Have you heard about the late Jean Preston? She was a librarian in England who, over the years and through inheritance from her father, amassed an $8 million collection of at works and rare books, all hoarded in her unprepossessing little house in Oxford. Included in the collection were works by Fra Angelico, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Sir Edward Burne-Jones. She had a rare early edition of the works of Chaucer tucked away in a closet. The extent of her treasure trove was discovered only when the auctioneers came in to inventory her possessions for sale.
I have no idea how this fits into the general theme of "It's All Good," but I thought her rare collecting skills should not go unremembered!
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2 comments:
What a lovely story. What became of her collection? Or is it too early to say? As a Boomer, I am faced with the prospect of sorting through my parents' belongings,per my mother's request. Some of it's fabulous, most of it's kitsch. Your post makes me wonder if we will all become curators of our family collections for the next decade or so. Any one else know?
Patricia Martin
Her collection was auctioned off. The Uffizi Gallery is expected to receive the Fra Angelicos: she had two panels of an eight part altar piece, and the Uffizi had the others.
My parents are doing it the smart way: spend every cent they have before they die. My Dad gave me my patrimony before I left home in 1977, his whiskey sour recipe. He is a good father.
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