Okito on Magic - first ed. Signed by Okito.

Okay, I don't understand what Bill Palmer
Bill Palmer
Bill Palmer
Bill Palmer Means, but...
I do have just a few copies left of the Deluxe Collector's Edition of THE HIMBER WALLET book. Numbered, signed, in slip cases, brand new. You can have a copy for $95.00 plus the inevitable pstg/hndlng. When the few I have are gone, you know that price will probably go way up. Anyway, if you want one, or have any questions, go to my personal email address, listed under this post with the word "earthlink" in it. Best - HARRY L.

See. It worked!

It's a medieval method for conjuring a spirit. You say the name three times, and if the planets are in the proper alignment, the spirit will show up.

Thanks for the information, Harry.



There are a couple of different versions of this book. One is a deluxe, numbered, limited edition. Another is just the standard edition. Figure somewhere around $200 - $300, depending on condition.

These don't come up often. I found a few of them on the Martinka site.

Bill, thanks for the book appraisal.
Regarding your incantation, I think any planet alignment will work.

Posted: Apr 24, 2010 12:41pm
I heard that if you stand in front of a mirror with the lights out, and you perform a sleight while chanting 'Harry Lorayne' three times you will conjure an apparition that will tell you where to find his superior method.
It's true. It happened to a friend of a friend of mine!

Love your work, Harry.

That works, RiffRaff - but a better method is to simply get hold of (read "buy") my books! (Careful; some have been known to disappear while chanting my name in front of a mirror in the dark!)

Please don't regard any of the statements I make concerning book values as "appraisals." I just look for past performances of various books.

When I lived in Detroit I used to regularly search the used book stores for quality magic books. I found many great books that were no longer available from traditional magic shops. Before the Internet age and Abe books, I would say the books were sold at a reasonable price. The prices skyrocketed after Abe books as many of these used book dealers based their prices on Abes.

Many times I would ask a dealer why a book was priced so high and get back Abe books.

There was a used book dealer in Houston, back during the 1970's who occasionally got hold of magic books. She always priced them very high, because she had no idea what they sold for. Often, these books were priced considerably above retail.

The proprietor did pay the highest prices in town for used books, so she had to charge a high price for them when she sold them, and she had no way of finding out what these books were worth.

So I got her some magic catalogs so she could price the books with a certain amount of accuracy. This had an added benefit. She had a customer in France who collected Houdini material. This opened up an avenue for her that she hadn't had access to before.

Some of the internet book sellers do make mistakes, though. In 1965, I wrote a book on how to play the banjo. A couple of years ago, it appeared at a used book store for $1995.00. It has been out of print for some time, but with more than 20,000 copies in circulation, it is hard to imagine this book selling for such a high price.

So I e-mailed the seller and asked about the price. They had the decimal place in the wrong spot. The book went from $1995.00 to $19.95 in a matter of minutes!

Looking over my book carefully, I did see a pencil mark telling me that the book was $35 NEW, which is probably the price I paid for it. Thanks for the help.

Am still curious as to my last question about what to look for in terms of future book purchases and what may be collectable.

Any time you see a book that comes out in a solid gold box, buy it. Keep the box and toss the book.

That's the short answer. The serious answer is "Who knows?" I certainly don't. It all depends on demand. If you are buying books for an investment, you are doing it for the wrong reason. Buy books because you like them.

In fact, if you are buying ANYTHING as an investment, and it isn't food futures, oil futures, water futures, gold futures or real estate, you don't really understand what to invest in in the first place.

If you want to get the maximum return for books you think you might want to save as possible investments, condition would be near the top of the list. So would the number of copies printed. However, there are magic books that had very limited printings that are not worth much, because nobody wants them. There are also books that are quite collectible because they are about a topic that is "hot" now.

That's where the laws of supply and demand come in. If there are more people who want the book than there are copies of the book, then it will go up in price. But bear in mind that if it gets reprinted, it may go down in value.

In 1972, Greater Magic, any one volume edition, retailed for about $185. It wasn't a rare book. But it was a desirable book. The Kaufman reprint came out. The value dropped a little, but it's back up again. People still want the original copies.

Bill,

I picked up a numbered 1st edition of Paul LePaul's book from a used book dealer for $40 or $45 dollars.
This was before the internet. There were 500 printed. Had the internet and Abe books been around, I'm sure that book would have been priced at over $100.

And that's just one example.

I think. the internet has definitely made it harder on the pocketbook.

Craig

I'm not surprised that it was that inexpensive. The LePaul book has largely been overlooked by card workers of the past two generations, because some of it has been "improved upon" by more recent performers. However, LePaul did a lot of his work in a stage situation. Some of his sleights were specifically for that kind of setup. Look at his version of the Diagonal Palm Shift. It's not as elegant as the Erdnase version, but it is much more suitable for stage work than the Erdnase DPS.

I believe this has gone both ways. Buyers are now able to more easily determine a fair market price and are less likely to be fooled by the "Rare, Out of Print" sales pitch and the associated inflated price.

But I agree that as a buyer you're less likely to come across that great find like you were several years ago. For example, I bought a copy of Cards as Weapons (when they were going for $150-$200) for $15.

-Brian

Here is an article which may be helpful to those interested in learning about collecting, pricing and such things:
http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbt......1#import

Regarding RiffRaff's question about Okito on Magic, all 200 numbered copies of the "deluxe edition" were signed by Okito, and were issued in quarter blue cloth over gold pebbled paper over boards, with a red leatherette slipcase. The basic issue of the book was bound in red cloth with a profile of Okito embossed in gold on the front cover, with a red and white dust jacket.

RiffRaff doesn't mention the condition of the book, whether it has the slipcase, or even if it was one of the "deluxe" copies, so I'd be hard pressed to consider an estimate of value without that basic information. As Bill Palmer wisely suggests, the condition of a book can be critical when it comes to value.

Clay,
Thanks for the extra info.
It's not the deluxe edition.
It has a red cover with the gold embossed Okito profile (about the size of a dollar coin).
The cover is not in good shape. I had purchased a second book just for the cover, and then I discoved that the second book was a second edition, and the cover was different than the 1st edition cover.
The condition is excellent (I'm not using that term the same way that book collectors use it - It looks excellent to my untrained eye).
Okito signed it in blue ink as follows:
To: Bill Reid Esq.
With best wishes.
Okito.
Dec 1952.

(The word 'Okito' is underlined).

Posted: Apr 26, 2010 8:52am
I'm not sure that my post was clear. If not I'll clarify:
The dust jacket (cover) is not in great condition; the book itself is.

What a great idea for a thread, Bill. A few years back, I purchased two issues of West Coast Quarterly from Andy Greget (which seems to comprise a full run). Very few people seem to know much about this publication, in spite of there being great material in there. The price I paid leads me to believe that it may not be worth much, the material and contributors, however, makes me think differently, though.

I really can't claim this as my idea. The idea came from Merenkov.

I will say the value of book is interesting.
Because I know that Dr. Albo's books are
usually through the roof. If they are inscribed,
much more. These are't older books only
published int he past 30 years or so but
they are complete by volume.

Where as the magic annuals don't hold up as
much value as does a inscribed set.

Yet a leather bound edition of the first
so many Jinx (I think or maybe Genii) magazine
can be worth quite a bit.

I think much of it can be determined by demand.
When one knows that its in demand people will
pay (almost) anything for it.

^^^ Frances, I don't think Bob's books are much more valuable inscribed, at least based on what I've seen for sales. And what do you mean by "complete by volume"?

Which annuals are you talking about? Goldston? Findlay? Magic, Inc?

I found someone who collects a very narrow slice of magical publications. Yet he still manages to have a very large collection of material.

He collects Karl Fulves -- not just the books and periodicals Karl wrote or edited, but also articles, reviews, places Karl is mentioned, etc.