Signed 1936 "Gone With the Wind" First Edition
GUEST: This is my grandmother's copy of Gone with the Wind. She was born in 1900, and she was friends with Margaret Mitchell. They were childhood friends, grew up in Atlanta. And so when the book came out, she bought it new. I guess she asked Margaret Mitchell to sign it for her, and she did. So, it's an autographed copy by the author.
APPRAISER: Let’s take a look, because it's not just Margaret Mitchell in here signing.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: We’ve got Margaret Mitchell inscribing to your grandma?
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: After about six months, she was so swamped she refused to sign anymore, which is good for us, on the...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ... collecting side of things.
APPRAISER: And then over here, we have some, some Hollywood greats.
GUEST: We have the movie stars' names, the ones who were living who went to the centennial premiere, which was in 1961. So we have the autographs of Olivia de Havilland and Vivien Leigh, who won the Academy Award, and David Selznick, who also won the Academy Award as producer of the movie.
APPRAISER: They played the movie for the centennial of the beginning of the Civil War, so 1961. There are some very interesting points about this book. Points are ways that we determine the edition of a book. And, for Gone with the Wind, it was very popular. Went into second edition almost immediately. And the way we can tell is this copyright date. This one says May 1936. And that means (clicks tongue) for sure, 100% first edition.
GUEST: Great.
APPRAISER: So that, that has-- that's important for value. There are more signatures...
GUEST: Yes. So on that page, it looks like my grandparents went out to a Confederate veterans home and met with some very old Confederate veterans who signed the book as kind of a representation of what the book was about. I think they thought it was important to document these people.
APPRAISER: And then here, there are signatures of people that were formerly enslaved that were still living.
GUEST: Yes. I think my grandfather dated... both of those two pages, like 1939, 1940. So just a couple years after the book, and a year after the movie.
APPRAISER: The signatures in the back really speak to the epic nature of the story itself. And of course, the time period that it's trying to cover. The fact that there are people that fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side, and people that were formerly enslaved writing their names in here, it's just sort of a testament to what an important work this was.
GUEST: It was a big story for the city of Atlanta.
APPRAISER: The other thing is this photo, which is fabulous, because it's got Margaret Mitchell. Which-which one is she in that photo?
GUEST: Yeah, she's in the front, in the center. That's a picture when my grandmother and great-grandmother and great-uncles were on a-a house party out in the country with Margaret Mitchell. And we think that's maybe her first husband before they were married. It's a 1920 photograph, so they were--
APPRAISER: So it’s an early...
GUEST: They were 20 years old.
APPRAISER: And she's wearing pants. I read that her skirt caught fire when she was little, and her mom was so afraid, that she dressed her in pants and they called her Jimmy.
GUEST: Interesting. (both laugh)
APPRAISER: Which is just the cutest thing. Have you ever thought about, about value of a signed first edition of Gone with the Wind?
GUEST: We’ve thought about it. We were guessing $1,000, if--we're happy if it's that or more.
APPRAISER: Okay. Well, all of those special features of your grandmother's copy, an auction estimate would be $20,000 to $30,000...
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: …for your little book.
GUEST: That’s fantastic. If I would've been happy with $1,000, I'm 20 to 30 times happier.
APPRAISER: (laughing): I like that. (both laugh)
$20,000 - $30,000 Auction
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
