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Scholars scour eBay
Whether they're studying poetry or the history of moviegoing, researchers now routinely check the online auction site for relevant items.
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Pannapacker doesn't know, for example, where Thoreau's copy of "Leaves of Grass" ended up.
Yet in such cases, some scholars have been able to contact the buyer by e-mail. A few have worked out agreements with private owners to gain access to the material.
Aronson is working with a private collector of movie ledgers to make copies of the books available on the Internet or microfilm.
"He liked consuming and owning the object," Aronson says, "but he also understands its historical worth."
• E-mail comments to pauln@csmonitor.com
Trying to keep it real on the Wild West Web
Everyone wants to collect something once owned by Buffalo Bill.
That's what the archivists at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyo., assume when they see many objects purportedly related to the cowboy are fraudulently sold and bought on eBay.
The museum's staff rarely checks eBay for objects to add to its collection. They consider the Web auction site an unreliable venue for buying artifacts. "We still think of eBay as a bit of a loose cannon," says curator Juti Winchester, citing the erroneous historical information she often finds on the site.
The staff does check eBay once a week - to see if anyone is selling something they know is fake. "If we don't do anything to prevent a fraud, we [become partly] responsible," says Ms. Winchester.
Museums and other institutions are often reluctant to buy from eBay because they believe vendors have less to lose by committing fraud online than they would through an auction house or professional dealer.
Both ignorantly and intentionally, eBay vendors sometimes provide an erroneous provenance - the proof of an object's chain of ownership. "They'll always give the same story. They'll say 'This came from the estate of someone who was very old and did not have any relatives.' " Winchester says.
That was similar to the pitch given by a Jacksonville, Ark., man who posted for sale on eBay six letters written by William Faulkner, which he allegedly stole from a museum.
The incidents of fraud seem particularly numerous in the case of Buffalo Bill. Experts partly credit the phenomenon to the fact that many thousands of objects once owned by the cowboy are in circulation among regular people.
"He gave away guns like others give away calling cards," Winchester says.
Because his Wild West show traveled around the world, and cast members consistently gave away items from the show, it is easier for eBay vendors to convince buyers that they possess a real piece of history.
Two kinds of fraudulent objects often auctioned: belt buckles and playing cards.
One eBay vendor recently tried to sell cards for $300 which ostensibly had holes shot through them by Annie Oakley, the famous cowgirl from the Wild West show.
Winchester knew they were fake because Oakley always shot playing cards so they split in half, and the cards' provenance on eBay claimed they were dated one year before Oakley even joined the show.
"I think, 'Come on, you guys, do your research,' " Winchester says. "People will buy this stuff because Buffalo Bill is an icon. It's one way for people to connect with his rugged individualism."
