General Research #19341 >>>/qresearch/15291102
‘Despicable relic’: Epstein, Maxwell’s little black book scares off collectors
This little black book is too hot to handle.
Auction houses, collectors and true-crime experts see a limited market for Jeffrey Epstein’s “creepy” phone book listing names and numbers of the rich and famous. The scandalous book was used as evidence to help convict the late pedophile’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell this week for trafficking underaged girls for sex.
“It is unfathomable that Heritage Auctions or any other reputable auction house would ever offer such a despicable relic,” said Robert Wilonsky, spokesman for Dallas-based Heritage, which also has a location in Midtown.
“I wouldn’t buy it. Way too creepy for me,” celebrity Las Vegas pawnbroker Rick Harrison of History Channel’s “Pawn Stars” told The Post.
“But I’m sure Bill Clinton would pay millions for it,” he laughed. The former president was a known guest at Epstein’s Florida mansion.
One version of the book, a 92-page collection of typed contacts compiled by Maxwell and Epstein, was leaked by Gawker in 2015, and includes names and phone numbers of more than 1,000 celebrities, politicians and titans of business, including Prince Andrew, Alec Baldwin, Tony Blair, and Michael Bloomberg. Gawker claimed it found the directory in court documents.
The individuals listed in Epstein’s book have not been accused of or associated with any of Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes.
At least two copies of the directory existed. Staff at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion were told to make sure there was a copy of the directory at both his and Maxwell’s bedsides, according to evidence submitted by prosecutors in her trial.
Prosecutors are expected to hold the directory used in the trial in a secure location pending an appeal from Maxwell. Its future after the appeals process is uncertain. Judge Alison Nathan ruled earlier this month that only a limited amount of material from the British socialite’s contacts book would be released under seal.
Experts say the Epstein/Maxwell directory seeps into the realm of “murderabilia” — collectibles associated with heinous crimes which kills their value. Decades later, removed from the news of the times, the value of such items often grows.
“I’m not sure a lot of people would be comfortable offering it,” said Joshua Mann of B&B Rare Books in Manhattan.
The limited potential market for the black book appears to contradict an insatiable demand for celebrity collectibles, one in which even Elvis Presley’s soiled undies can net $8,000.
Maxwell was convicted Wednesday on five of six charges, including sex-trafficking of minors, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.
https://nypost.com/2022/01/01/epstein-maxwells-little-black-book-scares-off-collectors/