Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2016 12:06:46 GMT
"I'll add one more to my list: Paul Smart. I'd just like to ask him how he managed his disappearing act!"
Paul Smart would be on another list for me of collectors I would never wish to meet.
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Post by bobw on Jan 20, 2016 14:35:19 GMT
But perhaps for me the greatest I have met was Ted (Edward) Archer, who descovered Ornithoptera victoriae archeri, I met him at one of the first entomology shows I attended and was enthralled in his accounts of collecting in New Guinea in the seventies and the fact that he walked through this region practically alone with the canabals that were around. Rich I'll second that! I got to know Ted well from meeting him at the shows. He was one of the nicest men you could ever hope to meet and a very generous host. One of life's true gentlemen. Bob
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jhyatt
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Post by jhyatt on Jan 20, 2016 14:46:19 GMT
"I'll add one more to my list: Paul Smart. I'd just like to ask him how he managed his disappearing act!" _______________________________________________________________________________________
"Paul Smart would be on another list for me of collectors I would never wish to meet." __________________________________________________________________________________________
I meant that I'd want to meet him strictly out of curiosity, assuming he'd tell of all his nefarious activities. I surely wouldn't want to meet him out of admiration or respect for the man! jh
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2016 14:54:24 GMT
"I meant that I'd want to meet him strictly out of curiosity, assuming he'd tell of all his nefarious activities. I surely wouldn't want to meet him out of admiration or respect for the man! jh"
Lol, I completlely agree. I had a couple of dealings with him, back in the day as a young collector, not a pleasant experience as I recall but the other guy who worked for/with him was a lovely man. I think he was called Chris.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jan 20, 2016 17:03:11 GMT
Yes, he is Chris Samson. I wonder what happened to him, does anyone know?
Adam.
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Post by nomad on Jan 20, 2016 17:35:03 GMT
I met Paul Smart several times as a young collector and he was a dealer through and through, he would sell and that was it, but nefarious activities, I have never heard of that one before. I seem to remember the guy had a beautiful wife, a large old listed house and lots of sports cars. I remember after visiting the Saruman Museum, thinking this guy is very rich. He did have an incredible world collection, packed full of rarities. I also met his assistant Chris, I also wonder where he is now.
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Post by trehopr1 on Jan 20, 2016 17:37:45 GMT
I have never known or heard of any "nefarious activities" or odd personality quirks surrounding Paul Smart. Honestly. What I do know is that he produced a wildly popular butterfly book which I am sure graces just about every lepidopterists bookshelf. Given the price of the book when it came out --- it probably outsold the D'Abrera books 8 or 10 to one. I had hopes he might one day produce a similarly done moth book ! Anyway, if there are any members out there who could in a "gentlemanly " manner enlighten me about this man --- then please post it. And of coarse rather than dwell on only negativity also post any good remarks you may have as well. Thank you.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2016 17:57:43 GMT
My remarks were made about his social skills not his honesty/integrity, I dont know of any nefarious activities either.
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Post by nomad on Jan 20, 2016 18:19:14 GMT
Yes, Smart's book was great, really first class especially for young collectors, I enjoyed it very much and still have a look now and again. I heard of rumours of what happened to him. I believe it just may be gossip. Channel Islands, a Tomato Farm and even that the poor fellow was committed to a hospital. I believe no one really knows if there is in truth in this. The only thing I know for sure is that he vanished from the butterfly world and seems to have lost all interest.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jan 20, 2016 18:21:32 GMT
I too would like to meet Adam, a fellow " midlander" who originates from a few miles away from me, a fellow Papilio fanatic. Rich And I look forward to meeting you too one day, Rich. I would really like to see your collection having had super 'sneak peaks' on your old website and in the photos you post here and on Insectnet. Unfortunately I rather doubt that I will be visiting the UK for some years yet, especially with my current financial situation. Adam.
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Post by bobw on Jan 21, 2016 7:54:53 GMT
I bought a lot of specimens from Paul Smart over many years. I was not aware of any nefarious activities but from what I hear the Inland Revenue may disagree with that. I have heard many stories over the years about what happened to him but don't really want to comment on them here, suffice it to say that both he and his wife came across as particularly pompous, aloof people.
I didn't deal personally with them very much, I always dealt with their curator - Chris Samson. Now Chris was a lovely guy; we are still in touch and he still has some involvement in entomology. I've not seen him for a couple of years but we still always exchange Christmas cards.
I never saw Paul's book. At the time there were two similar books available - Smart or Lewis, I went for the Lewis one, probably because of my personal animosity towards Paul, so I can't comment on Paul's book. I would imagine that Chris did most of the work on it for him anyway.
Bob
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jhyatt
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Post by jhyatt on Jan 21, 2016 14:30:02 GMT
Nomad and Dunc, you're right. I probably over-did it in using the word "nefarious"; would you allow me to amend it to "very controversial"?
My main source for info about the latter days of the Saruman Museum (the "National Butterfly Museum") and Paul Smart's lep activities is given below, and I refer interested readers to this well-research paper:
Tennent, W. J., 2005. The ‘National Butterfly Museum’ (Bramber, West Sussex) and dispersal of butterfly ‘type’ material following a Sotheby’s sale in 1983., Entomologist’s Gazette, 56 (1): 13-24.
This paper give pretty good evidence of many problems with mis-attributed "type" material, questions of ownership of the Sandy Burgess collection, and other matters. Bobw mentions tax problems, which I have heard of from other sources as well - but I suppose that that matter lies in the arena of rumors.
Personally I had no problems with Paul Smart; I exchanged material with him a few times in the early '80's, with no fault to find. I bought his book in about '77 and found it excellent. Not as extensive in coverage is Lewis' book from the same era, but a much better production, all-in-all. So I'll stick to my listing of him as a collector I'd like to have met. I quite possibly wouldn't have liked the guy, but I'd be fascinated to hear his version of events!
jh
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Post by mygos on Jan 21, 2016 21:16:17 GMT
My main source for info about the latter days of the Saruman Museum (the "National Butterfly Museum") and Paul Smart's lep activities is given below, and I refer interested readers to this well-research paper: Tennent, W. J., 2005. The ‘National Butterfly Museum’ (Bramber, West Sussex) and dispersal of butterfly ‘type’ material following a Sotheby’s sale in 1983., Entomologist’s Gazette, 56 (1): 13-24. jh I would be interested to read this paper if anybody has a copy ? A+, Michel
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jan 21, 2016 21:50:31 GMT
I would also like to see a copy of the Tennent paper.
Adam.
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Post by africaone on Jan 23, 2016 8:57:53 GMT
Every entomologist has something special and I dream to meet all of them !
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