A collectors' book on Man United costs £3,000. Is it worth it, asks Hunter Davies?
A man came to my house last week with a book. I knew he was coming, so when I heard the black cab stop outside I went to the window. I love spying. I'm at the front of the house, on the first floor, so I can look down at people who never think of looking up. My wife works at the back, overlooking the gardens. She sees the trees, blossom falling, foxes, squirrels, visiting cats and knows exactly where our tortoise has spent the night. At snackeroo time, I hear all this boring old nature stuff. Whereas I relate real-life human drama.
The bloke got out and pulled something from inside the cab. It turned out to be a trolley, the sort railway porters use. He then dragged out what looked like a monster packing case and managed, with a struggle, to get it on the trolley. He wheeled it to our front door and rang the bell. This was the book.
About a year ago, I read about United: the Manchester United opus. I didn't take in the details, except that it was a limited-edition book being signed by various Man United figures and that copies were going on sale at £3,000. They must see people coming, there's one born every . . . , more money than sense, etc.
I have around 20 collections, some more like accumulations than proper collections, ie, stuff acquired by the simple method of not throwing anything out. I've also acquired wisdoms, one of which is that you should never collect objects which have been produced to be collected. First-day covers, for example, which the Post Office produces and dopey but kindly grandparents subscribe to for their grandchildren, are a total waste of money. You see piles of them at stamp fairs for 50p each, with no one interested.
Oh, I'm so smart, they don't fool me, but all the same when this bloke rang to say they were doing a Tottenham Hotspur Opus, like the Man United one, and would I write a piece, I said hmm, let's see the Man United one first.
So he trundles it in. I had expected a coffee-table book. In fact, it's a coffee table in itself. It comes in a box that a family could eat at. The book inside has 850 pages and weighs 37 kilos. An ordinary page, which measures half a metre square, can accommodate 3,000 words. There are lots of gatefolds - pages that open out - measuring four times that size.
I spent two hours turning the pages, not reading the words, just taking in the images and layout - and I did agree in the end that it was an excellent piece of publishing. The archive stuff was beautifully presented, the new stuff expertly shot.
Special, limited editions have a long history. In the 19th century, you got "subscription" books, handsome productions for which you had to pay up front, before any words were written, but you did get your name printed inside.
But is it worth £3,000 a copy? (That's the basic one, signed by Fergie and Bobby Charlton. Ones also signed by Denis Law, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona cost £4,250.) Lots of people seem to have thought so, but then a lot of Man United fans are pretty wealthy - as are the players. You just need one of these books in your library in your Cheshire mansion, and the library is filled. But it's interesting they should charge so much extra for extra signatures. Photos and shirts autographed by sports stars are big business, but I think such signed stuff is overrated and will prove a lousy investment.
You've guessed. I've agreed to write the intro for the Spurs book. And I'll get a copy. To treasure, not as an investment . . .
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