Beckett and Harper's Woodcuts

[drdduet]

Does anyone know if Beckett is planning to grade Harper's Woodcuts? I certainly would be interested in submitting a few, if not only for protection.

[T206Collector]

Encapsulates Harper's woodcuts, but I am not sure they grade them, per se. The ones they encapsulate are all hand cut from larger pages.

[bcbgcbrcb]

I have several of them and they have all been graded as Authentic-Altered as they have to be removed from the original newspaper, thus making them altered.

[FrankWakefield]

This front page of Harpers with Mr. Ewing standing tall.... that's a full front page. In my mind it isn't altered. What's altered is that the rest of the magazine is gone.

A fellow doesn't send in the entire magazine issue to be graded, just the page or part of the page that has the woodcut. Why should Beckett draw the line at the issue, why not the entire volume of issues, after all, an issue is just part of the volume. Golly, to get a 1933 Goudey card graded should an entire set be submitted??

Nuts. They should grade the woodcut.

[T206Collector]

Frank,

What's keeping you from trimming down the edges of your newspaper to make the corners sharp? You can't grade things that are handcut from newspapers, in my opinion. If you could I'd take my big three full page Harper's and cut out the baseball woodcuts with the straightest edge and sharpest corners you ever did see.

I mean, I guess you could grade it, but what would be the point or meaning behind a grade if you were solely judging my ability to make a square cut?

Paul

[drc]

I think Authentic is the appropriate grade for these items. You could probably get a 1-10 grade if you submitted the entire magazine.

If you submitted an original signed Chagall or Dali print to a top museum expert, you'd get an LOA not a grade.

[FrankWakefield]

So if you grade a single issue, then you could see Ewing through the slab. But if you slabbed the 1869 Reds, then that is inside the issue so it would be sight unseen inside? And why stop at the issue, the issues were part of volumes, why not grade an entire volume?

I can see that trimming a woodcut down isn't sensible. but when you have it as wide as the printed margins were, and clear to the top and clear to the bottom, that should be enough.

Realistically, I defer to those of you who have greater knowledge of grading (and that is about everyone).

[Al C.risafulli]

That's a beautiful piece.

I struggle with the concept of grading cutouts in general. It's really difficult in my mind to figure out where to draw the line - how much can I trim a cutout and have it receive a numerical grade? Can I trim it down to just the photo? What if I just wanted Mr. Ewing's face? Could I trim it down so it's just a shot of his head, and still get a grade?

If there's a way to safely slab the paper, though, in a way that I can be confident that the paper won't degrade in the slab over time, I'm all for putting an "Authentic" label on it and then sealing it away for protection. It's SO nice, and my clunky, klutzy hands would just tear it up without some protection.

-Al

[drc]

I think a full Harper's page is too big for the Beckett holder anyway.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by drc

I think a full Harper's page is too big for the Beckett holder anyway.

Exactly. I'd have to cut my pages in half to get them in a Beckett holder. I don't think they ought to be grading my success at making a good cut there.

[slantycouch]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

This front page of Harpers with Mr. Ewing standing tall.... that's a full front page. In my mind it isn't altered. What's altered is that the rest of the magazine is gone.

Picked up this same one a few years back that was hand-watercolored at some point. Framed in my basement. I think for the price, these are fantastic display pieces.