GUEST: There are 12 artist prints and 12 essays by renowned French authorities about the painters. The person who was selling it approached a friend, the friend wasn't interested, I got a chance. Everything's signed. I really thought it was something to obtain. I bought it roughly 20 years ago, and I paid $5,000 for it.
APPRAISER: Okay. Well, it's a really terrific example of a post-war portfolio book of art illustration. Published in 1950.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: The editor, Robert Ray, was a professor in Paris. A very well-respected art historian. And he was able to assemble an incredible group of artists after the war, as we have here-- Picasso and here Chagall-- to produce a series of limited-edition prints for this publication, to have essays written by important writers. They are wood engravings that are enhanced with pochoir coloring on top. And each plate is signed by the artist and by Robert Ray himself. There are also plates by Matisse, by Vlaminck, by Utrillo. Out of the 12, ten of them are pretty major people. The great thing about seeing this book is a lot of these editions were broken up over the years.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: Sometimes you see these prints for sale on their own. You have a complete set. We have seen them in recent years at auction-- not frequently, because there's only 150 that were originally made. And they typically have an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness gracious.
APPRAISER: This example could go for somewhat more because it's in such great condition.
