Card Collectors Bulletin Feb. 1, 1948 Whole #52

[Leon]

enjoy.....

[Howe’s Hunter]

Now if McFly would just get here with the DeLorean...

[Leon]

You are welcome Ed.

Of particular note is this might be one of the first instances where Burdick writes about giving his collection to the Metropolitan Museum.

[barrysloate]

What's interesting is there were collectors who were not happy to see all those cards go to a museum, since it would take them out of circulation. And you know, they may have a very good point. We all praise Burdick for his monumental gift of hundreds of thousands of cards, but looking at it today was it really the best idea? It is very hard to get to see them, and they mostly exist in an obscure room that few know exists. I bet many of them have not been seen in years. I was there over the summer to see an art exhibition (Franz Hals) and passed by the room where the collection is housed. It's very hard to find for starters, and outside the room were a few dozen cards in frames that people were passing by and not even looking at.

So a good topic for discussion might be should the museum forever keep this massive collection that is hardly ever viewed, or should the collection one day be deaccessioned?

[edhans]

Of course historic objects that are merely gathering dust in a museum should be deaccassioned. But, as a practical matter, other than the urgent need of funds, what motive would a museum have for parting with donated items?

I find the list of Mr. Wise's E90-1 duplicates an excellent representation of the relative scarcity of the subjects.

[uyu906]

Awesome post. I love reading these old collectors bulletins! This one was particularly intriguing due to Burdick's mentioning that he was in the process of starting to donate his collection to the Met.

[barrysloate]

Hi Ed- good point that the museum has no motivation to sell it. However, they could raise money in the process which could be used to acquire something else. I would feel better about it if most of the cards were on display, or could be easily accessed by patrons. But they make it especially difficult for someone to get an appointment, and I feel that things have changed in the fifty years since Burdick finished cataloguing it. I'm really not sure what is best, but it doesn't seem like the current situation is ideal.

[E93]

Leon,
Thanks for continuing to post these. Very interesting.

Barry,
That is a very interesting question you raise. I also would be happier if they would even periodically do a display of them. But if they virtually never show them and make them almost impossible to access for those who are interested (perhaps for understandable reasons), then why not sell them and generate a few million dollars for things they are interested in displaying? They answer may be that they are legally bound to keep them as part of an arrangement make with Burdick. WHo knows?
JimB