Do You Ever Have A Feeling Of Sorrow?

I expect we all from time to time acquire deals on "e" whatever. Does anyone besides me ever feel a bit of sorrow or guilt when you just made a purchase and find you have a really nice collection that at some time a fellow collector has poured heart and soul into assembling and you are now dismantling their prized possession?

No. The only "sorrow" I might feel is occasionally wondering if I should have made the purchase or not, from a budget perspective.

If they're that good, I'll dump my existing effort and keep the incoming material intact!

I know what you mean, wheelman. Not so much sorrow as a feeling of poignancy that what once was is no longer. But that's how it is with everything. I feel much sadder when I see a house that a family has lived and raised a family in for 50 years bulldozed to make way for a grossly oversized faux mansion that contains 5 bathrooms for every inhabitant.

I buy collections quite often, from my local auction houses. One was especially good, contained all manner of decent items in a worldwide collection. Everything from a four margin penny black and nice sets of seahorses to an Italy block with a huge catalogue value and nice USA older material. I have still not finished going through the four albums, but I see it that the best of the original collection is still continuing, just being merged with mine! So I am carrying on the good work done previously.

I would have to agree with DavidR's evaluation. I have purchased collections that were carefully mounted with glassine interleaving. It was obvious that the collector put time and care into the collection.

After being remounted into my collection, I try to expand on what the previous collector accomplished. I see it as a tribute to the previous collector and carrying on the good work already done.

Dan

Not so much for the collection itself- I agree with previous comments that one is paying tribute to the collector by being interested in their collection - but a bit of sorrow for the collector himself/herself. The collector is no longer on earth. And that is where I will be in 20 years.

I admit there has been a time or two that I broke down a collection without paying close enough to the bits of notes and knowledge the previous owner had recorded. Found myself going back after the fact and trying to reconstruct the collection to glean this important and time saving information. Lesson learned, I scan collections before breaking them down now. Is often a lot of work but especially for specialized lots this has saved me time in the long run.

On a larger time scale, we collect bits of paper and paper does not last forever. The bits of paper we collect will probably become dust within 400-500 years. Enjoy them while they, and we, are here.

Try doing a frame off restoration on a car only to watch it deteriorate the moment you stop the restoration. Even keeping a car in a climate control environment still results in things like rubber components hardening, lubricants changing chemistry.

And speaking of sorrow, imagine being the person responsible for this archiving decision...
http://www.npr.org/2017/02/21/51541...troying-them Many libraries are now coming to grips with this issue, including some of the philatelic libraries.
Don

I like to keep any handmade album pages or otherwise personally designed collection elements intact. It means that my collection is really a "collection of collections". I am generally more interested in the previous owner's interaction with the material than the material itself. An unusual approach, I know, but it's where my interest lies.

(Also, first post! Hello everyone)

Don:
Very interesting and sad article about the historic documents. Hope they are at least digitizing them before completely done for.
Understand your comment about frame off resto's. I am mid way through a 1959 MGA. The frame, suspension and all rubber components are done. Working on the rust patches and hope to have ready for paint by fall. Also have just about completed, only need to spray it out, an XK8 Jag although that was not a frame off. There is a also 1958 MGA that is in line after I get a 1926 DB on the road. More cars than brains. I enjoy the stamps as much as the cars and they are great when this old body needs to set back for somewhat non-physical activity.

Welcome to Bobthewondercat! I have to ask where the name comes from?

Yes, I often wonder what the prior owner did the collection with some degree of respect. Most of worldwide purchases have been country page pulls from a collection.

I did get a collection of plate blocks in a Minkus album. The owner obviously collected for a while given the date of the album.

Yes, I bought a collection on meticulously hand drawn and annotated pages once and it pained me to remove the stamps from such a labor of love. I like Don's idea of scanning collections before breaking them down, and I'll be sure to do that if I ever by something similar again.

Christoph Gärtner auctions are one of many that scan some of the major collections that pass through their hands. Mouth-watering stuff, now dispersed but still kept intact for collectors to drool over (and study)





My second car as a teenager was a 1958 MGA, cost me $200 (!). First thing I did was replace the floor with ¾" plywood

Much will depend on what, and how, you collect. If you have a collection limited to a small range of countries, you're likely simply to transfer new material to your albums. If you have a larger range of countries, but are concerned about uniformity, you'll do the same. In my case, many of the albums I've bought have simply become my collection, with my existing material transferred to them - why unnecessarily engage in the endless philatelic obsession with tinkering? With one Guinea collection I acquired, the presentation was beyond what I would have managed, the albums were higher quality than I would have bought. I much preferred to keep it as it was, rather than replace the previous owner's handwriting with mine, and his high-grade leaves with my bulk purchase quadrille.

Agree with GeoffHa , my worldwide collection is comprehensive to include many different collections of former specialist who knew their stuff . The research and write ups are well done and no reason to take it apart .
The joy of collecting is when I add something to those well done works . Adding a better explanation, many were written up before the internet or I add more pieces and expand the study .