Reasons for compiling a history of one's collection—The part played by photographs—Armour suggested as an example—Material for grangerizing

In this concluding chapter we have a suggestion to make to the collector of ample leisure moments; briefly, it is that he should draw up a history of his treasures. Such a work has many valuable advantages; first, it helps to co-ordinate the pieces which our collection contains; second, it provides work of a fascinating nature; third, it leads us to hunt through books and collections and so increases our knowledge; and fourth, it provides us with a kind of catalogue of our treasures which should prove of value for insurance and other purposes of identification.

Collectors of most kinds of curios are able to keep their specimens in methodical array. The philatelist, for instance, preserves his stamps within the covers of one or more albums; the print-lover places his pictures in portfolios, whilst the china-collector uses a cabinet for housing his treasures. The collector of military curios, however, cannot adopt any of these methodical arrangements, for it is impossible to assemble, we will say, armour, postage stamps, medals, and badges with any pretence of order. This is where the history of one's collection steps in; it describes the pieces and explains where each is to be found.

The first stage in making such a history consists in procuring photographs or well-executed drawings of every specimen in our collection. Photographs are, of course, much more useful than drawings, and as nearly every house boasts of a camera nowadays the former should not be hard to obtain.

The prints should be mounted in a loose-leaf album, the pages of which must be much larger than the prints. Mounting may be performed in many ways, but it will be well to use a photographic paste, to use it sparingly, and to paste the whole of the backs of the prints.

The third step consists in adding written matter under and around the prints. This data should describe not only the article portrayed, that is to say, its use, its sequence among other similar things, its composition, and so on, but also where and how it was personally obtained, what was paid for it, and in what particular place it is kept.

Personally, we do not think that a history should be limited to an account of the pieces figuring in our collection, but that a welcome should be extended to brief descriptions, both written and pictorial, of specimens which we hope to obtain as well as interesting specimens which we can never hope to obtain owing to their unique condition. The wider history will prove more complete and, therefore, more valuable; it will also serve as an indicator of the things which we do not yet possess but which are procurable by the average collector.

By way of an example, let us say that the reader has a small collection of armour and weapons and that he proposes to draw up a history of these interesting objects. The first thing would be to photograph each of the specimens in his collection and to mount them in an album as described above. Naturally, there would be many periods unrepresented in the collection, and pictures of these he should endeavour to find among the magazines and books that are available. As a discovery is made it should be carefully cut out and added to the history. Of course, when an additional piece of armour or a weapon is procured, its photograph should replace any print of a similar article which may already figure in the album.

The grangerite, for such is the name given to a person who creates a history on these lines, is often spoken of as one who mutilates valuable books to give birth to a volume of his own. We may say at once that we do not suggest that mutilation of any kind should be countenanced. The grangerite who needs extra illustrations can find material, in abundance, for his work in all sorts of quarters without tearing prints from volumes of worth. The old book-shop with its penny boxes and print portfolios provides all the pictures that are necessary in the ordinary way whilst back numbers of The Connoisseur are veritable gold-mines when representations of any kind of curio are needed.

But the grangerite must learn to search for material in all sorts of unexpected quarters. Armour, in many cases, adorns the heroes which grace our public statues in London (e.g. the Black Prince at Westminster), therefore, he should procure picture post-cards of such monuments. Again, many coins bear allegorical figures which include arms and armour in various forms. In this matter it is worth mentioning that the British Museum has on sale a large stock of picture post-cards depicting the coins reposing in its galleries. These, of course, the grangerite should procure. Lastly, we may mention that royal seals, church brasses, and even postage stamps often portray the warrior in shining armour and are worth noting by the grangerite.

Such, in outline, is the task of drawing up a history of one's collection. The work is fascinating and the magnum opus, when perfected, is of considerable value. Need more be said?