ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of a more philanthropic and stable end to collecting: collections primarily of printed books in the British Isles that have stayed together and now enrich institutions, causing broader swathes of scholars and librarians to echo Munby's prayer. This overview takes a look at what has been described as 'the rest of the iceberg,' through a survey of 873 repositories in the British Isles: national, academic, school, public, subscription and professional libraries, or in trusts, cathedrals, churches, monasteries, London clubs, archives, museums, schools, companies and stately homes. These 'ossified' collections are not necessarily complete libraries. Some were incomplete at the point of entering institutional care, having previously undergone erosions through theft, war damage or, particularly, sales. Ossified collections embody the manifold reasons motivating private collectors. Yet even when kept intact and unaltered, personal collections change their meaning when they enter institutions, to serve further institutional aims.
