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1

no.261september-october 2011

Olde Prints

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JO SPORTS, INC. - Craig HamiltonP.O. Box 607Brookhaven, NY 11719Phone/fax 631-286-0970Email: craig@josportsinc.com

TERMS:1. Please add $8.00 for postage. Foreign orders billed separately.2. NYS residents add 8.625% sales tax.3. All autographs are guaranteed for life.4. Check or money order payable to: JO Sports, Inc.5. Visa, Mastercard & American Express accepted.6. Paypal to our account: chamiton@aol.com (no L in account name)7. Payment is due within 10 days of order.

JO SPORTS, INC. BOXING SALEVISIT OUR WEBSITE:www.josportsinc.comThousands Of Boxing Items For Sale!

WANTED:Autographs, Antique & Wire Photos, Cabinet Cards, Rare Books, Posters, Programs, Tick-ets, Championship Belts, Awards & Trophies, Fight Worn Equipment, Advertising Pieces and Bound Volumes of The Ring, Boxing Il-lustrated, Boxing & Wrestling and The Police Gazette (pre-1930). Loose copies of The ring and Police Gazette pre 1930 only if clean.

BOXING ITEMS FOR SALE:1. MUHAMMAD ALI EXHIBITION PROGRAM:

8/24/1972, Baltimore, VG-EX, RARE-Not Seen Be-fore.$800.00

2. ALI-LISTON II PRESS KIT: 5/25/1965, Championship Rematch, EX.$350.00

3. JACK BLACKBURN-HAUBER ON SITE POSTER: 2/15/1917, Philadelphia, Linen Backed, 10 3/8” x 17 3/8,” EX.$2,000.00

4. CLAY-LISTON I OFFICIAL PROGRAM: 2/25/1964, Miami Beach, Clay Wins Title, EX.$1,500.00

5. CLAY-LISTON I PRESS KIT: 2/25/1964, Miami Beach, Clay Wins Title, VG.$750.00

6. JAMES J. CORBETT GENTLEMAN JACK POSTER: 1894, Linen Backed, 17” x 40,” EX+.$4,000.00

7. DURAN-TAVAREZ ON SITE POSTER: 1/21/1974, France, 21” x 35,”Linen Backed, Signed By Duran, EX.$1,250.00

8. FOREMAN-NORTON ON SITE POSTER: 3/26/1974, Ven-ezuela, 23” x 35,” EX.$1,750.00

9. JOHN HENRY LEWIS-GAINER ON SITE POSTER: 10/21/1928, New Haven, CT, 28” x 42,” VG.$1,500.00

10. JOE LOUIS-PRIMO CARNERA ON SITE POSTER: 6/25/1935, Yankee Stadium, 16” x 20,” EX.$12,500.00

11. JOE LOUIS-TONY GALENTO FIGHT FILM POSTER: 6/28/1939, Yankee Stadium, 28” x 40,” EX.$2,500.00

12. MONZON-BENVENUTI ON SITE POSTER: 3/8/1971, Linen Backed, 32” x 46 ½,” EX.$1,000.00

13. MONZON-GRIFFITH ON SITE POSTER: 9/25/1971, Linen Backed, 12” x 28 ½,” EX.$1,250.00

14. BATTLING NELSON-JIMMY BRITT ON SITE POSTER: 9/9/1905, World White Lightweight Title, 21” x 28,” VG$5,000.00

15. OLIVARES-ARGUELLO ON SITE POSTER: 11/23/1974, 17” x 22,” VG.$750.00

16. OLIVARES-PEDROZA SOUVENIR BANNER: 7/21/1979, 12” x 18,” EX.$375.00

17. SUGAR RAY ROBINSON-VAN DAM ON SITE POSTER: 12/9/1950, Linen Backed, 21 ½” x 28 ½,” EX.$7,500.00

18. TYSON-FERGUSON ON SITE POSTER: 2/16/1986, 22” x 28,” VG. $1,250.00

19. JERSEY JOE WAL-COTT-JOEY MAXIM ON SITE POSTER: 6/23/1947, 21” x 26 ½,” VG. $3,500.00

20. ZARATE-ZAMORA SOUVENIR BANNER: 4/23/1977, 11 ¼” x 18 ¼,” EX. $425.00

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LES WOLFF SPORTS, LLCPO. Box 917, Plainview, NY 11803 - (516) 933-7787 - Fax (516) 933-7747

email LWolff1823@aol.comAppraising, Auctioning, Collecting, Buying, Selling, and Trading Sports memorabilia

since 1970Visit my website: Leswolffsportsllc.com

How much is it really worth? Don't wait, call today for you appraisal

Les Wolff, LLC Memorabilia

1 Jack Johnson 8”x10” BxW photo autographed while Cham-pion Rare Boxing pose with PSA and JSA plus LWA letters. True one of a kind and only the second one I have ever had in boxing pose. $7,500

2 Jack Johnson 3x5 paper autographed in pencil yours truly with part of truly cut off former champion Jack Johnson. Re-ally nice $1,750

3 2011 Boxing Hall of Fame Program autographed by all 6 on the cover:Mike Tyson,Sylvester Stallone,Nacho Beristan,Julio Cesar Chavez,Kostya Tszyu and Joe Cortez JSA sticker $750

4 Roberto Duran vs.. Sugar Ray Leonard 12/7/89 on site poster from Las Vegas signed by all 3 very tough to get all 3 $350

5 Muhammad Ali full cancelled check from 5/27/74 while mar-ried to Belinda Ali $1,500

6 Muhammad Ali vs.. Joe Frazier 2/8/71 program Excellent condition $1,200

7 Muhammad Ali vs.. Earnie Shavers 9/29/77 MSG program $400

8 Esteban De Jesus vs. Edwin Viruet/ Michael Dokes vs.. Alfredo Escalera 10/27/78 MSG fi ght program $100

9 Muhammad Ali autographed Everlast glove with a full JSA letter. $1,250

7 Sandy Saddler vs.. Willie Pep 9/26/51 full unused proof ticket Excellent condition $150

8 Lou Nova vs.. Lee Savold 5/21/42 full unused proof ticket Excellent condition $350

9 Walter Cobb vs.. Mack Hauss 5/15/31 full unused proof ticket Excellent condition $150

10 Marvin Hagler vs.. Sugar Ray Leonard 4/6/87 program auto-graphed by Leonard $100

11 Sugar Ray Leonard vs.. Thomas Hearns 1981 program auto-graphed by Leonard $100

12 Roberto Duran vs.. Sugar Ray Leonard 11/25/80 program autographed by Leonard $100

13 Thriller in Manila DVD autographed by Joe Frazier signed twice $50

14 In This Corner by Peter Heller autographed by Muhammad Ali $350

15 American Son by Oscar De La Hoya autographed book $75 16 James Buddy McGirt vs.. Kevin Pompey/Arturo Gatti vs..

Pete Taliaferro 6/28/94 Meadowlands Program and tix stub $75

17 ALI vs.. Frazier 14x24 Thriller In Manila Window card poster by Leroy Nieman. Mint shrink wrapped. $250

18 Muhammad Ali 11x14 BxW autographed in lithograph in pencil and signed by the artist numbered to 250. Real nice. $750

19 Muhammad Ali autographed and dated 1997 Bible Contradic-tions, Table matt dated 1/31/88 To Jim $300 each

20 Muhammad Ali Complete Sports Illustrated 35th Anniver-sary from 1989 autographed on the cover Muhammad Ali and Cassius Clay underneath. Recent autographs. Beautiful autographs. $500

21 Muhammad Ali/Ken Norton 9/28/76 MSG Full Unused Ticket to there Fight autographed $750

22 Muhammad Ali vs. Lyle Alzado fi ght program for there exhi-bition fi ght $150

23 Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton 9/28/76 Yankee Stadium program $125

24 Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks 9/15/89 from New Orleans fi ght program $100

25 Muhammad Ali 8”x10” 4 different color magazines with vintage 1970’s autographs. Nice big beautiful autographs $750 each

26 Muhammad Ali AKA Cassius Clay movie 1 sheet $500 27 Muhammad Ali Boxing Illustrated cover autographed person-

alized $250 28 Lou Ambers autographed article form a Sport magazine $75 29 Dave Anderson 8”x10” BxW photo autographed. Boxings

newest HOFer. $50 30 Buddy Baer 8x10 BxW studio picture autographed in 1936

$125 31 Buddy Baer autographed magazine article personalized $75 32 Joe Beckett 8x10 BxW autographed died 1965 fought

Tommy Burns and George Carpentier $550 33 Nino Benvenuti 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $50 34 Riddick Bowe 8”x10” autographed color photo 2 different

poses $50 each35 Jimmy Bratton 5”x7” BxW magazine photo autographed $50 36 Lamon Brewster 3 different 8”x10” color photos auto-

graphed. WBO heavyweight champion $50 each37 Lucian Butte 8”x10” color photos autographed $50 38 Hector Macho Camacho 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $50 39 Orlando Canizalez/Junior Jones 8”x10” autographed color

photo by both $100 40 Cassius Clay 3/25/59 2nd title Intercity Golden Gloves em-

ployee and photographers passes $300 41 Cassius Clay 2/29/60 Tournament of Champions employee

and photographers passes $300 42 Gerrie Coetzee 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $50 43 Gerry Cooney 6/7/82, 6/21/82 Sports Illustrated complete and

autographed 8x10 BxW photo $50 each44 Jim Corbett 5”x7” BxW photo with Kathleen O’Connor

autographed by both from the movie The Midnight Man $750 45 George Sugar Costner autographed magazine photo fought

Sugar Ray Robinson $50 46 Chuck Davey 8”x10” BxW magazine photo signed 3 times

$50 47 Oscar De La Hoya 8”x10” BxW magazine photo autographed

$100 48 Jack Dempsey 8”x10” color magazine photo autographed

personalized $250 49 Roberto Duran 8”x10” autographed color photo $50 50 Cornelius Boza Edwards autographed Boxing card $25

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Fifteenth Round

Boxing Mailing Address Directory …..

Since 1996 BoxingHelp.com has published a directory of mailing addresses for the sport of boxing. This directory includes over 3, 000 mailing addresses for boxers, promoters, managers, trainers, matchmakers, gyms and clubs, etc. Contact your favorite boxer/request autographs or use the directory to assist your business or boxing career….

Annual Subscription

Directory & quarterly updates for 1 year

United States $32.95

International $50 (US$)We accept cash, checks or money orders. Please make checks and money orders payable to Ultimate Boxing Address List.

Ultimate Boxing Address ListPO Box 112Westmoreland, NY 13490-0112Web: http://www.BoxingHelp.comEmail: info@BoxingHelp.com

David’s Art presents the very best in boxing art for sale. Pictures of the highest quality, for the serious collector.Web: www.davidsart.infoemail: davidputland@btinternet.com(Catalogue by post) David’s Art, 39 Bedford Street, Hensingham, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 8QN (England)

So I was immediately planning a "sucker punch "article going back to the fi rst two Ketchel-Papke fi ghts after what the punk did to Ortiz and asked Harry to look up the press's reaction to those fi ghts. Turns out there was no hue and cry in those days. Papke said Ketchel had done it to him in the fi rst fi ght and so he returned the favor in the second. But then, in both cases, the sucker punch didn't end the fi ght. Either way, what Mayweather did was take advantage of Ortiz's inexperience (no sin in that) with a punk move that robbed us of the rest of the fi ght which was starting to get interesting. The problem is that Mayweather is not, as he has been described, a "thug." Thugs beat you up, they don't trick you and then turn into a hissy-fi t throwing b___ when some-one asks you about it. That is almost the street defi nition of a classless punk.... Heritage's upcoming auction will be a mind-blower. More early (pre-1880) rare stuff than we've seen in one place. Sure to raise some eyebrows will be the handwrit-ten letter from Tom Sayers to John C. Heenan that fi rst went off at Sotheby's back in the 1960's. The short letter, obviously written in semi-literate hand, accepts Heenan's offer to fi ght him (see below). There are no universally trusted exemplars of Sayers writing, incidentally, but its auction pedigree will attract lots of attention on its own... Keep punching.

3

Boxer addresses are not guaranteed authentic by BCN but are collected from readers and passed on as related. We always need addresses.

BOXING COLLECTORS' NEWS is solely pub-lished and owned by Don Scott Consulting and Publishing LLC. No material herein can be used without permission.

SUBSCRIPTIONS are $24 for fi rst class mail delivery. Canada is $30 per year and other non-US is $40 (all funds US). Please note that overseas will be mailed fi rst class .

AD RATES: are as follows: : 1/4 page $25; 1/2 page $50, 3/4 page $75 and full page is $100. All ad submissions must be submitted digitally unless prior agreement is made. There us a 10% discount for full year of ads paid in advance. All ads must be in our hands by the 10th of the month with payment. No faxed ads.

NO CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED FOR SUBS OR ADS.

OUR HOMEPAGE: www.boxingcollectors.com. Our email and Paypal address: donscott4@suddenlink.net

A D D R E S S E SA D D R E S S E S

Snap . Smile, you're in BCN

Take a close look at this old bareknuckler's expression. It says to me, "Yeah, I'm fat but, no, you're not allowed to bring it up."

Hats off to Aaron Conyers for this ambrotype of Peter Crawley. The photo itself is 2.75x3.25 and is a "sixth plate." It dates to 1850. Ambrotypes predated the tintype in popularity.

Crawley was known as "Young Rump Steak" and retired as Champion of England in 1827. He died at the age of 65 in 1865.

This is the oldest boxing photo I have ever seen by at least 10 years.

Victor Ortiz, c/o La Colonia Gym, 520 East 1st St, Oxnard, CA 93030

Julio Diaz, 49182 Violet St, Indio, CA 92201

Antonio Margarito, c/o 1506 West Ridge Rd, West Covina, CA 91791

Floyd Mayweather, 4720 Laguna Vista, Las Vegas, NV 89109

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www.boxingcollectors.comBCN’s website has been completely overhauled and isn’t it about time?

Now subscribers are given free access to a members-only area of the website that contains nearly 4000 photos of boxing memorabilia in our gallery with more added each month.

Members also have access to downloadable back issues and to the latest news on the boxing memorabilia front.

There’s also a special price on the fi rst and last 50 back issues remaining in inven-tory.

And for the fi rst time, you can subscribe to BCN online using Paypal. If you do not have a Paypal account you can use Paypal’s guest feature and pay with a credit card. That will redirect you back to the site so you can verify your email address, set up a password and start enjoying the members-only area.

Great, but what if you already have a subscription and it is not near lapsing? No prob-lem. Just go on the site and email me and I will send you your password. You may also email me at donscott4@suddenlink.net.

Oh and while on the site, take the pop quiz!

13

Consignments Wanted for Upcoming Auctions, Cash Advances Available.Call 800-872-6467 or email one of our experts today to discuss how you can consign to a Heritage auction event.

Mark JordanConsignmentDirector MarkJ@HA.comext. 1187

Chris IvyDir. of Sports AuctionsCIvy@HA.comext. 1319

Mike GutierrezConsignmentDirector MikeG@HA.comext. 1183

Derek GradyVice President of Sports Auctions DerekG@HA.comext. 1975

TX Auctioneer licenses: Samuel Foose 11727; Robert Korver 13754; Scott Peterson 13256; Bob Merrill 13408; Mike Sadler 16129; Andrea Voss 16406. This auction is subject to a 19.5% Buyer’s Premium. 20526

SPORTS COLLECTIBLES PLATINUM® AUCTIONN O V E M B E R 1 0 - 1 1 , 2 0 1 1 | D A L L A S | L I V E & O N L I N E

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DALLAS | NEW YORK | BEVERLY HILLS | SAN FRANCISCO | PARIS | GENEVA

Free catalog and The Collector’s Handbook ($65 value) for new clients. Please submit auction invoices of $1000 +  in this category, from any source. Include your contact information and mail to Heritage, fax 214-409-1425, email catalogorders@ha.com, or call 866-835-3243. For more details, go to HA.com/FCO.

Bid Online at HA.com/7041

beginning late October

1953 Carl “Bobo” Olson World Middleweight Championship “Ring Magazine” BeltEstimate: $10,000+

1953 Carl “Bobo” Olson Boxing Gloves Worn

in World Middleweight Championship-Winning FightEstimate: $4,000-$6,000

1859 Tom Sayers Handwritten Signed Letter Accepting Heenan Fight

Estimate: $20,000+Circa 1900 Jem Mace Autograph

Estimate: $3,000-$4,000

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We Lose One of Our OwnMark Mausner, husband, father, physician, and

collector has succumbed to a brain tumor. And we, in the collector community, fi rst of all, send our heartfelt sympathies to the family.

If you frequent Canastota every year you likely know Mark well. He was one of the "gang" to most of us but he was also one of my closest hobby friends. Every June we sought each other out and gleefully swapped stories of the past year. It was a swap I always got the best of because Mark was a natural story teller. Mark made the weekend for me with those stories.

One time at Canastota he sat down with a xerox of some great boxing signatures and asked me what I thought of them. I said some looked good and some doubtful. All, he said, came from a convicted forger he met who had sat down and done them all in 5 min-utes just to show Mark how easy it was. I ran those signatures and that story and it was a service to the hobby. But Mark was like that and had, in fact, been writing a book on boxing memorabilia. He loved the hobby and reveled in the camaraderie it brought.

I hate that Mark is gone. I hate it. But I will always remember him and so will the boxing collector community. Damn.

Say hello to Greb and Ketchel, Mark, and save me some stories. Rest in peace.

Mark, standing, perusing the material in Craig's room in '08, sunlight streaming in. Not a bad way to remember him, eh?

Mark and his Dad showing off the Patterson robe in '04.

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Larry Lawrence Rare Sports PO Box 756

Planetarium Station NY, NY 10024 212-362-8593

The following items are listed subject to prior sale. Call to order at 212-362-8593. Answering machine on all the time. Add $3.00 per item for postage. Ship via Post Office. Send checks to listed PO Box address. Returnable for any reason within 7 days of receipt if not satisfied.

Also, I sell Golf, Tennis, Football and other sports. Let me know your other sports interests, as well as your full range of boxing collecting interests. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

1. Promotional envelope for Chet Marleau. c1920s. Large photo of fighter on left side. Manager Joe Dailey listed on cover. 9x4 inches. Clean, Fine cond. Early and scarce envelope promotional. Great period example. ............................................... $30

2. Autograph Album page Inscribed and Signed by Jack Kid Berg. c1930s. As follows: "To Amelia Cheers From Merry England Jack "Kid" Berg". A friend has signed her greetings on back of page. 5x4 inches. Orange album page paper. Clean and nice ink writing by Berg............................................ $40

3. Program for VBA Ring 9. Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey. October 31, 1971 Meeting. About 50pp. Many ads and photos. Program for evening on center pages. Clean, VG plus cond. Boxing collector Stu Levine pictured. SIGNED on the cover by: Jersey Jones, George Larkin, Tippy Larkin, Tony Galento, Mickey Walker, Steve Hamas, and Johnnie Addie. Nice ink sigs. Good group... $135

4. Boxing Writers Association Dinner Program. Hotel Roosevelt. New York City. January 24, 1957. 12pp. Photos, articles, listing of attendees, etc. Patterson and Frank Graham were honored. Pages clean, but serious crease in center. Historically important as a portrait of boxing New York of the time. Just to read the names of the people there is a stroll down the corridors of time. ........... $20

5. Exhibit Card of Battling Levinsky. 1921. In trunks facing camera. Career summary and 1920 record on back. Clean, Nr. Fine cond...................... $15

6. Back of envelope signed in full by Benny Leonard. In pencil. Clear and nice, VG plus cond. Inscribed to a friend on the back of a 1941 envelope sent to an unrelated person. "King of the Lightweights". Recognized as one of the greatest ring experts in the history of the sport. ............................................. $65

7. Postcard of Jess Willard. Max Stein Co. Chicago. In fight trunks and gloves. c1920. Scarce. Clean, Fine cond. .................................................................... $30

8. Autograph album page of Tommy Farr. Dated at bottom 1938. Nice large ink example. Clear. 6x4 inch page. Thin yellow paper. Went the distance with Joe Louis in 1937. .............................................. $40

9. (Postcard) Postcard of Lew Tendler restaurant. With Tendler photo on postcard. INSCRIBED and SIGNED in full by Tendler on the back and dated 1946. Clean, nice ink signature and writing.

Major fighter in 1920s. Fought everybody in lower weight classes. ............................................................ $35

10. Autograph Card Signed in Full and Dated by Richard K. Fox. 2x3 inches. Clean card and large clear ink signature. Matted nicely with engraved drawing of Fox. Overall with matting, 8x10. Lavish signature with swirl underneath. Dated New York December 8, 1886. Publisher of the Police Gazette, and one of the most important figures in boxing in the last 20 years of the 19th century. Scarce. ... $550

11. The Sportsman's Magazine; Or, Chronicle of Games and Pastimes. London. Issue No. 20. Volume III. January 1825. 4x6 inches. Nr. Fine cond. Clean cover and clean pages. 50pp. Illus. Several sports. Engraving of Dick Curtis next to title page. 9pp. on boxing throughout. Scarce. ..... $35

12. (Program) Muhammad Ali vs. Brian London. Earls Court. London. August 1966. On site program. Heavyweight Championship of the World. 24pp. Articles by Peter Wilson and Gilbert Odd. Photos. Very small edge browning to a few pages. Pages and covers clean and VG plus cond. .................... $225

6

So, what’s the very oldest thing you have in your collection? Or, how about, that you know of in anyone’s col-lection? Chances are it need not be either relatively new or relatively expensive. How about an early boxing print?

You see, prints done by local artists were an important col-lectible, especially from the 17th cen-tury through mid-19th century where people could buy likenesses of their leaders and heroes in a time before photography. Not only that but a series of prints might be done that told a sto-ry and were released over time as a set. These prints were being collected when boxing was in its infancy as a more or less organized sport at least when there were recognized champions. You could read about a fi ght in a newspaper but own a scene from that fi ght in a print, some even hand col-ored. Because England was the center of the boxing world in those days, most of these come from there.

We have been contemplating an article on those early boxing prints for some time but not until Aaron Conyers forwarded me an email he had gotten from Mr. Jan Hendrik Niemeyer did everything click into place. Most of what you read below is from Mr. Niemeyer but I have fl eshed in some things I know as well. Aaron got this information after purchasing the James Figg business card like the one shown here, incidentally.

Call this a printing primer and, even if you don’t decide to collect them, you will at least have, we are hope-ful, an appreciation of them. This is going to be a bit more technical than we usually get but follow along and you may look at these with a bit more respect than they have previ-ously gotten.

First, here’s Niemeyer’s explanation of engraving and etching:

An engraving in general is a printing method where the drawing (or whatever shall show in print) is worked into metal or wood. This can be by chiseling or etching or a com-bination of both. The latter was especially commonly applied in the 18th century. The most common metals were copper and - since the 19th century - steel. The particularly hard cross-cut wood was used for a rather short period of the 19th century only.

Engraving is a so-called intaglio print-ing method where only the deeper (chiseled out or etched into) parts are inked and print. Sometimes one can feel the lines as elevated when gently striking across the image with the fi ngertips. This actually is the ink pulled out of the lines in the plate when run through the press. For comparison: the letterpress printing as developed by Johannes Gutenberg, but also the woodcut (as opposed to the wood *engraving* mentioned above), are relief printing methods where the elevated parts (letters, drawing) are inked and print. When striking across the page the letters feel depressed into the paper.

And for completeness: lithography and modern printing methods based on it are com-pletely different beasts as there are no elevations

and depressions, it is absolutely plain, the printing relies on the chemical distraction of water and fat. I won’t go into this.

In the case of metal we usually just speak of “plates,” a term that also is unfor-tunately also used for prints that are single sheets of a larger set or for the full-page illustrations on text-less pages of books. Copper-printing-plate or steel-printing-plate would be more pre-cise. With wood we speak of stocks.

“Engraving” usually refers to cop-per engraving, mean-ing a copper plate was used. Steel or wood engravings normally are

The REALLY Old Stuff - Prints

1822 Cruickshank woodcut cover of the Fancy.

11

They are genuinely nice guys when not in the ring and both are highly respected by the media and public. I don’t think the full understanding of their importance to the sport and collectability factor will be obvious until after they are retired. But if I had to guess I would bet the market will be strong for both of them as great fi ghters and well-liked people.

Collecting is just like life…. Vive la difference! When two kids come back from Halloween and empty their bags out on the fl oor one will say “Oh Yeah, malted milk balls, my favorite, oh boy!” and the other will say “Hey I will trade you all my malted milk balls for all your Skittles then, cuz I like them better!”

Here’s to you King Levinsky, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sugar Ray, Vitali and Vladimir, Riddick and all the other fi ghters we both love and love to hate… it is what makes it so darn interesting!

Trick or treat? It doesn’t really matter much if you enjoy both. Happy Halloween.

Vladmir and Vitali jigsaw puzzle

*WANTED BY SERIOUS

COLLECTOR*

VINTAGE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS

ORIGINAL/ WIRE/ PRESS PHOTOS

OF

SUGAR RAY ROBINSON

FROM EARLY LIFE AND CAREER UP TO AND INCLUDING HIS TWO BOUTS WITH RANDY

TURPIN IN 1951 (WITH PARTICULAR INTEREST IN ALL

LAMOTTA ANDZIVIC FIGHTS).PLEASE EMAIL OR WRITE WITH

DESCRIPTIONS ANDPRICES (INCLUDE SCANS/ XEROX

COPIES)EMAIL –

sugarfan1@talktalk.net

EDWARD JENNINGS, 38 BIRCHLANDS, BRIDGNORTH,

SHROPSHIRE, WV15 5ED, UNITED

KINGDOM

10

Nolan's Worldby Denis Nolan

Trick (?!) or Treat ($$)

Went on YouTube this week to watch the Mayweather Jr. vs. Ortiz contest to see what all the controversy was about since I was out surfi ng at the end of Long Island (Montauk) the weekend the contest took place. Ortiz did not follow the Golden Rule of Boxing and thus paid for it.

While I was surfi ng around the internet at the same time I accidentally ran into Max Baer vs. King Levinsky – footage that the person who posted it called a Wild Exhibition! It certainly was - especially for poor Levinsky who was absolutely pulverized by Baer in the second round and actually dragged stiff-legged back to his corner by all his handlers. And it got me to thinking… hmm I wonder who collects Floyd Mayweather Jr. stuff and even more so who collects King Levinsky memorabilia?

Now I know there are all kinds of reasons why folks collect the things we do. You like a particular fi ghter; or a particular weight class; or the ethnicity of a fi ghter (which was a lot bigger reason many years ago when neighbor-hood rivalries existed especially in large inner-cities); or the town he was from (when I was a kid I followed all the San Jose, CA fi ghters of the time). So in King Levinsky’s case you might have followed or collected him because he was Jewish, or a heavyweight who had fought several world heavy champs, or because of his renowned punch, or you follow Chicago fi ghters (do you know his real birth name was Harris Krakow?)… you get the idea.

But I don’t think I have ever met anyone who has told me they are a “huge” Floyd Mayweather Jr. fan. I know we all appreciate the brilliant skills, speed and defense he brings to the ring. But I have never met any-one who says he is their favorite as far as collecting his autograph, or photos, posters, or tickets of his fi ghts; fi ght-worn gear etc. And it makes me wonder - why? He has been rated one of the two best fi ghters in the world for years now; his talent is unquestionable. I believe it has to do with his abrasive and overbearing personality. The way he treats his foes, the media and the general public is never going to help his cause. Watch the HBO 24/7 series if you don’t understand what I am saying here. And I truly believe this affects his collectability and will continue to after he

has retired.A guy like Sugar

Ray Leonard swamps his popularity and collect-ability. You should have seen the lines going out the doors and around the corner of the midtown-NY Barnes and Noble when he did a book signing there a couple days before the Hall of Fame in June. The man is loved by many of the boxing public and highly collectible still 15 years after his last fi ght. Sure he is no angel and his book points this out clearly, but his highly charged battles with the best the sport had to offer clearly sets him on another plain then Mayweather Jr. You and I both know doz-ens of folks who clamor for his posters, tickets,

autograph, a signed glove of Sugar Ray… highly collect-ible in all forms, a Treat rather than the Trick Mayweather Jr. seems to be.

Some folks just are that way. Not everyone is an Ali, Dempsey, Louis or Tyson. In the ring or in the collectibles ring…

Take Riddick Bowe, a good heavyweight champion who is not nearly collected as the above. I was in Reno for his pro debut after he had lost to Lennox Lewis in the Olympics (it was underneath Ray Mancini vs. Hector Camacho). I have the ticket and program from that fi ght. I have a couple signed boxing gloves he was kind enough to sign for me after I got to the East Coast. But I don’t know of anyone who really is clamoring for his post-ers; programs, tickets etc. Perhaps it is because he never fought the two main giants of his time – Lewis and Tyson. This didn’t help his place in history even though beating Evander did.

My long time buddy Keith Stechman is one of the biggest Klitschko fans I’ve ever met. He literally has hun-dreds of pieces related to both Vitali and Vladimir. Posters, tickets, signed gloves, signed photos and unusual one-of's like an early Ukrainian photo puzzle from the 90’s. Now I know he likes them for several of the reasons I have stated above and he also thinks they are the two best heavy-weights out there.

7

referred to distinctly as “steel engraving” or “wood engraving.”

As a generic term, “engraving,” as used so far, comprises several techniques. In its strict meaning it is limited to the work with the chisel directly in the material only, however.

Later, steel plate engravings would become popular and many of the plates you fi nd in the old books are those.

Etching practically always refers to copper plates as it was not used on steel, not to mention wood. In the 16th century also iron was used, but soon given up because of issues with rust.

For etchings the plate is covered with a wax-like stuff into which the drawing is drawn with an etching-needle, exposing the metal to the acid applied afterwards. Usually plates were etched several times, resulting in deeper bold lines for the darker parts while in the light parts the lines remain delicate. For the artist the advantage of the etching is easier working, combined with much greater freedom of the line. Where the engraving only knows straight lines the etching has all options of a drawing pencil. As said both methods were fre-quently combined, however: basic lines being en-graved while the more delicate parts were etched. Also in the fi nishing process the artist might do some fi ne-tuning and work with the chisel directly in the etched plate.

A special case of etchings is the mezzotint. Here the work begins by etching the whole plate to produce a grained surface. Then the lighter parts are leveled more or less to produce the image. The result are richly toned prints of velvety appearance, not dissimilar to classic analogue black-and-white photographs. The mezzotint plate is very delicate, allowing only for about 50 or 60 good prints as the contemporary expert Joachim von Sandrart stated in 1675. So mezzotints are much rarer than most other prints or at east potentially so since there would be less than the thousand or more possible otherwise (see below)

Some further techniques are aquatint and stipple. Aquatints are similar in technique to mezzotints but use a more resilient resin coating. Aquatints make the resultant image appear wispy like a watercolor.

Far less delicate the numbers stated by literature for engravings/etchings highly vary, however. Frequent numbers are in the range of several hundred, but in his

Annotations to Hogarth, Lichtenberg speaks of several thousand - if I remember correctly 4000 - prints of one specifi c plate being sold just within the fi rst two or three weeks [this would answer the unasked ques-tion, “Just how popular were these as collectibles of the day?”. It was also common that plates were reworked, either still by the artist himself or by later owners/printers as in the case of the Hogarth plates, not least by the royal engraver James Heath about 1822. The Figg business card was done on a copper plate by Hogarth but the plates were later printed by other printers. An original Figg printed by Hogarth would have been done on handmade laid paper .

Contemporary impressions (during Hogarth›s lifetime) were still on handmade laid paper distinct by its line watermark. Around the turn to the 19th century, with the invention of the paper machine in

England, woven paper came up, still soft like laid paper, but without the line watermark.

Further enhancements in paper production led to the strong, smooth paper used in the mid to late 19th century and until today.

While we have no spe-cifi c information about when Hogarth worked on the James Figg engraving but Figg›s died in 1734. This date also fi ts well to the second plate (sheet) of The Rake›s Progress, a series of prints done by Hogarth with Figg among the attendants pictured dated June 1735, thus when his recollection of Figg was still fresh.

Hogarth also painted a portrait of Figg which likely was not engraved.

What we are left with, then, are a rather large number of pre-1900 prints that were done in

varying quantities and with no assurances except by experts of the exact age of each piece since these printing plates could be reworked at subsequent dates. Most of these that we see would be steel plates engraved. While some artists would run off a set number and then damage the plate so no more could be made, many did not. I have seen the Figg business card on line for about $300. It was produced by a known printer in 1805, using Hogarth›s plates. Unlike second generation photos or later photos from the same negative, these later printings hold up in price if still old and can be traced to a known printer of the day.]

This article was made possible by Aaron Conyers whose knowledge of the very, very old far surpasses your editor's.

The Figg business card

Mezzotint of Broughton

8

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