Re: [photo-3d] Selling Seton

[quellen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

OK, there appear to be a lot of people who are upset that Seton Rochwhite's
memorabilia is to be sold on e-bay. Let's see if they wish to put their $$$
where their words are. I'm not sure that the best way to "preserve" these
items is to have them in some museum's archives where they are seen by only
a handful of people. Archives are where the "marginal" stuff goes. Only the
"hot" stuff gets to be actually put on display, and that goes for CMP at
Riverside also. Has anybody seen any displays of stereo photos there
lately? Last time I was in Boston, I wanted to access one of the Harvard
libraries (Pusey Collection). I was told there was a $200 "browsing fee" to
look at stuff. So personally, I don't think donation to a Museum or Library
is the answer (except for the NSA Library.)
Here is my suggestion:
1) The vocal voices on photo 3-d who cry "Save Seton's Stuff" should form a
committee under the auspices of NSA to get out a book on SR & his
accomplishments. Including a color section of stereo views taken by him and
his wife.
2) The purchaser of the SR estate materials would be asked, and paid costs,
by the committee/or NSA research grant, to make copies/have copies made of
all pertinent material before it is sold.
3) The SR NSA book committee would select our best NSA Realist historian to
write a book on SR & the Realist Legacy. This person would be paid a fixed
amount to cover the work. (Plus, he/she would get, say, 10 or 20 books as a
bonus.) Some of the chapters are already written and published in Stereo
World (one on the Macro, another on Olden's special are two I recall. And
then there is Jess Powell's "Repairman's Perspective on the Realist." I'm
sure there's other stuff.
4) Announcement of a 1,000 or 1500 copy limited edition of this book would
be made in Stereo World. The first 500 or 750 pre-publication copies would
be numbered and signed by a surviving member of the SR family (if) and/or
by the author. The pre-publication copies would sell, at, say, $40 a copy,
and the remaining, post-publication sales, would be at $50. The first 100
book orders would have their names entered in a drawing for books numbers
one through ten.
5) Solicitation for the first 500/750 copies would start immediately. By
the time 400/500 checks rolled in, there would be a good gauge of whether
the production was a "go" or whether the project would die for lack of
interest. If there were a dearth of interest, refunds would then have to go
to those who had sent checks.
6) If the response from NSA members indicates this is a "go", then it
"goes." The project would be self-financing and might even garner a small
profit for NSA.
Who is this Quentin Burke holding forth on this topic? What qualifications
does he have to expound on book publishing? Well, I've had 50 years in
printing and publishing, and have been honored to work with two local
societies in producing short-run hard-cover books (one of almost 450 pages
and over 250 illustrations) which would not otherwise have seen the light
of day, except for the fact that they were produced just this way.
In the book-publishing business, just like the stereo camera business "it's
not what you can print (manufacture), but what you can sell."
I'll take three books. Only with a book like this can we ensure that
Seton's accomplishments live on. Quentin Burke