ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 890 / C&RL News ■ November 2000 College & Research Libraries news Acquiring a 9-millionth book University of California’s acquisition of the A b o r i g i n a l P o r t F o l i o by Anthony Bliss S ome people are born to shop. At the Bancroft Library, located on the Univer­ sity of California (UC) Berkeley campus, rators are paid to shop. To some this might be a definition of Nirvana, but there are seri­ ous responsibilities involved. As an observer of shopping behavior, it has struck me that when you go looking for a specific item with specific characteristics, you rarely find it. On the other hand, when you do not know quite what you want, temptation is everywhere. In m id-1999, the word spread throughout the Berkeley Libraries th at we w o u ld soon reach the 9-million-vol- ume mark, and a request for proposals was broad­ cast. An invitation like this piques the curatorial imagination, and it was not long before Theresa Salazar, curator of the B ancroft C ollection, spotted an item in a cata­ log and got enthusiastic James Otto Lewis's support from Jack von Taa, or the Forem Euw, Bancroft’s pictorial the Sioux tribe. cu­ pa ost curator. They showed me the listing and I shared their enthusiasm. Before long, the suggestion had reached the top levels of the library and found a solid endorsement. A ra ce to th e p re s s e s The work in question was James Otto Lewis’s Aboriginal Port Folio [sic], a series of hand- colored lithographic por­ traits of American Indian chiefs that was published in 10 monthly parts (each with 8 plates), in 1835­ 36. In the role of official artist, Lewis had accom­ p a n ie d T hom as L. McKenney, superinten­ dent of the Bureau of In­ dian Affairs, and Lewis Cass, governor of the Michigan Territory, to many treaty councils in the upper Midwest in the 1820s and early 1830s. He sketched the Indian chiefs from life, then fin­ ished the portraits when he returned to Detroit. L earning th a t Mc­inting of Waa-Na- in Battle, chief of Kenney planned to pub­ lish a Portrait Gallery o f About the author Anthony Bliss is curator fo r the Rare Books Collection at The Bancroft Library a t the University o f California, Berkeley, e-mail: abliss@library.berkeley.edu mailto:abllss@library.berkeley.edu C SRL News ■ N ovem ber 2000 / 891 S h in g -G a a -B a -W 'o sin , or th e Fig u red Stone, a Chippewa chief. A m erican In d ian s, including some o f his own work, a resentful Lewis resolved to beat him to the punch. He arranged with the litho­ graphic publishers Lehman and Duval of Philadelphia to begin issuing his portraits in monthly installments. An illustrated prospec­ tus for McKenney’s book was just circulating when the first part o f Lewis’s A b o rig in a l P ort F o lio was published in May 1835. At a pace of one part per month, and at a cost o f $2 per part, Lewis’s work was com­ pleted in February 1836. Fewer copies o f part 10 (containing plates 7 3 -8 0 ) were issued, ap­ parently because of a dispute between Lewis and the publisher. An 11th part, with biogra­ phies of the Indian Chiefs, was planned but never published. The plates in the A b o rig in a l P ort F o lio were issued unbound and unnumbered, so it is impossible today to say which group of eight plates belongs to which part. Early owners of the set had the plates bound in various ways so their order in any particular volume was random. For many years, bibli­ ographers thought that the set was complete with 72 plates and that part 10 had never been distributed to bring the plate count up to 80. Lewis was first in the field w'ith his Indian portraits. McKenney’s collection, with text by James Hall and retitled T he H istory o f th e In ­ d ia n T ribes o f N orth A m erica, was not avail­ able until 1836. Despite, or possibly because of his attention to authentic details, Lewis’s work appeared clumsy and amateurish com ­ pared to the finely finished and somewhat romanticized images in McKenney and Hall’s H istory. The A b o rig in a l P ort F o lio had only on e printing; M cKenney and Hall w ent through five folio editions and six octavo editions between 1836 and 1870. Our research into the history o f the unfor­ tunate Lewis and his work led us to believe that his A b o rig in a l P ort F o lio would be an ideal 9-millionth volume for UC. Bancroft al­ ready had a fine set of McKenney and Hall, as well as the two other great colorplate books on Native Americans— George Catlin’s N orth A m erican In d ia n P o rtfo lio o f 184 4 and the account of Price Maximillian’s travels on the plains with illustrations by Karl Bodmer, 1839-41. Placing th e bid The only problem was that the item was for sale at auction in New York City. Our librar­ ians could not see it and we did not know how much it would sell for. On top of that, there were two variant copies of the same item being offered, one estimated at more than twice the price of the other. How to decide? I telephoned one of our favorite New York antiquarian book dealers and he agreed to represent UC Berkeley at the October 28 auction sale. Buying books at a major international auction can be complicated. It is not a good idea to do on e’s own bidding: only the deal­ ers fully understand the competition and the dynamics o f the sale. The dealer’s 10% com­ mission is well earned through advice, coun­ sel, shipping arrangements, and flexible pay­ ment schedules. Our agent went to the auction rooms to inspect both copies o f the Lewis A b orig in a l P ort F o lio that were being offered and called me back with his report. The first copy con­ tained all 80 plates, had its title page, and the original wrappers for the first three parts (all that were issued). The Sotheby’s estimate was $ 4 0 ,000-$60,000. The other copy had 72 plates (lacking the rare tenth part) and no 892 / C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2000 title page; the price was estimated at $15,000- $ 20, 00 0 . There were damaged plates in both cop­ ies: six in the first, three in the second. Their bindings were roughly similar in design and condition. This much we already knew from the printed description, but our agent’s analy­ sis was telling: on inspection he found that the 80-plate copy was generally in poorer condition than the other one. Its paper was spotted and browned, and the coloring of the plates was not as well executed as the 72-plate copy. Armed with this information, we had a curatorial caucus and decided that with our limited funding and for the purposes of Berkeley’s collection, the 72-plate copy would very well serve our needs. We found no jus­ tification for paying a steep premium for the more com plete copy and running the risk of losing it entirely in what promised to be a hotly contested auction. Our strategy then was to put in the strongest bid we could for the second copy to give ourselves the best chance of suc­ cess. Our mission was to acquire the 9-mil­ lionth book: failure was not an option. The next step was to determine what our bid should be. I got back on the phone with our a g e n t, and w e d is ­ cussed the results o f the first part of this sale, the likely competition, the attendance, the interest O'Check-Ka, or Four L Winnebagoes on Winneshown at the prelimi­ nary view ing, and our estim ates o f the strength of the current rare book market. The estimate of $15,000-$25,000 was obviously set low so that potential bidders would not be frightened off. My own rule of thumb, developed over the years, is that if you really, really want an item, you should be prepared to pay at least triple the high estimate. In this case, the agent and I both felt that a bid of $75,000 might not be enough. Prices had been very strong Our m ission w a s to acquire th e 9-m illionth book: failu re w a s not an option. in the first part of the sale (held five months earlier) and there were no significant changes in the economic situation to suggest that prices would drop. We agreed that a successful bid would have to be significantly over $75,000. Working with the Librarian’s Office and the Library Development Office, we determined just how high we could go. The arrival The next step was to wait for “The Phone Call” on Thursday afternoon, O ctober 28, 1999- Imagine our joy in learning that the copy we bid on was knocked down to our agent for a mere $74,000! It was not a steal, but we were much relieved that the price didn’t go as high as we feared. It almost looked like a bargain. The 80-plate copy sold for $145,500, more than we could have paid. The next wait was for the package to ar­ rive from New York. Af­ ter all, none o f us had ever actually seen this item. When it arrived a few days later, wonder­ fully packed and fully insured, we looked it s, head chief o f the o v er in great d etail, agoes Lake Michigan. co m p a rin g w hat w e saw with the auction house description and our agent’s report. My first reaction was that either Lewis or the lithographer was not a great artist. The details in the plates— costumes, ornament, weapons— were wonderful, but the portrayal of the figures did seem crude (perhaps I’d seen too much o f McKenney and Hall). De­ spite this quibble, there is something fasci­ nating about these images. They are not (c o n tin u ed o n p a g e 9 3 6 ) eg b C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2000 / 893 936 / C&RL News ■ Novem ber 2000 should disseminate scholarly research and facilitate growth in ways that support the pro­ fession. They should continually assess the professional development needs of librarians, offering opportunities for learning in venues and modes that are accessible to career librar­ ians. Responsibilities of academic institutions Through enlightened self-interest, academic institutions should appreciate the importance of-and materially support-professional devel­ opment for academic librarians. Colleges and universities should demonstrate their com ­ mitment to personal mastery and continuous learning, e.g., through financial support, ad­ ( “Acquiring a 9-millionth book” continued from page 892) overworked and romanticized, they project sense o f immediacy that is almost unnerv­ ing. We w ere all very pleased with the Ab­ original Port Folio, but it clearly needed con­ servation work. We consulted with Gillian Boal and Nancy Harris in the Library’s Con­ servation Laboratory. Boal would have to deal with repairing the binding and Harris would have to fix the tears in three plates that had been clumsily mended with adhesive tape, m inistrative leav e, and/or fle x ib le w ork schedules for academic librarians engaged in learning activities. They should also measure, recognize and reward exceptional individual and team performance. Institutions have a further responsibility to create, sponsor or offer learning events for their professional staff. Note 1. Being Fluent with Information Technol­ ogy (http://www.nap.edu/books/030906399X/ html/) (1999), Executive Summary, p. 4. Pro­ duced by the National Research Council’s Com­ mission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications. Print edition available from Na­ tional Academy Press, Washington, D.C. ■ as well as some other less difficult problems. Working together, we laid out a plan o f co n­ servation work and a timetable for its comple­ tion. The Aboriginal Port Folio had its first pub­ lic viewing on Cal Day, April 15, and was very much admired. This fall it was promi­ nently featured in the exhibition “Images o f Native Americans” in the Bancroft Gallery and runs from September to early December. It’s displayed in company with McKenney and Hall, Catlin, Bodmer, and a wealth o f other depictions o f Native Americans. ■ A p p lic a tio n s /n o m in a tio n s in v ite d fo r C&RL e d ito r Applications and nominations are invited for the position o f editor o f C ollege & R esearch L ibraries ( C&R£ ), the bimonthly, scholarly research jour­ nal o f the Association o f College and Research Libraries (ACRL). T he editor is appointed for a three-year term, w hich may b e renew ed for an additional three years. Applicants must be a mem­ b e r o f ALA and ACRL. Qualifications include pro­ fessional ex p erie n ce in acad em ic libraries, a record o f scholarly publication, editing experi­ en ce, an ability to m eet publication deadlines, an understanding o f the scholarly com m unica­ tion process, and a broad knowledge o f the is­ sues confronting academ ic libraries. Som e funding for editorial assistance and travel to relevant co n feren ces is available, and there is a small honorarium for the editor. Appointment will b e m ade by the ACRL Board o f D irectors at th e 2001 Annual C o n feren ce upon the recom m endation o f th e search co m ­ mittee and o f the ACRL Publications Commit­ tee. T he incom ing editor will serve a one-year internship w ith th e current ed itor be fo re as­ suming full responsibility for C&RL in Ju ly 2002. Nom inations o r resum es and letters o f applica­ tion, including th e nam es o f three references, should b e sen t to: C&RL Search Committee c/o Hugh T hom pson , D irector o f Publications ACRL 50 East Huron Street C h icag o , IL 60611 h th o m p so n @ ala.o rg The deadline f o r receipt o f applications is December 6, 2000. Finalists will be interviewed at the Midwinter Meeting in January 2001. http://www.nap.edu/books/030906399X/ mailto:hthompson@ala.org