A $5 Million Photograph, Purchased for $2 in an Antique Shop
- by Michael Stillman
Close up of man thought to be Billy The Kid in Guijarro's photo (left), and the only known photo of Billy (right).
This brings us back to 2015 and Guijarro's photo. He thought one of the men in the photograph might be Billy, and some of the others his fellow Regulators. He had face recognition analyses performed on some of the figures which showed a likelihood of identity. He then went to Lincoln County and attempted to find the location of the photograph, primarily using the shape of the hills in the background. He headed for the area of Tunstall's ranch, and with the assistance of the current owners, found a spot that appeared to be the same, not that far from Tunstall's home. Kagan's experts would later visit the same location and reach the same conclusion. There is a building at the spot, and they concluded that despite changes, it was the same one. If so, it is hard to imagine who else would have been photographed there at this time besides Tunstall's employees, the Regulators and their friends.
This takes us to the great incongruity in the photo. Why would Billy and his cohorts be playing croquet? How on earth did a croquet set appear on the desolate back country ranch lands of 19th century New Mexico? The answer is John Tunstall. He was an Englishman. He brought a set with him. He alluded to playing croquet in his diary.
Kagan's has dated the photograph to late summer 1878, after a wedding. By this time, the brief Lincoln County War had come to an end, though there would be scattered related killings in the years ahead. If the timing, location, and participants in this photograph are as said, it's an indication that while they were in hiding, they must not have had to take hiding too seriously. Hiding out on Tunstall's property would have been hiding in plain sight. They certainly do not appear to be the least bit concerned.
Perhaps more authentication will be needed before someone shells out $5 million for this photograph, or maybe there is enough now. We aren't certain. What we can say is for those who treasure hunt for old books and paper, there are still some prizes to be found. Even if you don't achieve quite the level of success as Randy Guijarro, the fun is still in the chase.
Sotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.
Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000.
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
