Memorabilia

The way art collector Joseph Di Bella had it figured, some millionaire would be glad to add a genuine piece of Andy Warhol memorabilia to his or her collection. And since Di Bella is involved in AIDS fund-raising and his business partner is conducting private AIDS research, he figured he'd use the money to finance that research. "It seemed like a good way to raise money for a very important cause," he said. Di Bella, an art dealer, numbered Warhol among his friends and clients and has an extensive collection of the late artist's art and memorabilia - everything from Liz, a 1964 limited-edition print of Elizabeth Taylor, to a $100 bill autographed by Warhol.

For the first time in memory, the Center City auction house at 1808 Chestnut St., formerly Samuel T. Freeman & Co., will be open on a Saturday. Next Saturday will mark the second session of the two-day Freeman/Fine Arts auction of the estate of Katherine H. Keiser, a great Anglophile as well as a collector. For years, Freeman's shut its big iron doors promptly at 5 p.m. on Friday and did not open them again until 8:30 a.m. Monday, occasionally to the chagrin of would-be bidders.

An incorrect photo accompanied a story about the band Parquet Courts and band member Austin Brown in the Weekend section Friday. A current photo of Brown and the group appears above. A story Friday misstated the value of Kobe Bryant sports memorabilia planned for an auction in June. His items would fetch at least $1 million, according to an auction expert, out of a possible auction total of $2.5 million. The Inquirer wants its news report to be fair and correct in every respect, and regrets when it is not. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, contact assistant managing editor David Sullivan (215-854-2357)

Three sales next week will feature three categories of collectibles, each linked with history - one of local chronicles, one of nautical memorabilia, and one of an entertainer's mementos. The chronicles comprise two dozen books from two estates in Bucks County whose titles themselves sketch in a history of the area. They will be featured at tomorrow's regular Sunday Clinton Gallery Auction beginning at 10 a.m. at the Warwick Township fire company on Route 263 in the Bucks County community of Jamison.

About four years ago, Dan Leider purchased a signed, 1985 "We Are the World," United Support of Artists for Africa poster for $450 at an auction. Leider has been working in the recording industry for six years and has been collecting rock-'n'-roll memorabilia for at least 15. He had a hunch the framed poster, covered in a rainbow of Sharpie signatures by the likes of Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and others, might be worth...

What are the odds of somebody finding a Honus Wagner card in an attic? Especially a Honus Wagner card that no one in the hobby today had ever seen? Well, whatever the odds, a woman in Louisville, Ky., recently found such a card and has already consigned it to David Hunt's auction house for its Feb. 20-21 auction. It's not the Honus Wagner cigarette card, the legendary T-206 issue that has changed hands a couple of times for in excess of a half-million dollars. But this one, which likely predates the T-206, is also rooted in a tobacco product.

Want to get into a new field of collectibles? How about New Hope school paintings, or African tribal masks or Pepsi-Cola memorabilia? Those are among the items that will be offered at a variety of auctions early next week. Briggs Auction will offer an example of the New Hope school at its next sale, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the auction warehouse at Booths Corner: a landscape by Fern Coppedge. "Coppedge has been doing real well recently," Bob Briggs said yesterday.

As auctions of sporting goods go, next weekend will feature the World Series. More than 1,100 lots will be featured at Hunt Auctions Inc.'s annual two-day sale of baseball memorabilia, including a jersey worn by Lou Gehrig. The jersey is important for two reasons, according to auctioneer David Hunt. It was worn by Gehrig on road games during 1927 or 1928, when the Yankees were at their pinnacle. It was the only time the team's jerseys bore the nickname Yankees, Hunt said this week.

The sky is falling! The sports memorabilia hobby is dead or dying. There is no future. Nobody collects anymore. How many times have you heard that nonsense? I've heard it, too, and so has Nick Malack, who will tell you that people not only collect, they collect big-time. And he should know. Malack owns Coach's Corner Sports Auctions in Souderton. Although you'd never guess it if you visited his offices, he heads an operation that has generated more than $10 million in gross sales since he decided to move some items via a quarter-page ad in a hobby magazine in 1984.

Everything's for sale Brian McNamee is selling 50 to 60 pieces of signed Roger Clemens memorabilia and plans to donate the profits to his juvenile diabetes charity. Remarkably, Clemens was able to write his signature on needles and syringes. Zing! McNamee, the former personal trainer for a number of major-league players, is facing a defamation lawsuit by Clemens after he testified that he injected the six-time Cy Young Award winner with steroids and human growth hormone. The story, first reported by the Boston Herald, gets juicier (pardon the pun)