[music playing] How you doing? I'm pretty good.
What can I help you with? Well, I've got something
pretty interesting for you to take a look at today. This is a unique piece of
American history right there. That is an 1863 book about
the Battle of Gettysburg, and there's a map inside. OK. It's a really cool map,
and it's not ruined. I'm here today to
sell an 1863 Civil War book that contains
the first ever map of the Battle of Gettysburg. I go to auctions frequently,
and I bought a box lot, and inside of that box lot
was this Gettysburg map. Pretty interesting. It looks like it's
in great shape. That's one thing
that-- that stands out about it is the condition. This literally
looks like it rolled off the presses yesterday. RICK: You know much about it? Yeah. So there's a lot of
detail in this map. It was actually put
together by a gentleman named Theodore Ditterline. His name is right there. And he created the map
based on firsthand accounts of people who were eyewitnesses
to the three-day battle. You can see the topography
of the battlefield. It shows troop positions,
troop movements, railroads. It's also considered to
be the very first map of the Battle of Gettysburg. It's really,
really interesting. Have you read the whole book? Yeah, and it goes
into a lot of detail. For example, it mentions
in the beginning about a General Reynolds, who
had a bullet through the neck. How much you want for it? Well, I was looking
to get $10,500 for it. Through my research,
I found that they've sold a similar copy in
lesser condition for $13,750. OK. So it's that
caliber of a book. Do you know if this is the
first edition, second edition? That's a great question.
I don't know. I've tried to figure that out. I'm not sure. OK. I know someone who will be sure. I'll have her come down here. She'll know
everything about this. She'll know if it's a first
edition, second edition, whatever printing. Yep. Sounds great. She'll know way more than
you want to know about it, OK? Let's do it. I think it's great that
an expert is coming in today to look at my map. It's scarce and it's
in fantastic condition, and I think an
expert will really be able to validate that. [cash register dings] - Rebecca, how's it going?
- Hey, Rick. How are you? - I'm doing great.
- Hi. Hi there. Nice to meet you. What do we got? "The Battle of
Gettysburg" with a map. Right. Well, the impressive
thing about it is this map here is
actually kind of a big deal. OK. This map is the first
contemporaneous account of the Battle of Gettysburg. So you have individual
accounts that are done by war correspondents
and magazines and things, and this is the first sort
of separate publication that describes exactly what
happened during the turning point of the Civil War. What's great about it
is that the description comes with this
chromolithographed map. So you can see you've got
all of the setup of the-- of the battle over three days. And of course, you
have the really famous fish hook
line here of General Meade and the Union forces. This is a really famous
sort of line here. This is what they were
holding, and holding this was essentially
what was going to win or lose the battle. You see here, this is
within months of this battle happening, right? There's a real sort of
electricity about this map. When you can see
this invasion, this is the beginning of the
mythologizing of this battle. This whole 24-page
pamphlet, this is all meant just to describe this. This publication, make no
mistake, it's about the map, and they're just adding this
essentially as a-- a way to bolster what they're
showing on the map. Was this the first edition? Yes, this is
the first edition. This is a document from the
time when it was happening. I mean, this came out before
the whole war had been concluded and before we really knew
how everything ended, right? So this is a really
special moment. But the pamphlet itself has a
number of condition problems. We've got a little
bit of a tear here, which is really common with
folding plates like this. But this map is often
taken out and framed or something like
that, so having it intact is a real, like, win. Well, you know
why you're here. What's it worth? Cut to the chase. Yes. I mean, I've seen
this particular map go for as much as 15,000. Given the particular condition
issues we've discussed, I'd put somewhere
closer to 12,500. All right, thanks. I'll call you if I get it. What will you
realistically take for it? 10,500. I'll give you
6,500 bucks for it. I think that this
is an item that's not going to sit on a shelf. I think that it's
highly desirable. It's-- It's desirable
to a degree, OK? And there's tons of
Civil War collectors, not a lot with 12 grand
in their pocket just to spend on something. OK. I'd be willing to
come down to 9. I'll give you 7 grand. I won't go a penny higher. I think I'm ready to part with
it, and 7 grand works for me. All right, 7 grand. I will meet you
right over there, and we'll do some paperwork. Sounds good. CRAIG: So I'm walking out
of here today with $7,000. I came in here with
zero, walking out with 7, and that's fantastic. [music playing]
