I see that Potter and Potter is actioning off items from the Jennings collection next month. Several sets of cups are included, Paul Fox, Porper....although I was looking for the original Vernon silver cups. Didn't BJ end up with a set of them? Bill?

Anyway, a lot of great stuff in there. Books, props, memorabilia. Of special interest to me is Vernon's walking stick! How cool is that?

Thanks for alerting us, saw the digital catalogue, great cups!

Francis

Pepka, not sure of this and until Bill comes aboard... I think Persi Diaconis has the other set.

BJ SOLD THE VERNON CUPS to Bill Taylor, a special effects guy in Hollywood. He showed them at the Conf. of Magical History. And Diaconis has the other set.

Wait a second. Bill Taylor and I have chatted more than a few times about his research into the cups and his wonderful photographs of them. He never mentioned he owns them?

Maybe he wanted to keep it a secret UNTIL his lecture at the Conf.

Thanks Pete. I knew Persi had one set and had no idea BJ sold them. I got VERY excited at the thought of them being up for auction. I have a heavy-hitter collector near me and was going to try and talk him into trying to get them.

How much do you think they would go for at public auction?

Fortasse

No idea. Maybe $5,000 or more?

Way more than that ....someone offered BJ 5 figures for them and she turned them down I think the number was in the 20,00 - 30,000 range.
Was the ownership of them actually settled? Last I heard was they were in possession of BJ but ownership was the Vernon estate on loan to BJ because of the relationship Larry had with Vernon.

Did Bill allow Bill Palmer to take pics for the museum or anything? Would love to read the technical details of these cups.

Mobius

No technical details, but Jim Riser has some very nice photos of Vernon's cups on his website:

http://www.jamesriser.com/Magic/Vernon/Cups.html

Not sure which f the two sets this is though.

Oh, and happy New Year to all!

Richard

Happy New Year to you too, Richard....and to all of you here at the Café!

Fortasse

Happy New Year!

Francis

Happy New Year to all of the ESS community! I shall have something to show you in a few days, I hope.

W.

I don't have any photos of any cups on my web site that are not actually in my collection. When Bill gets ready to publish the photos he has taken I am sure that he will. The large photos of the Vernon cups that are on Riser's web site are actually of the same cup showing different views of it. Bill Taylor took those photos some time ago.

Regarding the settlement with the Vernon estate, if any, I don't think any of us here knows the intimate details of Vernon's will or the agreement with Jennings. In most states, once the ownership of anything has passed to an heir, that heir has control of its disposition.

In final analysis, the executor has more power than the will itself.

Thanks I was wondering is all.
It says something about the cups and more info coming soon on the riser site for those that did not click the link.

I know that Larry had the cups for a while before Vernon Passed away is why I asked what I did. They were in Larry's possession before Vernon had passed away and on the Genii site there were some questions about the cups ownership is all. One of Dai's son's is also a member and had posted about various questions asked about his father. The question about the cups was not asked when he was posting. I was surprised you didn't ask anything about them Bill.

I conversed with Derek Verner off-list about various things concerning the cups. He gave me a lot of information. I can't say much else here. You remember what Derek's situation was.

Good point - thanks for reminding me, Bill!

[For those interested, I'm selling a few sets of cups and have posted a list over on the 'Tricks & Effects for trade or sale' page. The Vernon cups aren't on that list, unfortunately!]

I just discovered this post regarding the Jennings auction. I was the one who offered Larry's wife $25K for the Vernon cups approx 8 years ago. Then I up'd it to $35K. I offered Persi the same but he said he "still uses them but maybe sometime in the future." Hey, sometimes cash isn't always king.

BTW....If you look at Lot 78 it must contain this correspondance as my name is mentioned.

Doug Edwards

Thanks for posting Doug.
You must have really wanted them bad.
Mike