Seyfried's 7-Volume LIRR History fetched over $1,500 on Ebay

Check THIS out.

Absolutely amazing!!!

Vince told me that he never imagined his books would ever draw this kind of $$$.

He wrote his first one only because, after reading Mildred Smith's History of The Long Island Rail Road, he figured he could do better.

ALL his books, including his trolley and Queens communitites books are fetching high dollars.

His "Third Avenue Railway System" trolley roster from 1953 originally sold for $1.25 a copy. It's been going lately for about $125.00 IF you can find one.

I brought all my non-autographed Seyfried books to his house when I visited him last October when I was up on LI for my book signings and, even though he has trouble writing, Vince kindly autographed every one of them for me!

Guess I'll keep some extras of MY book around!!! One never knows . . . do one?

Dave Keller

I just noticed that there's another set up for bid right now and it has a bid for $999.99.

Here it is


By the way, I have a complete set that I managed to obtain over the last 5 years. I probably paid about $700 is total, with Volume 1 being the most expenseve, at $250.

Bob Andersen

It's like a set of postage stamps.

4 of the 5 stamps cost $1.00 each. The 5th one of the set costs $100.

I hate to say this, but I paid $1.00 for Volume I in a private transaction when I was 14 years old and got the remaining volumes from Vince starting with Vol II at, I think, $3.50. (He was clean out of Volume I when I first contacted him.)

Sometimes it's good to have been around years ago!

Dave Keller

That volume that fetched $1,500 is INSANE. You can probably get each individual volume via different vendors for between $50 and $70 dollars a pop. Six or Seven hundred dollars sounds about right for the set (if Ebay weren't the venue for these sales).

BTW, the dealer is known for his infalted starting prices at Ebay, so let the buyer beware.

Would you believe my old high school (Smithtown East) had (has?) the complete set when I went there?

The set that went for $1500 was one of two personal sets of Mr. Seyfried's - so perhaps that's what makes them more valuable.

Even the Elmont Public Library had a complete set in the 1970's when I lived in that area. That's how I first started getting interested in LIRR History.

I do know that the Garden City Public Library currently has a complete set - but they don't let you borrow them out. Before I had my own set, I used to go there and xerox the pages that I needed!

Bob Andersen

Ron's Books in Harrison, NY had a complete set for sale several years ago for around $1,200.

The volume I is worth much more than $50-$70. It is the key piece of the set.

Dave Keller

Paul,

SHSE stopped operating as a high school in 1992, my year of graduation from there. The set is probably long gone - someone in the know probably added them to their private collection.

Michael

[The volume I is worth much more than $50-$70. It is the key piece of the set.]

I should have noted that with the exception of Vol I. you can most likely find the other volumes at varying prices at RR shows, with some of the other volumes going for between $45 and $70 bucks depending on the vendor and whether you use cash or credit card.

BTW, I was unaware that the set that sold for over $1,500 was from Seyfried's personal collection (I did not go to view it at Ebay). Now that makes more sense.

Well, that second set of the 7 volume Seyfried LIRR history ended up going for $1,259.56!

The set at the Elmont Library is incomplete. I had gone there a few years ago to use it and it was missing several volumes. At that time they were not allowing the remaining volumes to be removed.

Once the local railfans realized the value of these earlier volumes many rushed to their local libraries and "borrowed" them permanently from the shelves.

The libraries, in true "close the barn door after the horse has run away" fashion, then placed the remaining volumes (if any left) in their reference sections, not allowing them to be checked out. By then, many were gone.

I remember a set of vols I , II and III in the Sachem Public Library in Holbrook many years ago. They disappeared in the early 1970s, never making it to the reference section!


Dave Keller

<< Would you believe my old high school (Smithtown East) had (has?) the complete set when I went there? >>

When I attended there (1969 - 73) it was still called Smithtown Central HS and I remember leafing through the volumes then.

When I attended there (1969 - 73) it was still called Smithtown Central HS and I remember leafing through the volumes then.

Remember that girl Celeste, who used to ride her motor cycle to school????