For me as a literature dealer, buying from collectors while they are still actively collecting is very straight forward. Buying literature from someone else afterwards sometimes means the collection has not been administered the preservation it deserves.

I recently reviewed a collection belonging to a family that had 'inherited' it from a relative. This is how it went: I examine literature in a very well-lit room and go through each page. After taking this literature out of the boxes, I could see it was not well preserved, and after an hour I decided it would be best to just return it. I had quickly eliminated the 'unacceptable' pieces, and it was over 3/4 of the collection. I then had to do a thorough review of the less than 1/4 that was left. Returning it to the sender would not have done either of us any good.

I do not know how closely they had examined this literature or if they did so under good lighting. Buyers / collectors want literature in the same condition that it was when it was acquired at the dealership. I have to sell literature in that condition or otherwise it would be returned. That would be bad business. I sell everything with the "like new" commitment and have done so for 49 years. That is why we are the most successful auto literature dealers in the world. (Continued below...)

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L I K E   N E W . . .

I do not know what condition this literature was in when the original collector had acquired it or how it had been stored. Probably the method of storage had taken its toll and rendered it to this condition. I have seen worse — attics, basements, garages and storage sheds all erodes literature to waste in time. In this case, the unacceptable literature suffered from light, water, stains, bug damage, mold, rips, drag scuffs, dirt, wrinkles, creases, folds, etc. Unfortunately, all the larger, more desirable brochures had received substantial damage.

The seller responded to the above evaluation by me: "Robert, thanks you for review and assessment. I have had training in archival work and know that with collectibles, preservation and condition are everything. You are correct, the materials were not well kept and sustained some water damage. My uncle had a lifelong love of cars — domestic and foreign and while at one point he was quite obsessive about his collection, circumstance distracted him and it was left on its own..."

Alas, haven't we heard this before... It is painful to think of the amount of historical literature that has lost its glory in this manner.

Have you read the Storage Tips we published a few years ago?