Mildred Wirt Benson Document Auctions

A collector recently sold quite a few documents that were purchased from Mildred Wirt Benson in the 1990s. I found it quite interesting how high some of the auctions went while others closed at lower prices. Some of the documents that I personally thought were the most interesting and had the most valuable historic information closed for lower prices than some of the ones that I found less interesting historically. Apparently I think differently than the average eBay buyer. For this I am rather glad since I was able to purchase the documents that were most important to me. Some of the documents that went for the highest prices were ones that were not as important to me. I let others fight over them. I also knew that I did not wish to buy all of the documents since they were going to be very expensive.

Some of the documents that went for the highest prices were ones that had Mildred Wirt Benson's autograph. Other documents that were valued had to do with books that are more popular with collectors or are hard to find, like the last Penny Parker book and the Trailer Stories for Girls series. It's like the documents were viewed with the same sense of awe as the books that are so hard to find.

I'm going to run through some of the highlights.

Mildred Wirt Trailer series contract signed Item #270383078042

This document closed at $155.30.

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Mildred Wirt Laughing Mask Plot Summary Item #270383099881

This auction closed at $115.30.

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Plot summary for Penny Parker Cry at Midnight Item #270383025332

This auction closed at $114.30, and I think that the scarcity of the book is a factor into how high the summary closed for.

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Mildred Wirt Patsy & Pudge Plot Summary #1 Item #270383062835

This auction closed at $70.69. To me, this is more interesting than the plot summary for Cry at Midnight because Patsy and Pudge is a series that was never published. These papers contain a summary of a book by Mildred Wirt Benson that is much more scarce than Cry at Midnight because it does not exist in print. I feel that this lot should have closed for a much higher price because of what it contained. I bought this lot.

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Mildred Wirt - Lot of 3 Cupples & Leon letters Item #270383057493

This lot closed at $67.10. It was an absolute must-have for me, since it contains some important information about the Brownie Scouts series. Information is what I seek, so of course I bought this one, too.

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Mildred Wirt Pirate Cove Plot Summary Item #270383095408

This lot closed at $62.01. I am not sure whether the book is one that was published under another name or whether it is unpublished. I bought this one, too. I should be able to quickly figure out whether this is a published work as soon as I take the time to read the summary.

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Mildred Wirt Nancy Drew Quarry Ghost Letters signed Item #270383092194

Quarry Ghost is my favorite book by Mildred Wirt Benson, so I had to have this one, too. It closed at $51.01.

There were other documents as well, but this gives an idea of what was sold.