for sale: famous, historical book signed a remarkable 72 times by the great Ali

Hi, folks. I'm the former boxing editor at SPORT Magazine. I've written several famous stories and two top-ten bestseller books about Muhammad Ali. I'm selling much of my collection of boxing memorabilia, which is highlighted by a beautiful, oversized coffee table book that Ali signed and annotated in very personal ways a remarkable 72 times. At the time (1988), Ali said that he'd never done that before. To the best of my knowledge (and I have pretty OK knowledge about Ali), he's never done it since. The following is a detailed description of the book, which is an auction item at eBay.

Highlights and History of a Singularly Unique copy
of
Wilfrid Sheed's
MUHAMMAD ALI


The annotated and signed book is titled simply Muhammad Ali. The author is Wilfrid Sheed (a National Book Award winning novelist). It's a hardcover book in fine condition. The book was published in 1975 by Time-Life Publishing and has been out of print for twenty-five years. It's a beautiful looking book with a leatherette cover and the original dust jacket intact and in fine condition. The color plates are wonderful, the best ever published of Ali.

This copy of the book is one of a kind. March 31, 1988, during a visit to Odessa Clay's home, Muhammad Ali signed this book in 72 places. Most of these are full page photographs. Very many have personal annotations about opponents ("Get up, Chump," Ali signed under a famous picture of him standing over the fallen Sonny Liston), wives ("She gave me Hell," he wrote on a photo of himself with his first wife, Sonji Roi), Howard Cosell ("the Fool"), Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad ("the man who named me") and many others. A personal favorite is a full page photo of Ali with his second wife Belinda on the day that he met her ("Love is the net that catches hearts like fish"). Ali himself told me that he had never autographed a book so many times and in such personal ways. "Never done this before," he said. "Usually sign one or two."

A full page family portrait is autographed by Ali, his late mother, Odessa Clay, and his brother, Rahaman. After signing photos in the book for nearly an hour, he handed it to me with both hands, saying, "I'm givin' you somethin' very valuable."

This copy of the book is famous because of my story, "My Dinner with Ali," which was judged one of the best twenty pieces of sports writing of the twentieth-century by David Halberstam. In addition, "My Dinner with Ali" was judged best essay of 1989 by the American Newspaper Magazine Editors Association. It was nominated for the National Magazine Award by Sport magazine and has been anthologized in The Muhammad Ali Reader (Ecco Press, 1998) and in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century (Houghton Mifflin, 1999). It also inspired the creation of the annual The Best American Sports Writing anthology (Houghton Mifflin).

At least as importantly, the signed Wilfrid Sheed book is an integral part of the story in my book, The Tao of Muhammad Ali (Warner Books, 1996 and Crown Publishing, 1999), which has been a number one bestseller in the United Kingdom and in Japan. The Tao of Muhammad Ali was supremely well-reviewed and was judged the best sports book published in Italy in 1999. As of January 2002, The Tao of Muhammad Ali has sold more than 120,000 copies and has become some sort of classic.

In many ways, this signed book is a genuinely historical property.
Davis Miller, 2002

The History behind the book:

An excerpt from
"My Dinner with Ali" by Davis Miller


I stopped by my car again on the way into Mrs. Clay's house. There was one more picture I hoped Ali would sign, but earlier I'd felt I might be imposing on him. It was a classic head-shot in a beautiful out-of-print biography by Wilfrid Sheed that featured hundreds of wonderfully reproduced color plates. I grabbed the book from the car and followed Ali into the house.
When we were seated, I handed him the book and he signed the picture on the title page. I was about to ask if he'd mind autographing the photo I especially wanted, but he turned to page two, signed that picture, then the next page and the next. He continued to sign for probably forty-five minutes, writing notes about opponents, wives, parents, Elijah Muhammad, Howard Cosell, then passed the book to his mother and brother to sign a family portrait. Ali autographed nearly every photo in the book, pointing out special comments as he signed.
"Never done this before," he said. "Usually sign one or two pictures."
He closed the book, looked at me dead level and held it out at arms' length with both hands. "I'm givin you somethin very valuable," he said, handing me the biography as if deeding me the book of life.
I stared at the book in my open palms and felt that I should say something, that I should thank him in some way. I carefully placed it on a table, shook my head slightly, and cleared my throat, but found no words.
(The photo of Muhammad Ali and Davis Miller is not included in this auction, but serves to assist in authentication of this rare piece.)

This is the first time ever this book has been offered for sale and has remained in the exclusive possession of Mr. Miller and his family.

This book has been featured on television news shows in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Japan. VHS and/or DVD copies of these news features will be included with
the purchase of the book. You will receive first consideration for the additional negotiable purchase of exclusive, never-before shown video of the last time
that Muhammad Ali publicly boxed (beautifully so).
_______________________

I hope that everyone who visits the forum enjoys looking at the photos of the book that are available at the auction page. Keep your hands up and try not to get pinned in the corners.

My best, Davis