Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2017 Issue

A $2 Million Theft? Maybe Not

How one estimates the value of rare, even unique works is always a challenge. The correct formula is to determine the market price agreed upon by a willing buyer and willing seller, but the rarer the item, the harder that can be to determine. In the case of books, some are extremely rare, occasionally the only known copy. With manuscripts and ephemeral items, there often is only one of its kind.

 

If there is but one of a kind, there are generally two methods employed in valuing it. In the first, a skilled appraiser will search for known prices on comparable items, such as a similar document from the same person, or another person of comparable notoriety. Then there is the other method, whereby the estimator pulls some number out of thin air (or someplace else), often what the owner in his wildest dreams would like to obtain. If you have ever searched the listing sites or eBay, you will undoubtedly find some examples of each, even a few where the unknowing owner grossly underestimates the value (you won't see this as often as they don't last long).

 

This takes us to one of the more amusing cases we have seen lately, where the item was a piece of original art, but the principles are the same. The Abilene (Texas) Police Department recently issued the following report:

 

"A 60 year old Lubbock man who was passing through Abilene on his way to the Metroplex [i.e. Dallas-Forth Worth] alleges someone came into his motel room over the weekend and stole over $2 mil. in paintings, some clothing and a map. Ricky Denzler had rented a room at a motel located at 3417 South 1st in order to visit family. At some point over the weekend Denzler says someone came into his room and stole the 5 paintings, the clothing and a map.

 

"Denzler says he is the artist of the paintings and estimated their value at over $2 million dollars. Denzler did not provide any proof of the paintings. The Abilene Police Department is working this incident as a Burglary of a Habitation. The investigation continues."

 

There were five paintings, four of which Denzler estimated at $2,000, $2,500, $16,000 and $24,000. The fifth he estimated at over $2 million. It appears he used the latter of the two previous methods of estimating value mentioned earlier. Denzler is not a well-known artist. The only matches to his paintings that can be found in an internet search are those referring to this alleged theft. He is, perhaps, the next Michelangelo, but it does not appear that anyone else has recognized that yet. Only Mr. Denzler, who provided the police with the valuations, has so concluded as of this time. It is very unlikely he sought the advice of a licensed appraiser in reaching his estimates.

 

A few other details added to the suspicions. Mr. Denzler was staying in an older, inexpensive motel in a neighborhood of comparables. One usually doesn't leave a $2 million painting alone in the room of such a place. Press reports added further suspicion as the motel manager voiced suspicion based on the appearance of some of the people visiting Mr. Denzler. Abilene police later reported that they had received calls from Interpol and London when reports got out that a $2 million painting had been stolen in Abilene. Abilene police assured them that these were not the paintings they were seeking. They also indicated it was likely that they would close the case.

 

The message here is that for buyers and sellers, it is important to ascertain as closely as possible actual market valuations of collectibles. For buyers, it is imperative if one hopes to be able to sell the item at a future date without incurring a serious loss. For sellers, it is important if one hopes to actually sell their wares. Mr. Denzler may value his painting at $2 million, but he will never sell it until he determines what the fair market value is for his work. Safe to say, he needs to dramatically sharpen his paintbrush.

 

For lower priced items, listing sites such as AbeBooks, Biblio, and Amazon can provide some guidance, though these are only asking prices, not selling prices, and it is not clear how these asking prices are determined. One should look to the lower prices asked for guidance unless there is a discernible difference between those and the ones that are priced higher (condition, etc.). For more valuable books and works on paper, one should look for actual sales records, such as those available through the Rare Book Transaction History (subscription available on this website) or from a recognized appraiser. It is worth getting the numbers right.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.

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