other Statue

Edward Gorey's The Other Statue (1968) is marketed as The Secrets: Volume One. There are no further volumes nor, apparently, were any seriously intended, but it's an intriguing conceit. The book was collected in Amphigorey Again (2006) and has also been reprinted on its own. It is striking to find a signed first edition offered for $30 by Ken Sanders Rare Books of Salt Lake City. The original retail price was $3.00.

The listing has an excellent seller image of the book with its mysterious cover illustration, but it lacks a photograph of Gorey's signature. This then belongs to my ongoing Sight Unseen project. Rather than ask sellers for additional images which might tip them off to how good a deal they are offering, I dive in headlong and then report my findings here. There are risks involved but potentially satisfying rewards.

Edward Gorey
AbeBooks listing accessed November 4, 2023
https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Secrets-Volume-One-Statue-Gorey-Edward/31691961612/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=readmore_low

The book arrived with no evidence of a Gorey signature, alas.

The bookseller was very easy to deal with. The book had been listed incorrectly and I received a mailing label for a postage paid return via USPS. My money was refunded in full once they received the book back.

This happened twice to me this year with Gorey books that were supposedly signed but priced unrealistically low. The problem is a combination of seller carelessness and buyer greed. Hey, I'm looking for a good deal.

04525

William Steig's Abel's Island: A Signed Poster

Abel's Island, William Steig's illustrated novel for young readers, is about a mouse marooned on an island. The book was published by Farrar Straus Giroux in May of 1976. A poster issued by FSG to coincide with the book's publication listed the various Steig titles then available. Tom Bloom writes that his copy of this poster was "purchased from Ken Sanders (in his pre-Antiques Roadshow days) for $50 in the early '00s." It is signed by Steig.

Books for Young Readers by William Steig

Poster

Photo by Tom Bloom

William Steig's signature

Photo by Tom Bloom

 

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