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Correspondence from Robert Lund to Philip Kaplan
8503 Hartwell Street, Detroit 28, Michigan
December 29, 1958
Dear Phil:
Thank you very much for your prompt reply to my letter and your efforts on my behalf.
I am sorry, but I seem to have sent you on an unnecessary trip. First, I have all but two or three of the items you listed. Second, the prices Weiser is asking for the books are ridiculous. For example: Blitz' 50 Years in the Magic Circle. for which Weiser wants $25, I have in an autographed copy for which I paid $6. Hilliard's Card Magic at $7.50 is still available from the publisher at $5 for new copies. Percy Naldrett's Collected Magic, two volumes at $12.50, sells in England for 70¢ a volume (or $1.40 for the two), in this country for $1 a volume (or $2 for the two). I could go on, but that will give you an idea of how absurd the prices are. (If Weiser doubts my word on any of this, I can put him in contact with dealers who will sell him the stuff—except the autographed Blitz—at dealer prices—in other words, cheaper than the prices I have mentioned.) My reason for telling you all this is because I feel bad about having wasted your time on a trip to the shop. I do appreciate it, though.
My attitude toward prices of books has always been that they are worth whatever I want to pay. Many times I have intentionally bid substantially more than necessary just to insure my getting a rare item. I have never been sorry because I have paid steep prices because the books I want, any book, is far more valuable to me than the money it cost, regardless of cost. But the titles Weiser offers are: (1) not scarce and (2) overpriced. He will not sell many of them to magicians, unless he stumbles across a novice who is not familiar with the established sources and prices such books command.
Again I thank you for your trouble.
Regards,
Robert Lund
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