RICK HARRISON: Hey,
how's it going? Good.
How are you? I'm doing great. I guess this is "The
Atlantic Monthly." JERRY: Yes. We have a first edition of
a true story by Mark Twain. RICK HARRISON: That
is really neat. He always had those great lines,
I've quit smoking 1,000 times-- you know, in between each cigar. [laughs] [coughing] JERRY: I think this
"Atlantic Monthly" is a great piece of Americana. It's the first story in
"Te Atlantic Monthly" published by Mark Twain. The reason I'm selling it is
because I think it's very rare, and I think it's
worth some nice money. RICK HARRISON: Well, it's
"The Atlantic Monthly." It was a very popular magazine. There was short stories,
maybe a little bit of news. But it was something
a little more than you got in your local newspaper. People had subscriptions to it. Samuel Clemens actually took the
pen name of Mark Twain when he was working in Virginia City,
Nevada, during the giant silver rush we had here. So this was one of
his first published articles in a magazine, or-- JERRY: This was the
first story published in "The Atlantic Monthly" but
also one of the first published works by him. It's actually a monologue
from the real slave that he overheard. It's his rendition of
the travesties that occurred during the Civil War. RICK HARRISON: All right,
that's interesting. Mark Twain is one of
America's greatest authors, and I've seen his works
go for obscene money. But it's a magazine, so I don't
know if that's a first edition or if there's only one edition. I'm just not sure on this. May I open it?
JERRY: Sure. Certainly. RICK HARRISON: So
we're on page 591. JERRY: Mhm. There it is, Mark Twain. That's really cool. OK, how much were you
looking to get out of it? JERRY: This is in the original
wraps, the original covers, nearly impossible to find. I was thinking around $2,500. [sighs] RICK HARRISON: You
know, I just don't know how collectible this is. You know, it's a magazine. It's not a book. In general, magazines
aren't worth a lot of money. Mhm. But it is really cool that
it's got Mark Twain in it. So if you don't mind. I'd really like to
call someone and have them take a look at it. Sure, that'd be fine. I will be right back. I will get her down here. And maybe we can figure
something-- maybe you're right on the price.
I don't know. But it just seems
a little stiff. Thank you. It's exciting that an
expert's coming in. I'd really like to hear
what they have to say. There's a big market for
just about anything Mark Twain. But since this is a magazine,
I'm just not sure on this. And that's why I'm
bringing Rebecca down help me figure it out.
This is it. It's not a book, though. It's a magazine. It's got Mark Twain in it. REBECCA ROMNEY: Very cool. In 1874, Twain was already
very successful, very popular. He published a book
about traveling as a sort of bumpkin
American through Europe, and it was phenomenally
successful. He became just the
most hilarious American that anyone had ever heard of. And "The Atlantic Monthly"
kind of came right after he'd achieved fame
but before he had achieved more serious reputation. "The Atlantic Monthly"
started in the 1850s, and it was meant to
be sort of the height of literary criticism. It published all of the
major American writers. And in the 1870s, "The
Atlantic" was starting to lose subscriptions,
so it was a mutually beneficial relationship. Twain was able to get the
sort of mark of approval from the literary establishment,
and "The Atlantic Monthly" was able to publish
stories by one of the most sought-after
authors in the nation. RICK HARRISON: So
what is it worth? REBECCA ROMNEY: Well,
there are some magazines that can have some value. "The Atlantic" is
particularly interesting, though, because this
was the beginning of his serious reputation. But in the collectible
world, to put it simply, magazines are just
not as sexy as books. [laughs] REBECCA ROMNEY: [laughs] RICK HARRISON: I get it.
- It's true, through. There's a certain like
cachet that a book has. Certainly, that
applies to Mark Twain. What he's known for today,
his literary reputation, are based on books. Individual volume like
this I'll place under $100. RICK HARRISON: Thanks. REBECCA ROMNEY: Yup. JERRY: Well, I don't
know if I agree on that, but I respect your opinion. REBECCA ROMNEY: Thank you. That was very nice. I wish I could give
this a higher value. I really do. But the fact of the matter is
that the current market is just not interested in these
types of materials, at least not to the point
they are in books. RICK HARRISON: So you
were asking $2,500, and Rebecca said
it's less than $100. So obviously, we're not
going to do any business. JERRY: OK. RICK HARRISON: Thanks
for bringing it in, man. That's pretty cool.
- Thank you. It's kind of disappointing
that the value placed on it was so low.
