Letters

Tony Ring, who has kindly compiled these Information Sheets, gives the following general advice about PGW's correspondence as an investment/collectible:

First, let me say that letters by PGW to fans are not uncommon, and thus significant value depends on the content being of extra interest. He made a point of replying personally to all his fan letters!

As a rule of thumb, one can say that hand-written letters are more 25 to 50% more valuable than a type-written equivalent. Most letters to fans merely say thank you, he's in the middle of a new book, he's having problems but it will probably come out OK. That is the basic letter and would retail at £75 to £125. Collectors would not want more than one of those in their collection, and there are only a limited number of collectors prepared to pay that sort of money for a basic letter. So, this basic price will not, in my opinion, rise significantly in the foreseeable future (20 years or so).

Where the letter is of greater interest, answering a particular question with information which is not common knowledge, the value increases.  A letter to a personal friend, with chatty style and commenting on something happening to Plum or the world he lives in, can be much more valuable. For example, one London dealer is selling a batch of letters to PGW's former housekeeper. Some are longish, with matters of interest, and those are priced around £250. Others, saying it's a short letter to enclose a Christmas present, are around £120.

So: your first option to sell, if you think that is the right course, are to offer it to a bigger dealer, who will pay you half his expected selling price. If you're lucky. A second, would be to go to a book or antique paper fair in your area and offer it to dealers there who look as though they may be interested. A third might be to ask the Society to advertise it for you in Wooster Sauce. This is tricky, as a value has to be assigned to it, and that is a question of trust and luck! No one can guess an absolutely 'right' price, it doesn't exist. So that would require discussion. And then, an extract from the letter would have to be included so potential buyers can see if there is anything special about it. But providing the text can in itself take out some buyers, who want to know what was said, rather than have the original letter. I am sure you can see the dilemma. We do not charge for this service but encourage successful vendors to make a donation of say 10% of proceeds.

If you are interested in the Wooster Sauce option, please contact me by phone on 01494 864848 or by post to Tony Ring, 34 Longfield, Great Missenden, Bucks  HP16 0EG.