1848 John Phillips "Mexico" Book
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GUEST:
We got it in, like, the '70s, young kids in Mexico City at a flea market, actually. It was on the ground, and I think we paid about $22 for it.
APPRAISER:
$22?
GUEST:
Yeah, it was pesos, but it worked out to about $22.
APPRAISER:
I know when I was younger, if I was on vacation, that would be an awfully big thing to bring back.
GUEST:
It was a huge thing. I think I had to leave things because I had to find room in the suitcase. But I love books, and I saw it and I thought it needed to be rescued. Didn't think too much about it except one day, I went to another antique store here in Albuquerque, and there were some prints, and I went, "Ah! I have those prints in that book, that Mexico book!"
APPRAISER:
Well, it's pretty obvious that the title is "Mexico", it's by a man named John Phillips, it's 1848, which is actually a fairly important time in the Mexican history. I mean, it was just after the war with the United States...
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
The text in there, and I'm not gonna open the book because it's fragile enough as it is, is in English and in Spanish. But the main thing about what he was doing was more books of scenery. He did some of the illustrations, he gathered some together, but he was an artist, book illustrator. The complete book has about 28 prints in it. We just have one out here displayed. All of these prints are this type, they're sort of a sepia tone, and they show scenes all around Mexico. They show cathedrals, Mexico City, and you'll also notice that some of them have military affairs in here. But there are a few condition issues.
GUEST:
You think? (laughing)
APPRAISER:
We can see fairly clearly that there's some staining on the books, some of the pages are a little bit loose. I know we didn't go through in detail, you said that you thought maybe...
GUEST:
I think there's a couple that are missing.
APPRAISER:
If you look at the edges, you'll see that there's a little bit of water staining.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
It came out in two different formats. They were all this size, but if you had more money at the time, you could have the same prints, but they were hand-colored.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
Which of course is a little bit more expensive at the time, a little bit more expensive now, but they are absolutely gorgeous prints. Even with all of the problems this book has, as is, as you have it now, retail, it's probably about a $4,000 to $6,000 book.
GUEST:
You're kidding?!
APPRAISER:
No, not at all. That's with all of these problems.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
Now, some of these prints could be cleaned up. Many dealers, what they might do, since we already know there might be one or two missing, might clean them up and you could sell individually. They can sell for $500, $1,000, a few even go more. If the book had been complete, if you weren't missing that one or two prints, I would have said $10,000 to $15,000. The color copy goes for about $25,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Probably for your purposes and what you like it for, I wouldn't do anything. If you ever did part with it, let the person who buys it, who can do it professionally and so on...
GUEST:
Do it themselves.
APPRAISER:
You're never gonna get that money back, and then it won't be the same book also that you found on the ground.
GUEST:
Found it on the ground.
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