RICHARD S. WORMSER
Books
RARE OUT OF PRINT
22 WEST 48TH STREET, NEW YORK
Telephone Cable Address
BRYANT 9-9276 BOOKWORM, NEW YORK
Good Investments In Autographs
Written for The Collector’s Guide by Mary A. Benjamin
Allied News-Photo
Frequently I am asked, “What is a safe investment in autographic material over a long period of years?” The answer may well come from my experience gained in this field during the past decade. The boom years of 1928 and 1929 sent many items of a literary, historical and musical character sky-rocketing, although subsequently they shot down just as suddenly, 1938 seeing prices at probably their lowest level in 25 years. And yet, just as in the case of rare books, some forms of autograph material suffered less than others. The knowledge thus gained, helps materially to light the pathway as to what is the best sort of autographic material to consider for future investment.
Today, the safest buy seems to be good Presidential letters written either before or during their terms of office, preferably the latter. These letters must have worthwhile contents. Uninteresting documents of our Chief Executives are all too common and sell at nominal figures. Signers of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution are also excellent, that is, if the contents measure up. In the literary domain, authors’ letters about their works are always sought for, although prices are more inclined to fluctuate than on historical items.
Of late, increased interest has been evinced in the “War between the States,” or, as it is called up North, the Civil War. An added lure is that prices for this sort of material, are almost at rock-bottom, as collectors are just beginning to wake up to its importance. The years will see good war letters of famous Federal and Confederate Generals go very high. The upward swing has already begun.
A new field which has sprung up recently is that of State collections. The country has heretofore been too young to care much for the historical records of individual localities. But with the development of the nation, this interest has steadily grown, and today, all letters relating to internal politics of individual states or cities are being sought, the competition having a healthy effect upon prices.