Chicago man to Harvard: Pay more for rare papers or I’ll burn them

As a guy who has a fair supply of rare & historic documents (well, depending on your views on obscure aerospace stuff), the idea of them catching fire fills me with a crateload of the uncomfortables. Still, it’s an interesting strategy. Some Guy came into possession of some rare documents, appraised at more than $65k. The papers are Harvard-relevant, which university – with an endowment of, what, $30 *billion*  – offered only $7,500 for them. Since the papers cost the guy nothing to procure and have no sentimental value to him, burning them would cost him nothing. So… he’s threatening to torch them unless Harvard coughs up rather more.

I’ve seen this before:

Historical note: The National Lampoon was an offshoot of the Harvard Crimson. So Harvard should be well acquainted with this form of fundraising.

Also: http://www.savetoby.com/