![]() In the internet age, coups are rare in antiquarian books: charity shops employ their own consultants, and the market price of almost any title ever published is only a click away. Some guy at the back said: ‘I think you’ve done rather well there…’” To his astonishment and delight, there was just one other bidder, via telephone. He looked around, anxious to see if he recognised another dealer. ![]() And the three from 1917 to 1919 might together go for £9,000-plus.” ![]() I was amazed to discover there were some original hardbacks, and two from the later 1890s were worth about £7,000 each. I couldn’t tell from the photo, so I had to go and have a look. There were also three volumes – 1890, ’91, ’92 – that had been rebound, which made me wonder whether the hardbacks from later in the decade might also have been rebound. “They’re the ones you really want, the early hardbacks, which didn’t start until 1896. “There was one photograph in the online catalogue and, when I zoomed in, it looked like there were some original hardbacks,” said Ridler. What caught his eye was an estimated price of £2,000–3,000, extremely low – even with the facsimiles, inevitably the earliest editions, plus 1916, which includes the obituaries of WG Grace and Victor Trumper. It was a lot in the Books, Maps and Manuscripts sale, described as “a complete run” of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack from 1864 to 2018, including 17 facsimiles. He still couldn’t believe what he had seen, but was hoping he was the only one who had. In May 2022, Chris Ridler got in his car, a gold BMW with the licence plate WI5DEN, and “– start your collection today” emblazoned across the bonnet, and drove from his home near Huddersfield to Tennants auction house in Leyburn, North Yorkshire. Jon Hotten’s piece on collecting Wisden Almanacks originally appeared in the 2023 edition of Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack.
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