GUN SPRING 2017
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/11/2017
EXTREMELY RARE ONE OF ONLY SIX PRINTED HANNAGAN REPORT ON THE WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 ONE OF ONE THOUSAND RIFLES.Hard back book apparently produced by renowned old time collector John R. Woods, this book is inscribed inside the front cover "Number / 6 of 6 / John R. Woods". The book consists of several hundred pages of reports, photographs, copies of notarized statements from more than 20 owners of One of One Thousand rifles. The first page in the book is a copy of a letter from Steve Hannagan dated 1950 and titled "ONE OF ONE THOUSAND" / MODEL 1873 / Winchester's / First / High-Accuracy / RIFLE". The body of this letter states "An account of how this great, and all but forgotten variety of the Model 1873 Winchester has now sky-rocketed to a fame far greater than it ever enjoyed at its prime, became the most famous rifle of 1950 and the most prized and valuable item among the nation's gun collectors". This book is the compilation of the Universal Pictures Company search for authentic One of One Thousand rifles to promote their movie "Winchester 73" starring Jimmy Stewart which came out in 1950. The book reports that the background story for the movie originated in 1945 when a Mr. Stuart N. Lake wrote a letter to Winchester's Edwin Pugsley proposing a motion story that he planned to write around a Winchester rifle One of One Thousand. In the letter he gave the background of the rifle in the story as having originated in 1876 in Dodge City, KS where it was the first prize in a shooting contest on the 4th of July. The rifle was subsequently stolen and passed through a number of hands until 1884 when it was recovered by the original winner of the rifle. The movie followed Mr. Lake's story very closely down to where the hero owner of the rifle thwarted a bank robbery by a gang in Dodge City. The gang allegedly included the outlaw who had stolen the rifle originally. The book also contains the advertising and efforts of Universal Studios to identify and authenticate these rare rifles, to the point of offering a new Winchester Model 94 to the first 20 owners of authentic, documented One of One Thousand rifles. In total the studio was able to document 23 authentic Model 1873 One of One Thousand rifles and 6 Model 1876 One of One Thousand rifles. Almost certainly this publication had a basis in the research for the writing of the books Winchester 1 of 1000, Wilson and the story of the Winchester 1 of 1000 and 1 and 100 rifles, Lewis. SIZE: CONDITION: Extremely fine. Cover is bright and clean and completely intact with only slight, minuscule wear on the spine corners. Pages have slightly yellowed but are completely intact with no damage. A rare opportunity to own an extraordinarily rare book. 51079-12 JRL (3,000-5,000)