Imperial War Museum

Discussion in 'Research Material' started by Noel Burgess, Aug 6, 2010.

  1. Swiper

    Swiper Resident Sospan

  2. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Scary to think what might have been destroyed.
     
  3. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    A computer list of books they don't want must exist. Anyway, begs the question as to how they became damaged:
    " Items are only destroyed when they are in very poor condition". Perhaps they've got mice. Does somebody check that the contractor actually destroys them ? " And could not be used in the future" ? Ever heard of bookbinding ? Changi POW camp had a book-binding department working full-time. I'd love to know what they would have thought of IWM's precious policy.
     
  4. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    They seem to have flogged a good amount of Sir Francis Tuker's library. Presumably they already had copies of most of his books, but does the provenance mean nothing?

    And what a trifling gain for a museum of that size and budget to trouble with.
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2018
    brithm likes this.
  5. idler

    idler GeneralList

    I think it's indicative of a larger issue - they supposedly have stacks of stuff stored at Duxford which is unlikely ever to see the light of day. Better to get rid of it to a good home rather than let it rot.
    It is disappointing that little effort has been made to pass books on to other institutions - they could have sent some to Kew where we might even have been able to see them!
    I imagine that actual libraries of actual books are very passe to trendy, internet-obsessed modern museum management teams. Do they realise not everything is on wiki?
     
  6. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    What concerns me, is that I know for certain that families have donated material to the museum over the past 20 years or so and that none of these items have been catalogued or can be located at the present time. I worry that precious resources and artefacts are going out the back door at the museum and effectively out the window.
     
  7. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    How very unpleasant, and disturbing.

    For a mere £10,000 per annum : become a Patron of the IWM and a member of the "Orpen Circle" and thus get " the opportunity to see recent acquisitions before they are displayed to the public". This refers to works of art, I think. Ten grand also gets you a "personal introduction to IWM's Director-General and other senior figures." see here for details:

    http://www.iwm.org.uk/sites/default/files/IWM Patrons Programme.pdf
     
    bamboo43 likes this.
  8. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Thanks for this tip, I will prepare a cheque at once.
     
  9. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I've just sent in a request for a quote for a digital 'print' of a photograph from IWM Images and received an auto-reply:

    Due to systems upgrade your order could take 15 days to process.
    Has anybody had dealings with them recently? I wondered whether this is a likely or merely a possible delay.
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2018
  10. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I have now emailed the IWM images department with the same text on February 15th, March 15th and April 15th and received two automated responses but no actual reply.

    Does anybody know what on earth is going on there?
     
  11. Stuart Avery

    Stuart Avery In my wagon & not a muleteer.

    Charley,

    the last few posts on the above have really wound me up. IVM Selling images is really taking the whats it. Ten grand to become a Patron is a bloody liberty! No image is worth sending a e-mail once a month over three. Put it to bed mate. I do appreciate it may be a bit expensive if you was to ring them up from your end?

    Regards,
    Stuart.
     
    CL1 likes this.
  12. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    I know its difficult but is a phone call the next stop?
    if you are in urgent need I could always visit them for you
     
  13. Stuart Avery

    Stuart Avery In my wagon & not a muleteer.

    Clive, Charley will be out of his slumber in a short period of time. I'm guessing he may well take up your kind offer.

    Regards
    Stu.
     
  14. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Of course, you're right. The only reason I haven't phoned them is that work and a far-eastern time-zone make it inconvenient (not impossible). I'll give them a week and try again. Kind of you to offer to help, Clive, but I hope it won't be necessary.

    Stu, the whole story is a but convoluted. I came across some published photographs credited to them from the 1950s and descriptions in the catalogue on their website that could match (but their system of references has changed over the years, so I had no way of knowing). Sales (via email) put me onto a researcher who told me the catalogue numbers on the site were wrong and the images missing, so I gave up.

    About two months later, sales email me unexpectedly to ask whether they could help with anything further to my last enquiry, so I wrote back with the explanation that the department can't find what I am looking for. 24hrs later I get another email with sample images--the code was one digit wrong, she just checked similar-looking codes. She also sent samples for other images around the same dates by the same photographer. This is fantastic, I think--this woman is in the wrong department! And I place an order: images arrive, Charley is a happy boy.

    The photo is brilliant, too: the entire 1/4th Essex battalion lined up along the road through the desert with the King exchanging salutes with their C/O and Monty lounging in the staff car.

    So, thinking that the gods are with me, next time around, I write to that specific sales team member directly to order more of the images she sent samples of and get no response at all--I suspect she has left her job. So I copy the text to the general sales team and now we are on attempt three.
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2020
    Chris C likes this.
  15. Stuart Avery

    Stuart Avery In my wagon & not a muleteer.

    Charley,
    hats off to you for perseverance. I just hope it was not silly amount of coin? I can understand why you would want the photo.

    Regards
    Stu.
     
  16. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    I applied for a copy of a sound recording on 5.12.2017, I still haven't received a reply.
     
    kmvenables likes this.
  17. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Is there anybody in London who can check that the building is still standing?
     
  18. Old Git

    Old Git Harmless Curmudgeon

    Was her name Sam (Samantha)?
     
  19. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    No, Emily.
     
  20. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Tolbooth, Owen and von Poop like this.

Share This Page