Many years ago I had a brief telephone conversion with Dr. Samuel Radbill.
.His name came up often when I asked book dealers about collectors in Philadelphia
He asked a simple question :
Would you like to build a world class collection ? I answered affirmatively and he said
It's very simple just live longer than the other collectors..
Several years later he died and I attended an auction sale of 18th century bookplates from his collection I purchased some remarkable plates including an Engraved Thomas Penn plate printed by Ben Franklin .
-Ref
Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Printing by C. William Miller P.39
Now it won't be long before I am 79 years old and an increasing number of collector friends are.sending their collections to auction houses.
It is my hope that this collaborative undertaking will help others (and myself) weigh carefully the options they have and shed some light on on what is a major decision.
My own thinking is still some what muddled. I could take the path of least resistance and do absolutely nothing.but that would be a big mistake. My heirs would not have a clue about what to do with the collection .. As strange as it may sound I know of several collections that wound up in dumpsters..
.
Several years ago I began sorting my collection.. Some portions are sorted by artist, some by categories such as famous people , angling,theatrical, Judaica etc. This will facilitate the eventual sale in more manageable lots that can be be directed to specific audiences.
Because it is easy to do and pleasurable I frequently print out biographical information about the owners..I think this adds to the value of the collection and facilitates cataloging .
Normally, I publish short articles This posting is different..
It is quite long. I hope it is thought provoking enough to stimulate further discussion.
Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com
The following article originally appeared in The Bookplate Journal
Volume1 Number 1 March 1983
REFLECTIONS
ON DISPOSING OF BOOKPLATE COLLECTIONS
Professor William E. Butler
In 1937 Clara T. Evans
and Carlyle S. Baer published a census of institutional bookplate collections
in the United States. It listed dozens
of collections scattered in public libraries or universities, colleges,
institutes, and galleries throughout the land, the great majority of them
presented or bequeathed by private collectors.
Although there is no comparable census for the United Kingdom, such
preliminary data as we have suggests an analogous pattern of beneficence. No Anglo-American institution to my
knowledge, however, actively augment through exchange or purchase the bookplate
collection(s) which they hold. Most
collections may be consulted for reference purposes, and in a few cases the
collection is drawn upon for exhibitions.
The vast majority if institutional collections have no published
catalogues the magnificent exception being the Frank Collection in The British
Museum. Whose three volume catalogue remains the most fundamental reference
work on Anglo-American bookplates up to 1900.
In short, most bookplate collections presented to institutions cease to
become living collections. Unlike the
book or graphic art holding, they rarely enjoy an acquisitions budget and
virtually never have a curator knowledgeable about bookplates and in a position to enlarge or upgrade the bookplate collection.
The
alternative is to sell the collection.
Modern collectors cannot hope to amass even a medium-sized collection
purely by exchange. Earlier material
especially is most likely to be obtained through the acquisition of another
collection. A small collection these
days is up to 15,000 plates: medium-size c. 15-50,000: large collection is
excess of 50,000. Some collectors, most
notably the late Horace Jones and Mr. & Mrs. Tom Owen in England, have
directed that their bookplates be dispersed to other collectors.
The
sale of a small collection normally presents few difficulties. Although to the best of my knowledge only two
book dealers in the United Kingdom (James L. Wilson and Nigel Burwood)* and none
in the United States regularly stock bookplates, many book dealers will
purchase small collections. Auction
houses too will be prepared to sell collection as a whole, and occasionally do,
but gone are the days when an entire auction is gives over to individual plates. Medium and large collection are another
matter entirely. If sold intact, their
size narrows the field of prospective purchasers dramatically, and, if broken
down, poses formidable lotting and description problems for the vendor. A knowledgeable collector might overcome
these obstacles by lotting or arranging the materials himself. Rarely is such foresight encountered. The Bookplate Society often is asked to
assist in the disposal of collection and gladly does so without charge.
These
reflections are prompted by the disposition during 1982 of one large and two
medium-sized collections. Each raised
interesting considerations for the vendor and purchaser which we believe to be
of general concern.
The
Harold Mortlake Collection
Many readers will recall
that in the “good old days” Harold Mortlake’s antiquarian bookshop in Cecil
Court was one of the few places in Britain which regularly offered bookplates
for sale. A few plates in the window,
including a Harrison copper-engraving, enticed one in to page through some
well-worn albums with plates individually priced. Behind the shop stock lay a substantial
personal collection amassed over many years which Mortlake ultimately offered,
as he did many of the book collection that he formed, en bloc together with 193 books and pamphlets.
The
bookplates and books had been thoroughly inventoried and classified. Of the 28,000 bookplates, some 16,000 were
British, and of the latter nearly a quarter were die sinkers. The plates were grouped into categories:
armorials, Chippendale, garter, urns, bookpiles, libraries, seals, clubs, and
institutions, medical, ermines, ovals, pictorials armorials, pictorial,
armorials with supporters, military, Irish, Jacobean, ladies, authors,
individual artists, prize labels, monograms, and more. Most plates were mounted on single sheets of
headed paper containing brief annotation: the names of owner, designer, engrave,
and Franks number when relevant. The foreign
plates were simply grouped by country, with a few outstanding continental
artists kept separately.
For
various reasons, not least the element of duplication, four London collectors
decided to purchase the collection as a syndicate and divide it among
themselves. A price was agreed and the
entire collection moved to a central London site for distribution, an awesome
exercise which might in its execution easily have sorely tested the friendship
of those involved. In fact, it proved to
be enormously enjoyable and provided an absorbing diversion for several long
evenings without any cross words. The
recipe for success was complementary collecting interests and equitable canons
for distribution rigorously observed.
The
books were dealt with first. The vendor
supplied a complete list of titles to which one syndicate member assigned
notional prices for distribution. The
other syndicate members reviewed and agreed the prices. The books were laid out on tables: lots were
chosen to see who should have first choice- the others following in
alphabetical order, and the prices of books selected in this way, the other
half to be sold. The cost to each member
at this stage was the total of the books selected plus a quarter of the value
of the remainder. The amount received
for the latter, when eventually sold, was divided among the members equally.
The
syndicate members each entered the arrangement with certain preferences for
material, but exposure to a new range of plates served in all instances to
broaden their taste. “Royals” were
sought after generally. One member with
a larger general collection concentrated on plates he lacked, leaving much
material to the others. Fine plates of
all periods and countries grew in appeal.
As light relief from the hours of serious selection, the members worked
through the die sinker volumes individually, pulling those plates that seemed
worth considering separately. The same
procedure was followed for the 12,000 continental plates, again pulling out
those that appealed. The quality of the
continental plates was much lower in general, but a few by Zetti, Severin,
Rueter, von Bayros, Sattler, and other contemporary engraves made the effort
worthwhile.
The
Arthur Brauer Collection
By Lukavsky, Jaroslav
In
early summer 1982 it become known that a continental collection of about 30,000
bookplates was available in England.
Formed by the late Dr. Arthur Brauer in Germany, the collection had
first been offered to the Exlibriscentrum in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, without
success. Those who viewed the collection
were enormously impressed with its quality.
Dr. Brauer had collected by artist and chosen carefully. The sale was being arranged through book
dealers in southern England. The initial
asking price was extremely high. In the
course of the summer various individuals were offered the collection at a
gradually diminishing price, the ultimate purchaser, A.K. Pincott, acquiring
the collection for about 40% of what originally was asked. The bulk of the collection consisted of
twentieth-century Western and Eastern continental European material, especially
from the period 1900-30.
The
Margaret Woodbury Strong Collection
Margaret Woodbury Strong
On 17 May 1982 Swann Galleries Inc. in New York
announced that they had been appointed to dispose of the Strong Bookplate
Collection on behalf of the Pierpont Morgan Library- “one of the world’s
largest collections of bookplates.”
Margaret Woodbury Strong (1897-1969) was a passionate collector. Toys, miniatures, shells, marbles, a
superlative doll-house collection, buttons, china, door knobs, inkwell,
paperweights, vases, smoking pipes, shaving mugs, valentines, trade cards and
more were assembled on grand scale and bequeathed with a stunning endowment (in
excess of $60 million) to form the nucleus of a “museum of fascination” in
Rochester, New York. After thirteen
years of planning, the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum opened officially on 12
October 1982 in sumptuous purpose-built premises designed to exploit to the
utmost the educational and research dimensions of the collections. The bookplates did not pass to the
Museum. They were willed separately with
capital sum to the Pierpont Morgan Library and a request that the Library
expend the sum to provide facilities for the better care and display of
bookplates.
Although
Mrs. Strong grew up in a family of connoisseur-collectors and began herself to
collect at a precocious age, the massive holdings (300,000 objects) which
comprise the core of the Museum in Rochester were acquired late in life, from
1958 to 1969. Bookplates were, however,
an early and sustained interest. Her
bookplate collection commenced c. 1907 when a University lecturer presented his
personal bookplate to her during a transatlantic voyage. Eventually she was given part of the
bookplate collection formed by her favourite aunt. She was a member of the American Society of
bookplate collectors from 1935 until her death.
The true size of the Strong Collection is unclear. Accounts published in 1969 indicated a
collection of about 86,000 plates. The
Swan figure of c. 150,000 plates was an estimate based on random sample; the
discrepancy may represent duplicate and unaccessioned material.
A
full account of the Collection will be given when there has been sufficient
opportunity to study it. Preliminary
observation suggest that the collection was assembled with devotion by way of
exchange and especially by the acquisition of other collections. Most of the bookplates are Anglo-American
pre-1945, with substantial representation of A.N MacDonald, Sidney L. Smith,
E.D. French, C.W. Sherborn, G.W. Eve, and a sprinkling of other artists of the
period. There are modest but excellent
holdings of older continental plates, including a handful of fifteenth-century
plates, although the celebrated rarities seem not to have been
represented. Twentieth-century
continental European material forms a small percentage of the collection, but
there are some choice Japanese examples.
In some cases Mrs. Strong was content to collect the illustrations of
bookplates in place of the plate itself.
The
plates were organized by artist, subject, or country, elaborately sorted into
labelled files, often with clippings, correspondence, checklists, or monographs
about the artist. A sizable card-index
of the plates was maintained; all the cards were painstakingly hand written,
and some incorporated data about the provenance of the plate. The bookplates alone took up some twenty
four-drawer filing cabinets, plus another ten cabinets of collateral
material. Accompanying the bookplates
were some 250 reference books and about 150 volumes of multiple copies,
sometimes reflecting special copies or bindings, but often simply identical
examples, usually in superlative condition.
The present writer spent five hours viewing the collection, yet so
immense was the volume of material that only the most general impression could
be obtained.
What
induced the Pierpont Morgan Library to part with the Strong Collection is not a
matter of public record. For any
institution, however, the proper sorting and cataloguing of the collection
would have posed insuperable problems.
It was in the end a collector’s collection, inadequately processed for
institutional use by its owner, and beyond the reasonable capacities by virtue
of its size for any institution to assume the responsibility of
processing. Even the reference
collection, invaluable as it was, is as remarkable for the materials not
present as it is for those that are. To
their everlasting credit, the Pierpont Morgan Library instructed that if
possible the Collection should be sold intact and not broken up at
auction. That object was realized. The Collection passes for another generation
of study, increase, and cataloguing to the source from whence it all
originated, a University Professor.
This
returns us to the original concerns voiced at the outset of these
reflections. The Strong Collection one
might have supposed met all the criteria for disposition into institutional
hands: a substantial accumulation of plates reasonably concentrated on
particular countries and periods; a capital sum to help care for the
collection; and a distinguished institution to have custody over the
collection. The capital sum (reportedly
$60,000) would have been inadequate even in 1969 to prepare and produce a
catalogue of the collection, without which its use would have been impossible,
irrespective of the best institutional will toward the Collection. Collectors would do well to consider
carefully the implications of leaving bookplates in institutional hands and to
ensure that, one way or another, the collection will by their own efforts or
devices or the recipient institution’s receive the care and access that the
bookplates deserve. Bookplates can place
burdens on and open vistas for institutions that other kinds of collections do
not. Ignoring these is likely to lead to
frustration of the donor’s most cherished intentions.
Notes from Lew- The images were not in the original article.
*James Wilson died several years ago but Nigel Burwood is still active.
From Anthony Pincott
The
clock may be ticking, and one may increasingly suffer the heart-ache and the
thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, but perpetual sleep is not yet
for me a consummation devoutly to be wished. Nor do I desire at present to fix
in print what could eventually happen to my collection. I recognise that both a
collector and his family are poorly served if an individual with such specialist
knowledge leaves to his heirs the task of turning treasured and often hard
fought-for items into cash. However, the trouble with disposing of a collection
during one’s lifetime is that it is no longer available for reference, and for
as long as I retain my faculties I want to keep researching bookplates. Having
one’s own collection readily to hand is an important stimulus to, and resource
for, research and writing. For example, Brian North Lee’s ability to write so
extensively, was based not only upon a thorough knowledge of bookplate
literature but also of bookplates, often scarce examples, in the Levine and
other collections he acquired.
From Larry Conklin
Dear
Lew,
First of
all, the bookselling/book collecting public needs to be made aware of exactly
what a bookplate is. I have encountered professional (?) booksellers who think
that a bookplate is any
plate published in a book. How
about that?
I will
work on that long-discussed exhibition of my New England plates that I told you
about; others should try to do likewise, locally, including you. Your blog, of
course, is great.
I will
try to get my article An
Introduction to Bookplates. With Examples from the Earth Science Library of
Herbert P. Obodda. Mineralogical Record volume 26, (1995), pages 143-158.
put on
my website. I have been told it is not
half-bad.
Finally (and for the time being) we owners of
collections of bookplates should try to put inheritance restrictions on them to
our heirs and require that they do not sell them for a period of at least 20 years after we are
gone.
I will try to think of more
possibilities.
Note from
Lew;
I added blue type
to the last paragraph in Larry's email.It is an innovative suggestion.Would it
work for most people ? Perhaps not, but it might if your heirs understand that
some collections will greatly appreciate in value over time especially
if they make a real effort to learn
about them .
From Tom Boss
As a dealer in bookplates (and rare books) I can say, perhaps in a somewhat self-serving way,
that the best way to dispose of your collection is BEFORE you have shuffled off the mortal coil. It has been my experience that most of the collectors I’ve known who have done that have been quite happy with the results of a dealer, private, or auction sale or some kind of gift
to a library or museum.
The reasons for the pleasure and satisfaction of moving along one’s treasures oneself are
primarily related to control. If one expires before the collection is sold there is never an ironclad guarantee that one’s wishes will be adhered to in all of the important ways. The material may be scattered when the owner wanted it kept together or publicly auctioned
when the desire was for friends and colleagues to have exclusivity in purchasing or at least
first refusal.
Selling one’s collection before demise is a sure way to more closely achieve what may be
wanted in disposal; one can exercise the maximum control. One can gauge the market or
demand by talking to other collectors, dealers, auctioneers and librarians or museum curators.
When a collector takes on the task of disposing of his own material while alive and in full command of his faculties the result will invariably reflect his wishes and usually work out
From Christine Bell
Dear Mr Jaffe
Having worked as a volunteer organising a
medium-sized bookplate collection for the State Library of Victoria in
Melbourne, Australia, my suggestion is this: to avoid the dispersal of
collections, the present owners/collectors should consider the idea of leaving
their collections to a public institution which has an existing collection,
whether it be large or small.
In Australia, because of our federal tax
laws, there is a scheme called the Cultural Gifts Program (CGP). This means
that an eligible institution can be approached by a potential donor, and if
accepted by the institution in line with its publicly accessible
acquisition guidelines, the value of the gift is a straight deduction against
the donor's taxable income for the year in which it was donated. The value is
determined by the average of 2 valuations by Commonwealth approved valuers. In
the event that the value of the donation is too large for a tax deduction in the
year the gift was made, it can be carried forward for 5 years.
This has been a bonus for
cash-strapped organisations like galleries, museums and libraries, and is the
basis for the donation of the John Gartner collection which I am cataloguing at
the moment. This collection has about 45,000 examples, the majority of them
European from the 20th century, but it is growing slowly through gift, purchase
and exchange. A collection of bookplates made for Elizabeth and Jack Diamond
will be added to the State Library's collection through the CGP system, and the
catalog will include information the Diamonds and the donor.
I do know that some collectors
regard public institutions as huge maws into which small gifts can disappear
without trace, but electronic access is improving in major institutions, and
libraries are the major forces in improving on-line access.
Best wishes
Christine Bell
Christine Bell P.O. Box
427 EAST MELBOURNE 3002 Victoria Australia email:
christinedowner@yahoo.co.uk
!0/12/2015-Additional Information From Christine Bell
Some years ago I think I mentioned that a
medium sized collection of international bookplates was given to the State
Library of Victoria. This is not a stagnant collection, as funds have been made
available for purchases over the past 5 years. There is no endowment for this
area of collection, so funds come from two budget lines within the special
collection areas _Rare Printed and Pictures. Recently a collection of
international bookplates was purchased to add to the existing collection. This
was formed in Hamburg by Viktor (or Victor) Singer, a collector and publisher,
who fled the Nazis in late 1938, and came to Australia via England in 1939. The
collection, which was known to exist but seemed to disappear after Singer's
death in 1943, surfaced with a rare book dealer in Melbourne a year ago, and was
purchased by my bookplate mentor in order to prevent it being broken up and sold
overseas. The purchase funds were provided by 2 donors (2/3 of the total) and
by the Library for the remaining third. There are about 2000 plates in all, and
the arrangement is by country, and within each country, alphabetically by
artist. It took me about 4 months to archivally house and box the collection
before it went into the Library.
My point is that, if collectors are worried
about the future of their collections, and would prefer them not to be broken up
and dispersed, it might be as well to choose and institution and begin
negotiations well in advance. Patience and the long-term view are both
important when negotiating with public institutions - there's always a reason
for them to say there are no funds to support future acquisitions. This
is a stock response to most initial negotiations., but money can always be found
in the end if a well thought-out case is presented, from my experience of
working 25 years in such an institution.
The other avenue might be, if
personal funds allow, to leave collections to these institutions, with some kind
of endowment.
The final avenue of course it
to allow collections to be dispersed so that others can have the fun of building up a new collection.
I don't know if this adds
anything to the collection of opinions that you have already assembled from
people with much more experience than I in these matters
Best wishes
Christine Bell
From Mark Griffin
I am a recent convert to this hobby, my focus has been more on acquiring than
on selling. I have no intention of getting rid of my collection during my
lifetime. Neither of my children is particularly interested in this hobby, but
they are still relatively young and may become more interested as they grow
older. I hate the thought of my collection disappearing into the collections of
some University, Library or other institution because that would mean that for
all practical purposes, these bookplates would be lost to the general public
except in the rare instances when an institution mounts an exhibit of some of
these bookplates. I would like to see someplace where collections could be made
available to old and new collectors alike at fair prices since one of the joys
of this hobby is finding new items for one’s collection.
From Jacques Laget
I was a little over twenty years old when I started
picking bookplates. At that time it was impossible to sell an old book binding
if it was not in good condition, All works with used Bindings went home .. I
removed bookplates that would have been thrown out by the bookbinder. Then I
started buying collections and have classified the French bookplate by owner
name. After more than 50 years of collecting I found myself at the head of a
number of double and also bookplates from all countries, but I was collecting
the French. Thus from merchant of books I became a merchant of bookplates ...
What will become of my collection after me? I do not know. There are few
collectors in France but the people I know keep only certain categories, I have
never met an amateur who seeks to unite all French bookplates. I now has nearly
30,000 old (before 1930) or modern. I think the ideal would be of interest to an
institution and sell this collection, and then seek only those who lack
...
The general directory of French bookplates (until 1930) is now available at http://afcel.fr/fr/base-des-ex-libris/ This is a very slow link .Be patient.
I
have to include more than 10,000 scans. do not know if I have enough time yet because life is so
short!
jacques@laget.fr
From Jerry Morris
Lew,
My blog post shown below, still best expresses my plans for the
disposition of my books. I have sold and will continue to sell some of my books
now. But many of my books will remain on my bookshelves until after I'm
gone.
On Finding New Owners For My Old Books
Finding new owners for my old books is something I've done before. In 2006, while waiting for my disability retirement to be approved, I sold some of my old books just to help pay the bills. In the months to come, I will try to find new owners for some of my old books just to make it easier for friends and family to dispose of my books after I am gone.
I will sell some of my books now. And I will research and identify potential buyers of some of my other books. These potential buyers will be contacted, hopefully "at a much later date," and offered the books I think they might be interested in acquiring.
Among the books to be disposed of at a "much later date" will be the books that have been given to me, which are part of My Sentimental Library Collection.
What books will I be selling now? My First American Edition of Shakespeare's Works; my Poetry books; my History books; and a few selected author collections.
I would love to sell my Books About Books Collection en bloc –– anyone interested? Contact me: moibibliomaniac at gmail.com, with @ replacing the word "at.'
But I am prepared to sell my Books About Books by sub-collections (bibliography, booksellers, etc.). What I will not do is list my Books About Books individually on eBay.
My Mary Hyde Collection will be sold en bloc at a later date. And I have a potential buyer or two already listed.
If you are interested in acquiring some of my books either now or at a later date, please contact me: moibibliomaniac at gmail.com.
I have all my books
catalogued on Library Thing where I have added contact information of potential buyers in the "Private
Comments" section .
Best,
Jerry
From Richard Thorner
BOOKPLATES, DEATH AND
TAXES
Bookplates, like other
collections, should be scrutinized when preparing an estate plan. They are an asset which should be considered
like any other asset such as real estate, stocks and bonds. This is especially true for the avid
collector whose net worth may be heavily-weighted in tangibles.
This is an attempt to
simply point out some facts which should be considered when dealing with estate
planning issues of your collection.
Needless to say, professionals
in the form of certified public accountants and estate planning attorneys
should be consulted when it comes time to developing your specific
estate plan. The following represents an
overview of some of these issues:
1. During
your lifetime, remember that if you sell any portion of your collection at a
gain (and everyone should be keeping accurate records with respect to purchase
prices and vendors), there is a flat capital gains rate of 28%. This is significantly higher than the rate on
other assets such as stocks and real estate (15%);
2. If
you are nearing the end of your collecting either due to age or disinterest,
then it may make sense to hold the underappreciated asset until you die in
order to avoid the aforementioned capital gains tax. This assumes, of course, that the asset is, in
fact, underappreciated (i.e. that you would be selling your collection at a
profit);
3. To
the extent that you are holding the underappreciated asset at the time of your
death, your estate will get what is termed “the automatic step-up in basis.”
In other words, if you bought a Paul Revere bookplate for $1,000 and at
the time of your death, it has a fair market value of $2,000, your heirs will
inherit it at the date of death value (i.e. $2,000). If your heirs sell the bookplate for the
$2,000, then there is no capital gains tax.
If, however, you sold the bookplate right before you die for $2,000, you
would have to pay 28% on the $1,000 gain ($2,000 sales price less your cost of
$1,000). Hence there is a benefit to
dying with the asset with respect to capital gain tax avoidance.
4. Do
not get confused between the “capital gains tax” discussed above and the
Federal Estate Tax. When computing the
latter, each individual is currently entitled to a $5.43 million exemption
(meaning if your estate is below this value, there is currently no federal
estate tax). Keep in mind that Congress
could decide to reduce this exemption at any time, so while your estate may be
far below $5.43 million in value, it may be impacted if Congress reduces the
exemption below whatever your estate is valued.
Additionally, I am not going to address whether or not your particular
state has any estate tax consequences.
You must consult your own advisors on that issue.
5. If
your estate’s value exceeds the $5.43 million (and assuming you are leaving
your estate to someone other than your spouse as there is an unlimited Federal
Estate Tax exemption for a spouse who inherits), then the estate tax needs to
be computed (or estimated ) and paid within nine (9) months of the date of
death. This may be a problem if you
estate primarily consists of tangible assets with very little cash. Your heirs would have to raise the money some
how, and your collection might be the first thing that gets liquidated. The
problem with a potential liquidation is that your heirs may be forced to sell
at a “fire sale” discount just to raise the funds.
There are many
other topics and practice tips that should be considered, but the foregoing
represents a quick overview of some basic information.
Richard
Thorner, Esquire
Wadleigh,
Starr & Peters, P.L.L.C.
95 Market
Street
Manchester,
NH 03101
PH:
603-669-4140
FX:
603-669-6018
Note from Lew.Richard Thorner is exceptionally well qualified to share his thoughts with us. He is a bookplate collector/dealer and an attorney.
From Richard Schimmelpfeng
Thoughts on the Disposal of a Private Bookplate Collection
I began
collecting bookplates in 1971 after contacting the ASBCD which turned out to be
the indefatigable Audrey Arellanes. Audrey
put me in touch with Mary Alice Ercolini who had just decided she would disperse her collection due to
health reasons. I was able to acquire
large quantities of European and Australian modern pictorials by artists that
became well known to me. So, over the
years I have amassed a large collection of bookplates, occasional graphics, and
related literature, both books and periodicals.
At the time I became acquainted with Mary Alice she told me she felt
strongly that collections should go back into circulation rather than be
donated to libraries or museums. I think
unless an institution has the interest, and more importantly, the staff and wherewithal
to catalog a collection, that collections are better off being dispersed to
newer collectors. Part of Mrs. Ercolini’s
collection did go into a library, as did the remainder of Clare Ryan Talbot’s
collection and a few others, but most of it sits boxed on shelves, the acquiring
library having had little staff and no funds to catalog and scan the bookplates
online. I’ve had a great time collecting
and exchanging over the years and building up my collection. Now, in my own thinking, sometime soon I will
hopefully be looking for ways to disperse my collection among a younger
generation of exlibris enthusiasts, although I am well aware that I will never
recoup the considerable expenses paid out over the years.
9/14/2015 Message from Michele Behan
Very interesting article, Lew! Thanks for sharing it here.
Now, if you lived in ancient Egypt, you'd have no problem figuring out how to dispose of your collection. You'd simply be laid to rest with your entire bookplate collection so you could enjoy sorting and cataloguing them in the afterlife!
9/15/2015 Message from Ebay Seller Bugler 1998
In my day job, I draft wills for middle class folks from time to time. I really do not work with folks who draw wills that give away collections very often, but it does happen. I repeatedly find folks say they want to give away aunt Edna's ring, but I often have trouble getting accurate descriptions of specific items that are being given. Instead of a description of Aunt Ednas wedding ring, it is much better to say Aunt Edna's 1/2 carat gold wedding ring with the initials EA inside. With 5000 items in a collection, , it is fine to say "my Topps baseball card collection". However giving away half of the collection is more difficult.
One thing I have done is let my wife know which of my friends will know how to properly sell my books, and which one to help sell my baseball cards. These folks are not appointed as executor, but are folks who will help her find a proper selling venue.
9/20/2015 Message from Debra Walker
Lew, what a wonderful and thought provoking piece - and thorough!
It is a great piece for individuals who collect anything,from watches to
Fiesta Ware to realize when they are gone, someone has to tend to the dispersal,
or not, of the collection.
In my job I find these decisions are differed, and then some. The
collecting of anything is so personal, it becomes painful, or confusing to
decide. It is all part of Estate planning which opens that can of worms. No
Executor that I have met is overjoyed with the job either, even though an honor
and privilege if done by a person and not a professional (CPA or Law
Firm).
When I was 9 my parents drew up their wills, bought their plots, and
included letters of what to do with their collections. When they passed many
years later, I was so glad for their no nonsense outlook on both life and death.
Another gift from them who loved art, history and the fun of the hunt!
I already own the Waters bookplate but I hope to trade with someone eventually.
Chester Winslow(1792-1858) used this bookplate in his book No. 81. 
