Another fine piece about stolen baseball memorabilia from the Prime Minister

[slidekellyslide]

It seems to me that many stolen items are brazenly sold and displayed in the open.

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

It seems to me that many stolen items are brazenly sold and displayed in the open.

Perhaps true. But in this instance it was done by three very sophisticated auctions houses, the first of which purportedly was involved in the acquisition of the item.

Again, though, I'm not saying that the item wasn't stolen. I'm saying that from the information I have, there is a real possibility that it has been legitimately transacted.

[judsonhamlin]

I have (and have seen) books from University and other Public Libraries - they have stamps marking them as "de-acquisitioned" or equivalent. The trimming of the documents to hide their provenance seems to me to be an attempt to hide their true origin. If it was legitimately removed from the collection, I would think that it would be better to have the intact document with a letter from Cartwright's family to explain the history.

[benjulmag]

The information I have is that when Lelands acquired the letter from Anne Cartwright, it was in the context of a larger transaction which involved other documents (some of which were letter press copies, like the one at issue) and some photographs. I was the eventual purchaser of a number of these items, each of which was accompanied by a letter signed by Anne Cartwright attesting to its provenance. While I did not purchase the letter press we are discussing, it very well might have been accompanied by a similar letter from Anne Cartwright. My point is that assuming it was in Mrs. Cartwright's possession and it was she who sold it to Lelands, that fact alone raises a legitimate question whether the item was illegitimately removed from the Archives. Her husband was Cartwight's grandson, and it seems quite possible, if not more likely, that the family reclaimed it.