YOU MIGHT ASK YOURSELF, WHO IS GREG DORTCH AND WHERE DID HE GET THESE BOOKS, SIGNATURES, PICTURES, FIRST DAY COVERS, AVIATION ART ETC.
I WOULD LIKE YOU TO FIRST READ THE WRITE-UP ABOUT ME FROM PBA GALLERIES IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. IN JANUARY OF 2003 I DELIVERED 35 BOXES OF BOOKS THAT TOTALED ALMOST 1,200 BOOKS THAT I HAD COLLECTED OVER MANY, MANY YEARS. SOME BOOKS OF WHICH I HAD SPENT MANY YEARS LOOKING FOR. I ALWAYS WANTED FIRST EDITION'S BUT IN SOME CASES HAD TO SETTLE FOR LATER EDITIONS. THIS IS PBA'S WRITE-UP THEY PUT IN THEIR 3 CATALOGS FOR THEIR BUYING/BIDDING CLIENTELE:
THE WORLD WAR II AVIATION COLLECTION OF GREG DORTCH - PART 1
"THE FOLLOWING LOTS COMPRISE THE FIRST PART OF OUR OFFERING OF THE AMAZING COLLECTION ON WORLD WAR II AVIATION AND AVIATORS PUT TOGETHER BY GREG DORTCH. FORMED OVER A PERIOD OF ABOUT THIRTY YEARS, THE COLLECTION CONTAINS NUMEROUS BOOKS WITH MULTIPLE SIGNATURES, SOME WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED SIGNATURES, OF ACES, BOMBER PILOTS, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS, ETC. AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COLLECTION IS A LOT OF SEVEN LOOSE-LEAF BINDERS CONTAINING THOUSANDS OF LETTERS, SIGNATURES, SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS, AND RELATED MATERIAL OF PILOTS AND AVIATORS."
"GREG DORTCH, A WORLD WAR II BUFF SINCE EARLY CHILDHOOD AND A GENERAL AVIATION PILOT, BEGAN SERIOUSLY COLLECTING MATERIAL IN THE EARLY 1970'S. HE STATES THAT AT THAT TIME "I BECAME INTERESTED IN JOINING DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS AND HAVE BEEN A LONG TIME MEMBER OF: THE AMERICAN FIGHTER ACES ASSOCIATION, BRITISH AND CANADIAN FIGHTER PILOTS ASSOCIATIONS, GEMEINSCHAFT DER JAGDFLIEGER (GERMAN PILOTS ASSOCIATION), BATTLE OF BRITAIN ASSOCIATION, VARIOUS FIGHTER GROUP AND BOMBER GROUP ASSOCIATIONS, AND MANY MORE RELATED ASSOCIATIONS. I DID A LOT OF RESEARCH ON PILOTS AND PEOPLE I HAD READ ABOUT AND SEEN ARTICLES WRITTEN BY AND WROTE LETTERS OR SENT E-MAILS TO THEM ASKING IF I COULD SEND BOOKS OR BOOKPLATES OR SIGNATURE CARDS FOR THEIR AUTOGRAPH/SIGNATURES. I HAVE OVER THE YEARS PERSONALLY MET HUNDREDS OF AMERICAN FIGHTER ACES/PILOTS, GERMAN ACES, BRITISH ACES/PILOTS, BOMBER PILOTS/CREWMAN MOSTLY IN THEIR HOMES OR OVER A BREAKFAST OR LUNCH. I HAVE ATTENDED HUNDREDS OF CONVENTIONS FOR ALL THESE GROUPS AND BEEN TO PRINT/BOOK SIGNINGS AND SYMPOSIUMS AROUND THE US AND EUROPEAN COUNTRIES."
"THE SIGNATURES IN THE BOOKS INVARIABLY MATCH THEIR CONTENT - BOOKS ABOUT AMERICAN FIGHTER ACES WILL BE SIGNED BY THOSE ACES, BOOKS ON BOMBERS SIGNED BY BOMBER CREW MEMBERS, BOOKS ON GERMAN PILOTS AND PLANES SIGNED BY GERMAN PILOTS AND THE AMERICANS AND BRITISH WHO BATTLED THEM IN THE AIR, ETC. MOST OF THE BOOKS CONTAIN DORTCH's ADDRESS LABEL, AFFIXED TO THE TITLE-PAGE OR OTHER PLACES IN THE BOOK; THIS HAS GENERALLY NOT BEEN NOTED."
THESE NEARLY 1,200 BOOKS PLUS OVER 8,000 SIGNATURE COLLECTION WERE PUT UP FOR AUCTION IN THREE PARTS AS SEEN BELOW IN THE PICTURES.
WHEN THE AUCTION WAS OVER I HAD OVER 400 BOOKS SENT BACK TO ME, ALONG WITH THE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES THAT WAS SO LARGE NO ONE COULD BID ON IT. HOWEVER, SOMEONE WAS SMART ENOUGH TO BID AND BUY THE SEVEN LOOSE-LEAF BINDERS CONTAINING THE THOUSANDS OF LETTERS, SIGNATURES, SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS, AND RELATED MATERIAL OF PILOTS AND AVIATORS.
SO, WHAT I HAVE DONE IS TAKEN A LOT OF THE SIGNATURES THAT ARE ON BOOKPLATES, SIGNATURE CARDS, FIRST DAY COVERS ETC. AND HAVE LAID THEM IN THE MANY BOOKS THAT YOU WILL SEE. AND, THE MANY MORE SIGNATURES THAT I HAVE ARE ON LISTS TO PURCHASE JUST THE SIGNATURES YOU WANT, TO ADD TO YOUR BOOKS, OR TO PUT IN A PIECE OF YOUR ART OR PHOTO COLLECTION.
