I prefer woodcuts to be unaltered and in their original state. That said, if someone wants to slab them for part of their own collection or wants to sell them with the disclaimer that they're cut outs, I don't see a problem with it. In fact, some collectors prefer them slabbed, just not me.
As some people have already said, the woodcuts are more valuable as part of the original publication (with some very interesting articles) although I think that the larger full page and double page woodcuts are just as valuable if removed in a manner where it does minimal or no damage to the borders. You'll also see many woodcuts which have literally been cut out and essentially destroy the rest of the page. IMO, that is really such a shame for such great pieces.
Some woodcuts are very difficult to come by (Brian, that Police Gazette one is superb) and I do think that in general they are becoming harder to find even if they are affordable. A few additional random observations and comments based on some of the previous posts.
1) The 1889 Buck Ewing Harper's cover has been referred to as a woodcut but it's not. Take a look at it with a loupe and you'll see the dot pattern although within the newspaper itself I have found a mix of woodcuts and mechanical prints. Perhaps this is the first baseball related Harper's weekly which is not a woodcut.
2) I had previously found a great thread on how to display the woodcuts. The thread mentioned the Itoya Art Profolio presentation book. I purchased one a few months back and it works great. It stores ~48 woodcuts and the best size for most Harper's woodcuts is 19" x 13".
3) If anyone has any of the Leslie's woodcuts for sale (other than Creighton), please let me know.
Since we're on the topic of woodcuts and cutouts, if anyone has a woodcut that would be appropriate for this one, let me know
