Sorry this took a while, a big thank you to anyone who expressed interest. On delving into the situation I've found the collection to be a pretty respectable one, as I hope you'll agree! Included are 40 editions of Autocourse, 40 year's complete Motor Racing Magazine, a double signed first edition of "the Ford that beat Ferrari" (which this board tells me was changing hands on Amazon for £1000 last summer, unsigned!), The Automobile Year Book of Sports Car Racing and John Wyer's 'That Certain Sound'.
My strong preference, as much for sentimental reasons as any, is not to split up the collections of the Magazine and of Autocourse, although I recognise that 30 years of Autocourse will represent a huge investment, and as such that might be a tricky one! I'm also trying to avoid e-bay, though anything that I can't find buyers here will inevitably end up there.
I've spent the past three days cataloguing and looking at figures from www.collectorscarbooks.co.uk, www.simonlewisbooks.co.uk, and www.motorbooks.co.uk, to estimate what I believe these collections to be worth. That's always something off list price, and I hope a reasonable account taken of condition. If you think I'm way off beam with any of these numbers, please tell me - I've spent three days trying to be as thorough as possible, but I'm new to all this! If my estimation seems off, let me know or make me an offer. Of course, the more someone's interested in purchasing, the further below these indications of value I'll be happy to go. I'm basically trying to strike a fair balance between finding good homes for a collection that meant a great deal to my father, and protecting his investments of time and money. I would like as much of the collection to stay together as possible.
Because of that, and since I'm not sure how often different people check here, I'll give it till next Friday before making any calls about who gets what, and I'll give preference to people offering to take the most for a good price, and so on.
I've not taken postage into account as it's obviously going to vary tremendously. I may be able to deliver a large collection myself, certainly within reasonable distance of St Albans, and anyone's welcome to pick anything up.
God, I've gone on a bit - sorry! I'm just trying to sound as far from slick as possible to illustrate how much I'm not a salesman! Anyway (sorry about the plain site, giving myself a crash course in motor racing didn't allow for much of one in html!
Periodicals:
http://sandyking.bravehost.com/Autocourse%20Details.HTM
c.£3500 - Full Autocourse Set
£600 - c.1980s set AND 1961 edition (ie the duplicates marked with *) - nb. there's no duplicate of 1980 - sorry.
http://sandyking.bravehost.com/Motor%20Spo...e%20Details.HTM
£400 - Motor Sport Set.
Books - see catalogue.
http://sandyking.bravehost.com/CAR%20BOOKS.htm
http://sandyking.bravehost.com/CAR%20BOOKS_2.htm
http://sandyking.bravehost.com/CAR%20BOOKS_3.htm
http://sandyking.bravehost.com/CAR%20BOOKS_4.htm
Hope all that works!
nb. Values are in £.
Condition Codes I Used:
1= Serious Damage. Still readable unless described (only one or two items)
2= Substantial marking, fraying or perhaps tearing, or discolouration.
3= Some Markings; Stainings; Fraying of jacket etc. Perhaps faded pages. Usually a reflection of age.
4= Good condition but evidently second-hand.
5= As new; or Very nearly as new.
Email me with any queries or suggestions you may have. I'll try my best to help. Finally, while I think of it, I apologise I've not been able to sort out a photo album of them all yet. That's the next stage of my project!
Best Wishes
Sandy King
sandy@ruds.org