Did Diderot Know?

We all do it. Watch Ebay auctions to see what the item will sell for. We can then either kick ourselves in the seat if it was a steal, or guffaw at the price some people will pay for a hand painted Disston saw.

I monitor Ebay auctions mostly to keep up to date on pricing, what's selling, what's not selling, how much my stuff is not worth any longer, etc. Once in a while I watch something just to see if anyone will actually bid on it. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they do in a big way.

Every wonder what an early and complete copy of the Diderot Encyclopedia would go for? Let's say a 1751-1765 edition of the full set. Bound. In leather with gold leaf embellishments. Let's say the set looks like this...

Now say you have really deep pockets. So you bid. A lot. For the sake of arguement, you bid US $10,490.00. Sorry, you didn't win. You had to go just a little higher to win this one. And here I had a bookshelf just right for this set. Oh well, maybe next century.

Whoever bought this set, please remember, Christmas is coming up. And my birthday is next June. Or the winter solstice. I'll be waiting by my mailbox for a large package...

Till next, Gary