I Have 1St Choice On O.f. Bard Leather Secrets 1951.

[Cogs]

I met someone who offered this to me and hinted around the $500 mark. It sounds like an original (haven't seen it or pics yet). What do I look for to be sure it is an original?

She said 4 pages are cut out and she has only 2 of them. The rest of the book sounds like real good condition.

Is $500 good, bad or ugly? Help me out on what to look for when I see it?

Thanks, Bill

[Kustom]

Obvious a knock off of FO Baird's Leather Secrets.

[Kevin]

I never heard of a book missing pages as being worth very much, especially since they are the very patterns you will want. Check ebay or amazon, you may be surprised at what is available.

[camano ridge]

A new one at Tandy is $299. elite price is $180.00 occasionaly on sale for $149. at Christmas it was on sale for $99.00 to prefered customers. Look to see what printing it is. As stated before four pages cut out and two of those missing definately detract from the value.

Edited July 4, 2014 by camano ridge

[chrstn53]

The original ones pop up on ebay often and usually fetch $150 or less

[bruce johnson]

Chrstn53 is right. They used to bring bigger money, but even then $500 for the one with missing pages would have been exceptional. Bundled together - original Leather Secrets and Design Artistry could bring $500 together at times. In the last couple of years they dropped. When Tandy started selling the combination of both books, that took some pressure off the price on originals.

[BOB BRENNER]

Bruce, I have the first copy that came off the press. They have a name for the first copy off the press but I can't remember the name. Given to me by the printer in 1980. The original printing was done by Out West Printing here in Colorado Springs. Also, have an original design and tooling pattern for a "Western" purse by FO done in 1953. A friend of mine had a saddle shop and when he got into a bind, FO would come down and get him back on track and he gave me the purse design.

Bob

[Cogs]

Thanks a bunch for your responses, folks. I got the pics by email today.

[chrstn53]

There is a similar one on ebay for $250 or best offer, but they both are in rough shape. There would not be much added value for a 1st edition in this condition. Personally I would just check ebay from time to time or buy a later edition in excellent condition for less money. Just my opinion!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEATHER-TOOLS-LEATHER-SECRETS-BOOK-1951-F-O-BAIRD-great-leather-book-/191118865186?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c7f927322

Edited July 4, 2014 by chrstn53

[camano ridge]

COGS, in your first post it sounded like she made it out to be in pretty good conditon. The pictures make it obvious that that is not true. The first picture shows the cover to be a little rough, the second picture looks like mildew and or mold. The first picture also makes it look like there may be several loose pages. I don't know what your ultimate goal is, to me as a coffee table display it would not be appealing to me. As a collectable item it does look like it may be an early printing however myself ( not an expert but a collector off many things including books) without examaning it in person I would have to say that it is on the low side of fair and headed toward poor condition. I would not be inclined to pay anything near $500.00 for it. If you are interested in it for the patterns then I would go with a newer complete one. However I don't know if you have seen the patterns in this book, while there is good information and some nice patterns many of them are dated (obviously since it was done in the 50's). Just my opinion and less then 2 cents worth.

[Luke Hatley]

Camano Ridge told you the truth..........

[Cogs]

Thanks you guys. I'll pass on this one. I'll offered to help her sell it and she's aware it will down below $200.

Before I go to classified's with this, What would you recommend a reasonable price should be?

Bill