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Post by wollastoni on Jan 25, 2016 12:46:23 GMT
Yes the only thing we can do to protect ourselves from fake data is informing other collectors about such practice.
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Post by exoticimports on Jan 25, 2016 13:21:08 GMT
I have heard rumors that some of his specimens were "liberated" from a well known national museum.
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tb
New Aurelian
Posts: 3
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Post by tb on Feb 3, 2016 7:35:14 GMT
My first experience of Paul Smart was in 1970 when I responded to an advert in the Exchange and Mart for a 20 drawer cabinet he was advertising. At that time he occupied a shop in Castle Street, Tunbridge Wells. One side of the shop was antiques and the other butterfly cabinets etc. He seemed at the time to be deciding which way to go !!
I bought this cabinet and was invited upstairs to his flat which he shared with his wife Gina. There was the Gurney cabinet which emerged so much later in the auction.
Later I remember he moved to a shop in the High Street which was more base for the business, than a shop for visitors, from where he sold pupae etc. From there he went to Bramber and the rest is well documented.
I also remember him at one of the AES annual exhibitions in the 197o's which at the time was held at Holland Park School in London when he was heard to be complaining about fellow exhibitors, that they were selling the blue form of Large White (coerulea) too cheaply. That was a typical. At that time he was selling the Large Blue butterfly for £5 a specimen I so much wanted but alas beyond my means.
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Post by rbinfo on Oct 16, 2019 9:58:24 GMT
I have the catalogue from the auction here in front of me and the dates were "Wednesday 26th October 1983 and following day at 10.30 am". If I can find time in the next few days I'll try to scan a few pages and post them. Paul bought up many old collections so a lot of what he bought was already set. However I remember Chis Samson spending hours setting specimens and seeing row upon row of setting boards drying. I doubt if Paul did any setting himself, it was probably beneath him. I didn't know that the Glasgow museum had bought part of the collection. The stock was split into many lots and most went for very high prices to various private collectors. I particularly remember lot 885 "ORNITHOPTERA. A display collection of contrasting colour forms in the priamus group. Comprising: priamus (green) pair from Ambon, croesus (gold) pair from Halmaheira, and urvilleanus (blue) pair from the Solomons. Contained in a black and gold display box 22in. x. 10in. (6) (£70-90)." The box was a cheap cardboard one and at the time anyone could have put it together for about £50; it was bought by some fat businessman with his dolly-bird secretary and who clearly knew nothing about insects but wanted something pretty for his office wall - he paid £270 which was a lot of money in 1983! Nearly every lot went for at least double the estimate in the catalogue. The star of the show however was a spectacular 15 drawer Gurney cabinet containing "The Smart British Butterfly Collection". This had no guideline price but eventually sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for £11,000. I'm not aware that anybody knew who the buyer was but some 10-15 years later all the specimens started to appear on an individual basis in Robert Gooden's catalogues. Presumably he bought the collection from the original buyer. Bob
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Post by nomad on Oct 17, 2019 16:45:30 GMT
err Bob said quote, then nothing, this as happened before recently I do recall by a new member.
I can add that perhaps Paul Smart may not have been everyone's favourite person, but through his shops and super book, he certainly got a lot of people interested in collecting, or if they were already collectors, provided an endless source of really well set choice specimens, including many rarities. With some it has lasted a lifetime, and I recently met one collector, with an extensive collection, who became only interested in his favourite butterflies after walking into Smart's shop, when it was located at Tunbridge Wells, in the garden of England. I recall a happy day myself, setting off by train, storebox in hand, in the 1970s for the Saruman Museum, and what an enjoyable day it was. It would be interesting to see some pages from one of Smart's catalogues listing his butterflies for sale. I did have some, but they disappeared with much else a lifetime ago, so it you have his old catalogues, be a good chap and do a scan, and let's see them here. I would really enjoy those.
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 18, 2019 8:10:16 GMT
err Bob said quote, then nothing, this as happened before recently I do recall by a new member. I can add that perhaps Paul Smart may not have been everyone's favourite person, but through his shops and super book, he certainly got a lot of people interested in collecting, or if they were already collectors, provided an endless source of really well set choice specimens, including many rarities. With some it has lasted a lifetime, and I recently met one collector, with an extensive collection, who became only interested in his favourite butterflies after walking into Smart's shop, when it was located at Tunbridge Wells, in the garden of England. I recall a happy day myself, setting off by train, storebox in hand, in the 1970s for the Saruman Museum, and what an enjoyable day it was. It would be interesting to see some pages from one of Smart's catalogues listing his butterflies for sale. I did have some, but they disappeared with much else a lifetime ago, so it you have his old catalogues, be a good chap and do a scan, and let's see them here. I would really enjoy those. Yes, without Paul Smart's book, I may not be an entomologist today. I received his book as a Christmas present from my grand-mother when I was around 10 years old. It was my first book with tropical butterflies. I remember being totally fascinated by the beauties of the plates, the discovery of gorgeous tropical genera and the great introduction texts. I especially love the part about the early collectors ! If some of our members, don't have this book, just buy it now : The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Butterfly World
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Post by bobw on Oct 18, 2019 10:21:18 GMT
It would be interesting to see some pages from one of Smart's catalogues listing his butterflies for sale. I did have some, but they disappeared with much else a lifetime ago, so it you have his old catalogues, be a good chap and do a scan, and let's see them here. I would really enjoy those. I do still have a copy of the catalogue and I tried to scan some pages when this thread first opened, but every page generated an 8mb pdf file so they were too big to post. I'm on holiday in Thailand and then at the Frankfurt show until 5th November so I could do nothing until then anyway.
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Post by Paul K on Oct 18, 2019 12:58:00 GMT
It would be interesting to see some pages from one of Smart's catalogues listing his butterflies for sale. I did have some, but they disappeared with much else a lifetime ago, so it you have his old catalogues, be a good chap and do a scan, and let's see them here. I would really enjoy those. I do still have a copy of the catalogue and I tried to scan some pages when this thread first opened, but every page generated an 8mb pdf file so they were too big to post. I'm on holiday in Thailand and then at the Frankfurt show until 5th November so I could do nothing until then anyway. Bob, will you be doing some collecting in Thailand during your holidays? Paul
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Post by bobw on Oct 19, 2019 5:43:46 GMT
I do still have a copy of the catalogue and I tried to scan some pages when this thread first opened, but every page generated an 8mb pdf file so they were too big to post. I'm on holiday in Thailand and then at the Frankfurt show until 5th November so I could do nothing until then anyway. Bob, will you be doing some collecting in Thailand during your holidays? Paul Paul No, just tourism with a few friends so no time for collecting. I'm in Koh Chang at the moment and we're taking an excursion into the hills on Tuesday so hopefully I'll see something interesting. Bob
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Post by Adam Cotton on Oct 19, 2019 8:59:16 GMT
Bob kindly warned me with an apology that he would not be able to visit Chiang Mai this time. bobw - be careful of malaria on Koh Chang, it is one of the few places where it is still present in Thailand. Adam.
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Post by exoticimports on Oct 19, 2019 12:13:48 GMT
Yes, Smarts book was monumental to this young student of leps. My friend got a copy, which was like owning the Gutenberg Bible. Soon after I got a copy for Christmas.
As kids we had little cash, and found that buying in bulk got us more specimens for our money. Smarts book was key to identifying the myriad of loose specimens. And, we’d pour through the book for hours, creating mental wish lists of fabulous rarities we desired- many of which in ironic hindsight I would later capture in the fields of foreign lands.
Chuck
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Post by bobw on Oct 19, 2019 16:42:35 GMT
Bob kindly warned me with an apology that he would not be able to visit Chiang Mai this time. bobw - be careful of malaria on Koh Chang, it is one of the few places where it is still present in Thailand. Adam. Cheers Adam, I'll be extra careful to spray. Second night here and I've managed to avoid being bitten so far, that's good for me as I usually attract the little sods more than most!
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Post by Adam Cotton on Oct 19, 2019 17:17:07 GMT
Most places in Thailand no longer have the 'right' Anopheles species, but Aedes are everywhere so dengue fever is rather common, especially in built up areas. Of course there are many other mosquitos here as well.
Adam.
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Post by bobw on Oct 21, 2019 6:57:33 GMT
Just spent a pleasant morning sitting by the hotel pool watching Graphium agamemnon splattering eggs all over the place.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Oct 21, 2019 8:31:19 GMT
Polyalthia longifolia or Magnolia alba/champaca? If not then maybe one of many different species in Annonaceae or Magnoliaceae. I saw a larva in my garden on Goniothalamus laoticus yesterday. Small/medium size larvae are easy to distinguish from other Graphium species because they have a pale green patch on the upper side of the abdomen.
Adam.
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