Wow. Great thread guys. I've been busy at work, so I haven't gotten to reply until now. I want to thank all of you for the congrats and the advice.
This photo sold in Henry's last auction for $630 or so. Joey was kind enough to make it available to me for a small profit, that I was happy to pay. I think Ben brought up something that I hadn't considered in detail and that is the cost of repairs. Obviously, it would be foolish to spend another $1k to remove the tape and clean it a little. I guess I was figuring it wasn't going to cost that much, so price wouldn't be a significant issue.
It doesn't surprise me that there are more of these signed than not. I think it is likely that a higher percentage of Burke's sales were to the players than to the casual fan. I can definitely see Gehrig, Ruth, or even Christy Walsh ordering these to have signed and give out as gifts to friends and business associates. I think that probably far fewer were ordered by the casual fan to hang on their wall.
I am curious as to the size of Ben's prints. I say this as his seem much more rectangular than either mine or Al's copy. Certainly the more vertical rectangular shape would explain why Ben's copies have much more of the whole photo at the top and bottom. Perhaps, Burke decided to crop it down on the bigger prints to increase the focus on the face. Perhaps some of these different crops came at the request of the ordering player?
Thanks to all who have contributed so far and I hope more info continues to be added.
Mark
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