I'm with you on this practice.
What I have seen, it is the artist type trying to decorate
an office / home with prints that color match a couch.
An old book to them is junk at the book barn... Cut the
binding and frame. Sell the others to someone...
Another practice is to spray paint the bindings black.
So many book collections are mono-color simply think
these are fake or destroyed books.
Kinda like law books on a board - just the back spline.
Throw away that old law stuff.
I have a set of art prints in high quality leather.
A leading artist / naturalists. I fear the same thing
will happen to the Audubon books on my shelf.
Martin
Paul Mikkelsen wrote:
> The salutation in a recent (3/6/2010) post to CONCH-L by Bernd Sahlmann
> was to a couple individuals "and other lovers of old colored plates".
> Count me among the collective group who appreciates the colored prints
> in (or "from" ...see below), the classic malacological (and other)
> works.
>
> An old car, when disassembled to its component parts, may be worth more
> money than the complete and intact old car itself. Similarly, an old
> malacological work containing colored plates seems to be worth more
> (money) than the intact book itself. I see several "vendors" selling
> individual sheets of colored pages extracted from what must have once
> been a complete book.
>
> I, on one hand, am disheartened regarding this process of dismembering
> (destroying!) classic works. Although I have little opportunity to do
> so today, I very much still appreciate holding/examining such "ancient"
> works that began the malacology that we know today. Awesome! At one
> time, long ago, they (intact old books) were the only thing that I
> financially invested in. That said, and on the other hand, I have
> succumbed to the purchase of an isolated colored plate (or two)...
> cringing while doing so. The book had already been dismembered, so why
> not? Right? Still, idealistically, if no one ever purchased such
> isolated plates then the intact books would be worth more (money) and
> this destructive process for short term financial gain would cease!
> Right? Hmmmm....
>
> Do people, nowadays, appreciate the colored prints more than the intact
> work itself? What happens to the text of these dismembered books? Is
> that not valuable too?
>
> With someone or some organization digitizing these precious works,
> eventually all of them(?), and making them digitally available to
> everyone... who cares whether the original books still exist or
> whether their component parts are forever distant from one another? Are
> the books dismembered for better scanning, then distributed?
>
> Are the original intact books "safe" only until a dealer finds them an
> estate sale and dismembers them for their "more valuable" parts? Do
> individuals who have large collections of these books have a "plan" for
> preserving their books, as intact as they appreciate them, when they are
> no longer in possession of them?
>
> Several questions, with perhaps some rhetorically posed, are presented
> above... but generally:
> How do you feel about the sale/purchase of colored plates extracted
> from, and thereby destroying, classic malacological works?
>
> Interested in your thoughts...
> Paul Mikkelsen
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
> To leave this list, click on the following web link:
> http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
> Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
> click leave the list.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
--
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
"Our Republic and the Press will Rise or Fall Together": Joseph Pulitzer
TSRA: Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member. http://lufkinced.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
