ABSTRACT
A French relative of mine teils of the notary in a small village, who had all his life studied and built a collection of rare and valuable stamps. On his death this collection came into the hands of his sister, with whom he lived, and who by all accounts was a little backward. Presumably not recognising the value of her inheritance, she delighted in showing visitors, how decorative her plain white china plates had become since she had pas ted the stamps onto them! This is a potential scenario which many collectors live in terror of. The question of disposal therefore can weigh heavily both on ageing collectors and their immediate family. At some point the asset may weil turn into a liability, depending on what is collected and how readily a market is available for its disposal. In the case of joint collections, they can lose meaning, as in the case of the agricultural implements, when one partner dies, or conversely, they can take on added meaning as a tangible rem inder of their existence. In either case, some anguish is usually experienced by the survivor. In the case of the Victorian Society, such 'hoards' become welcome legacies; or as in the case of the famous bibliophiles Eddie and Ruth Frow (see Frow and Frow, 1990/91), their Working Class Movement Library has become an internationally-used resource and a registered charitable trust.
