1st edition BoM on Antiques Roadshow

[beefche]

I got to touch Legolas's woodland tunic at a Lord of the Rings exhibit. Knowing that Orlando Bloom had worn that made me swoon.

But, then I woke up and saw how small that costume was. Good grief! Legolas needs to eat a sandwich or two!

[JudoMinja]

Maybe it is because of being young, but I'm with lizzy. I can understand the value of an antique book if say... it's one of the only copies of that book still available. I can also understand adding value based on the fact that it was hand-bound, real leather, etc. But I don't really get all that sentimental about objects.

I have my weak points of course, but those tend to be with things that I can specifically relate to, like- for example- an old favorite toy. I'd be able to look at or hold that toy and remember all the fun times I had with it, might be able to identify how it got bent up and scraped and marred, and it is fun taking a trip down memory lane. Those items have more value to me than something to which I can ascribe no memories.

I understand that historical artifacts are valued based on this same concept, but I don't see how it's important to an individual if the memories don't specifically apply to them. If it was your great-great grandfather's copy and you have stories about when he first read it or pages that he marked that were of interest to him... sure. But an original copy that holds no value to you specifically other than that it is original? *shrug*

Maybe I'll be back here in another 20 years sharing with lizzy how much more important and sentimental these things have become and laughing at how we didn't understand when we were younger.

[Dravin]

It's not an age only thing. I'm 28 and I get a charge out of say touching a building that has existed longer than my country. But then I'm a geologist at heart and part of that is an appreciation of where something has been not just where it is now.

[Gargantuan]

FYI: My family had a First Ed of the B of M for years that had been valued to be over a quarter of million dollars in 1990. I was told that it was the book my great uncle, Orson Pratt, had used to divide the Book of Mormon up into chapters and verses. My grandmother, his niece, authenticated her uncle Orson's handwriting. I think the book has finally made it to the Church museum.

We also had an original oil portrait of John Taylor, the prophet that my mother had repaired after one her children threw a hammer at it and tore a small hole in the canvass. She also repaired the golden picture frame by making a plaster cast of the undamaged portion of it by making a new piece of the frame from that casting. I believe that portrait hangs in the Church museum now.

At first, any particular antique item may not hold a value for you until you can learn to see it that way. Then, it becomes valuable to you. For instance, my aunt bought a huge antique unaesthetic bronze statue because she liked how it would look in her home. I didn't care for it as much as she did because it looked like it was old. Before she passed away, she gave it to me, and now, after some time has gone by, I can understand why she liked it. I have grown to appreciate it's beauty in my home. Maybe, I'm getting older and wiser.

[volgadon]

Originally Posted by Dravin

It's not an age only thing. I'm 28 and I get a charge out of say touching a building that has existed longer than my country. But then I'm a geologist at heart and part of that is an appreciation of where something has been not just where it is now.

I'm not a geologist, but I am 28 too. I feel the same way about the past. There is such a thrill to it.