Mr./Ms. “books4charities-2008” did very well in selling a supposedly VN-inscribed copy of King, Queen, Knave on eBay yesterday. He/she took a $15 book, applied a pen to it, and turned it into a $367 sale (less eBay fees and shipping). Five people placed 14 bids, the last one 32 seconds before the close. Final price: $367. The auction was open for only 24 hours. All other bidding results were kept private at the request of the seller. We don’t know who bought it or any of the other books this seller has listed and sold on eBay since last July.

I did write to the seller, asking for the book’s provenance. I got this short reply:

Yes it was signed in person for the previous owner. This item was purchased at the Santa Monica book fair last year. Thanks for the question.

That wasn’t enough for me. So I wrote again:

Thanks for the further information. But that is not much of a provenance. To work backwards, who was the dealer at the fair and who was the person for whom VN signed the book in May 1971? If you don’t know whom VN signed it for, can you point me to someone who does?

And the conversation ended there, for I didn’t hear from him/her again.

Of course it is possible that he/she really did buy it from a dealer at that book fair and offered it in good faith on eBay. But it smells otherwise.