Dear MMDers,

As I noted a few days ago [07.08.9 MMD], I am put in the position of
helping Vernon Brown's widow dispose of his wonderful collection.  I've
had several inquiries from as far as Australia, China, and England, but
they all want to know prices.

I hope they realize that crating and shipping (to say nothing of disas-
sembling the instruments to get them out of the house) is going to be
quite expensive.  But they must be willing to pay, if they are interes-
ted enough to have contacted me.

Can anyone give me ball-park figures for these instruments:

    Chickering Ampico Grand, dozens of rolls
    Steck Upright Duo-Art, dozens of rolls
    Violano, a number of rolls
    O-roll orchestrion, built by Vernon himself
    Barckhoff tracker pipe organ (12 ranks, 2 manuals, and pedals.

The Violano was installed before the outside house wall was built; so
the wall will need to be opened or the Violano will need to be taken
apart.  Likewise the Barckhoff will require disassembly.

Mrs. Brown is faced with possible eviction by the owner of the land
where the house stands.  He wants to tear the house down, even with the
instruments inside.  All the instruments had been perfectly restored
and were in top condition when I last heard them in 2002.

Vic Searle
Tokyo, Japan