The Edward Wharton Tigar t206 Honus Wagner

[mart8081]

Further, to previous posts on net 54 re: Mr Wharton Tigar and his collection:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=166215&highlight=wharton+tigar


I will not delve into his background here other than to say it was bequeathed to the British Museum in London. Yesterday I was able to view and hold (kind of) the Honus Wagner t206 from his extensive collection of cigaratte/tobacco cards and thought it would be good to share.

The card is located in the Plans and Drawings Section but is held in a room with private access. You need to phone through to the Study Room area to arrange an appointment to view the card (and many other wondrous works of art).

The card is kept in a small cardboard box. It is wrapped in tissue paper and been inserted in a plastic sleeve with a piece of cardboard behind it. Note from the pictures the sleeve is not sealed. You are not able to remove the card from the sleeve thus, the back is not visible. Please see photos (excuses for their size):

http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac266/martincp-cards/Wharton%20Tigar%20Wagner%20t206/HonusWagnert206instoragebox1.jpg
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac266/martincp-cards/Wharton%20Tigar%20Wagner%20t206/HonusWagnert206instoragebox2.jpg
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac266/martincp-cards/Wharton%20Tigar%20Wagner%20t206/HonusWagnert206instoragebox3.jpg


Fortunately, I and my girlfriend were able to photograph the card and me holding the card. The department curator seemed to pick up on my enthusiasm for the card, its historical context and the link to the wider Mr Wharton Tigar collection. One of her assistants informed me I was incredibly lucky as it is not normal practice to allow photographing in the study room :D Some of the researchers in the room seemed bemused by my interest in a small piece of cardboard!

http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac266/martincp-cards/Wharton%20Tigar%20Wagner%20t206/YourTrulywithHonusWagnert206.jpg
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac266/martincp-cards/Wharton%20Tigar%20Wagner%20t206/YourTrulywithHonusWagnert2062.jpg

The remaining two million plus cards in the Tigar Wharton collection are held off site. I requested information re: access to the Old Judges and other baseball cards in the collection. The curator provided details of the location and informed me they are accessible every second Tuesday between 10am-1pm. The next ‘open’ date is 17th September but I’m going to arrange a visit on 1st October instead.

To the Old Judge collectors – is there anything you want me to look for? This is not a set I have much kniowledge of but am happy to try and provide any information regarding his collection as possible.

Martin

[ullmandds]

very cool! unusual wear pattern on those corners, eh?

[mart8081]

Pete,

The top right and bottom right corners do have significant creasing.

Martin

[teetwoohsix]

Thanks Martin !!!

Beautiful Wagner, and awesome pics!!

Thanks for the post,

Sincerely, Clayton

[mart8081]

Clayton,

Thats okay. This is just about the first time my geographic location enable sme access to something hobby related!

More than happy to share :-)
Martin

[auggiedoggy]

Thanks Martin !!!

Beautiful Wagner, and awesome pics!!

Thanks for the post,

Sincerely, Clayton

+1

[teetwoohsix]

Clayton,

Thats okay. This is just about the first time my geographic location enable sme access to something hobby related!

More than happy to share :-)
Martin

Excellent :)

I would have been just as excited to hold that card for a minute. Thanks again for sharing the experience!!

Sincerely, Clayton

[Vol]

Even if the Wagner wasn't the "Holy Grail," it would still be one of the coolest looking cards in the set.

Thanks Martin for taking the time to share with us :cool:

[Sean]

Martin, while you are there can you please inquire into any T215 Pirates brand cards in the collection?

[mart8081]

Sean,

I will add to my list!

It is my understanding that the baseball cards have already been separated into one archive/storage box. This will make my task easier!

Martin

[g_vezina_c55]

love these pic


thanks for sharing !

[Sean]

Sean,

I will add to my list!

It is my understanding that the baseball cards have already been separated into one archive/storage box. This will make my task easier!

Martin

Thank you.
The 5 Pirates that sold in the last REA auction were rumored to have belonged to Wharton-Tigar. I'm curious if he had any others.
Thanks again. :)

[ethicsprof]

thanks very much for sharing, Martin.
your holding the wagner from a most distinguished collector is quite a
personal event, I feel certain. congratulations
all the best,
barry

[atx840]

Beauty! Thanks for the pictures, nicer then the existing example on T206resource.

If you are looking, can you take pictures of any T206 oddities you see. :D

[mart8081]

Sean, will check thoroughly!

Barry - We also saw an exhibition showing artifacts recovered from Pompeii & Herculaneum:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/pompeii_and_herculaneum.aspx

This was very powerful and full of emotions particularly the casts of people trapped under the volcanic debris. Viewing the card lifted the spirits again and made me giddy!

Chris - I will check.

Hopefully, I will be allowed to take more photographs!

Martin

[gnaz01]

Most cool!! Thanks Martin!!

[ethicsprof]

this great hobby does serve as a bit of a healer at times!!!
your comments are very much on the mark.

I must say---with my love for classical archaeology---that seeing
the artifacts would've made me feel a bit giddy!
and the wagner would've been 'icing on the cake'.

all the best,
barry

[Cardboard Junkie]

What back does the Tigar Wagz have?

[sb1]

very cool! unusual wear pattern on those corners, eh?

The card has an old trim across the bottom, probably to fit into one of the older album pages. Not to deceive anyone.

[ullmandds]

thanks scott...i figured so.

[soxinseven]

Great post Martin! Thank you for sharing...

[mart8081]

What back does the Tigar Wagz have?

David, I asked if I could remove the card from the sleeve but was informed that was not possible.

Barry - thank you for the kind words. We really were very lucky to be able to view both the card and the Pompeii exhibits (we booked for the latter 3 months ago!)

Steve - glad I'm able to share for once.

[D.P.Johnson]

Baseball is America's pasttime...that card is in the wrong Country...please bring it home...:)....

[autograf]

Not sure how often everyone gets over to the dark side of the nonsports but we have a great article from Michael Reeve about a visit to the Wharton-Tigar collection at the Museum. Michael actually helped Wharton-Tigar catalog and prepare some of the collection.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/526604/thread/1230270790/Re-+The+other+Burdick----------------LONG+POST

If that doesn't work..........go to the NS side and search for Tigar......it'll pull it up.

Fantastic share Martin........thanks so much!

[toppcat]

That is some really bad archival preservation by the British Museum!

[Joe_G.]

The remaining two million plus cards in the Tigar Wharton collection are held off site. I requested information re: access to the Old Judges and other baseball cards in the collection. The curator provided details of the location and informed me they are accessible every second Tuesday between 10am-1pm. The next ‘open’ date is 17th September but I’m going to arrange a visit on 1st October instead.

To the Old Judge collectors – is there anything you want me to look for? This is not a set I have much kniowledge of but am happy to try and provide any information regarding his collection as possible.

Martin

Hello Martin,

I will be in the UK on October 1st myself but woefully busy with no time to play. A fellow collector and board member, Charles Hausberg, took pictures of over 20 images we were missing in the OJ book during a February 2012 visit. There are some amazing cards in the Wharton-Tigar collection. Here is one example, the only known example of this Flynn pose.

[thehoodedcoder]

:cool:i think everyone wants to see what the girlfriend looks like.

kevin

[Cardboard Junkie]

Martin....do you mean to tell us that there is no pic of the girlfriend holding the wagz? :) Dave. Well at least let's see her with the Pompei victims!

[mrvster]

:)

tHIS IS A GREAT THREAD.......

+ 1 Chris B

[Tao_Moko]

Cool experience. Nice to have a thread not full of sissy bantering over grading issues.

Thanks for the pics.

[mart8081]

Tom - thank you for posting the link from Michael Reeve. I shall read that this evening.

Joe - thanks for sharing the image. Its also great to know its possible to take photos - I will double check beforehand.

Kevin - alas there are none.

David P - There was no photography allowed at all in the Pompeii exhibit. The artifacts are incredibly delicate, there is almost no lighting and the staff watch you like hawks!

Dave H - I was a little suprised with how the Wagner was stored too.

[travrosty]

I'm not, it's not an eggshell.

[D.P.Johnson]

The whole experience just had to be super cool! I'm seriously jealous Martin!