The Geographer's Library

The Geographer’ s Library
was due to begin, he simply vanished and has not been heard from since.
Lyudmila Yakovlevna noted that her husband was a prolific poet and essayist
himself; he read and could recite by heart many of the works for which his
inmates were sentenced to jail. His work, however, was rejected by virtually
every literary publication of note in the former Soviet Union.
Estimated value: Given the box’s age, its workmanship, and the silver
and jade veins, it could probably command a price in the low six figures. It is
something of a museum piece, which would increase demand at the same
time it draws away more free-spending but secretive buyers, who have no
desire to parse small bids in the company of tweedy near–public servants.
Sold in the right way, with the appropriate selective advertising and emphasis
on the proper details (the inscription, rather than the fine vein work and precious
metal and minerals), the price could rise as high as $500,000.
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