Auction of the picture collection of Albert and Jean-Claude Soumille

[Varese2002]

Although it seems I am writing this whole section, it is not true

On January 22, 2009 the photographic collection of Albert and Jean-Claude Soumille will be auctioned by the auction house Drouet. The collection is about French aviation in the time span 1900 - 1970. It comprises ca. 35.000 pictures (prints) and 15.000 negatives.

The collection will be auctioned in 300 lots.

More can be found (French language) here.

Till now I have not seen a catalogue or examples. Will be interesting to watch for the auction results, but perhaps there are forum members with deep pockets who will have a go at this auction.

Cheers

Kees

[Cliff]

Interesting.
Any idea on which escadrille that Salmson is from?

[Roadhog]

Thank you Kees for alerting us to this auction. Like you said I think this will be a run for the big dogswith very deep pockets. It is a shame that the collection did not end up in a public archive or university.

My daughter's recent death has started me thinking about my own meager WWI photo collection and what should happen to it when I am gone. Right now I am leaning towards donating it to Kansas State University where my wife and I have already donated nearly 2,000 rare books regarding the coming of the American Civil War and the fight against slavery.

May the new year be kind to you and yours sir. VR, Scott Price, "Memento mori."

[Varese2002]

Hi Scott. I think the collection will be scattered around the world in pieces, which breaks effectively the lifes work of the Soumille brothers. It would be far better IMO to donate it to a public institution, for instance in France the famous Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Paris.

The pros are that the collection will be available to all interested. The negative point is when you need a picture for a publication you will have to pay a very hefty sum to get a copy of the picture and the right to publish it.

A famous example of a donated collection is the huge collection of the late Peter M. Grosz. This was donated to a Berlin Museum and I have not heard very much about then. Has it arrived, what are they doing etc. ?

The scattering of collections after the passing of the collector is also very frequent. An example is the huge collection brought together by J.M.Bruce. It has been sold off in auctions to several parties, at least breaking the collection.

There are pros and cons for both circumstances, where I suspect here in Europe significant collections are frequently auctioned and in the US (America) most collections end up in Universities and archives.

For this auction there is a sales brochure, which I will try to get and publish here. I will keep you posted on the results of the auction (prizes) as they are always published by th auctioneer.

This auction house mostly does art auctions, but once a year an auction of aviation related pieces (mostly pictures / drawings). This is the biggest auction in years in the aviation subject.

I keep you posted here.

Cheers

Kees

['14-'18aviationcollector]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

My daughter's recent death has started me thinking about my own meager WWI photo collection and what should happen to it when I am gone.

Hi Scott,

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. That truly is terrible news. If this was discussed here on the forum, I must have missed the discussion. I sincerely hope that 2009 is a better year for you, and I wish you and your family my deepest sympathy.

With best wishes for 2009,

David.

['14-'18aviationcollector]

Deciding what to do with a collection in the case of the death of the owner of the collection really is a dilemma. As mentioned, there are pros and cons for each scenario, and certainly no perfect answer as far as I can see. I could, for example (and this is good news for my good friend Sheppo ) leave mine to him -as he has so often suggested / requested / begged (and he would be an outstanding custodian of it, I have no doubt), but he is not a lot younger than I am, so who would he leave it to?, and so on. When families are involved, the true value of a collection is not always appreciated, and sometimes when the value is realised, unscrupulous family members can sometimes take advantage of this.

Government and / or large organisations can be just as bad, or worse, although the intention is always good of course, at least the intention of many or most of the employees is good. Too many times items are refused, disposed of if not wanted by them, or they never see the light of day. Large organisations sometimes withhold information, but individuals can and sometimes do the same. I have decided many years ago to make my information available to anyone who would like to use it, especially authors, so that as many photographs as possible will be published in case something happens to me or to the collection. I would love to publish all of them eventually, but it is a huge job and I realise that I might not be able to make this happen.

Cheers,

David.

[Roadhog]

Thank you for your kind thoughts and condolences David. Sarah's death was a terrible blow for our family. Last Christmas we were all sitting at the dining room table playing the card game "Apples to Apples" while this year our family met to place flowers on her grave. The holidays were really hard for my wife although our youngest son's wedding last week gave here something else to focus on. Thank heavens.

Regarding collections, you are right. I have seen several excellent Civil War collections donated to museums or historical societies only to be 'cherry picked' and then have the average items sold off at auction. Like you I share everything I have with fellow forum mates and historians so the images actually get into circulation. I do the same thing with my Civil War items. Two years ago I donated a soldier's diary to the Shiloh National Battlefield and an order signed by General Bill Sherman to the park at Vicksburg.

I have a really good relationship with the rare book people at Kansas State University and the school has an aviation department so when life gets back to normal I will go and talk to them. I hope 2009 is better for all of us. VR, Scott Price, "Memento mori."

[Varese2002]

A few samples of the Soumille collection can be seen here. I saw a rare picture of a SPAD Type A Fighter in the samples.

The list gives 321 lots of pictures which are on auction. Lots are mostly grouped in manufacturers (Dorand, Farman before 1918 etc.), sometimes in countries. Interesting are the plaques de verre, glass plates in lot 102, while lot 101 has even 34 stereo glass plates!

You better look for yourself, it is always interesting looking without having any possibility of acquiring. Don't be disappointed though, this is just a list (no prints or samples of the pieces at auction).

Cheers

Kees

[Bulldog90]

This topic is one that my girlfriend and I discuss from time to time. I've built up a nice collection and what would become of it is an interesting subject. I can understand why these things get sold off in auctions. She knows more about the aces of WW1 than any other woman I know (she puts up with so much), but to ask her to understand the nuances that make one Sanke card worth ten times what another one is worth is asking a lot.

I guess I want my heirs to be able to make something off of what I've collected and for somebody out there to be able to get the same charge I do when he obtains one of the pieces. I'm not so sure that I want it these pieces of history to sit in a university museum vault waiting for a random day when the school might sell a high resolution scan of the image.

Bulldog 90

[FliegerJG1]

The topic of what to do with special collections has come up in my home also. One thing that is very important is to ensure that special or valuable items are identified as such. One's treasures can look like "junk" to the next guy. I'd hate to see my family box up my books and take them to a second hand shop. Having done volunteer work at a museum, I am aware that well intentioned donations sometimes find fates other than what the donor would intend (lost, stolen, sold for $). You can do just so much to protect your treasures but I think making certain that they are identified in some way to any survivors is a first step.

FliegerJG1