From time to time I hear about items for sale that
could be of interest to the Society of Psychical Research (SPR) as additions to
its archives. A while back it was a
letter by William James concerning the medium Eusapia Palladino, offered
directly to the Society by the seller for a sum in the low thousands. Most recently it was folders compiled by SPR
Council member Andrew MacKenzie relating to his Versailles investigation (as
described in his 1997 book on retrocognition, Adventures in Time) on a bookselling website, a snip at £400.
While both figures were probably inflated (the
latter enormously for what was included, and the SPR actually holds the
MacKenzie Collection, so it is a mystery where this came from), I had to say
each time that the SPR does not possess a budget for acquisitions so even if
these were the best bargains ever it would be difficult for the SPR to purchase
them. Any request would have to be put
to the Society’s Council for discussion because the cash would need to come
from general funds, inevitably slowing the process down and risking a sale elsewhere
in the meantime.
When the Cyril Permutt Collection, which had been on
open-ended loan to the SPR, was offered for sale to the Society by Mr Permutt’s
family in 2003, the Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene
in Freiburg stepped in to pay for it on the SPR’s behalf (and later added a
further amount for conservation) as the SPR had been helpful in assisting IGPP
members prepare the exhibition and book Le
troisième oeil : La photographie et l'occulte, published in English as The Perfect Medium: Photography and the
Occult. If not for that kind
gesture, the albums of photographs gathered by Permutt might have been lost
(even though there was a considerable fog over the ownership of many of the
photographs, which had been passed to Permutt by the SPR in the first place).*
A way to address the risk of missing out on important
items, and to encourage offers of suitable material, would be to set up an
acquisitions fund. This would be a
designated fund to reassure contributors that what they gave could not be used
for another purpose. A small standing
committee, comprising say the Hon. Archives Liaison Officer, the Hon Treasurer,
the Hon. Secretary and the President, could have the delegated responsibility
for administering it. They would be able
to call on the expertise of others on a case-by-case basis but theirs would be
the final decision.
If a potential purchase came to a sum greater than
was in the fund but still represented good value in the committee’s opinion,
the sum would be loaned from the general fund but then repaid with the proceeds
from later donations. A surplus in the
fund would gather interest, and this would boost the fund. The SPR has a number of designated and
restricted funds, listed separately in its accounts, so this would not be an
out-of-the-ordinary manner of utilising its resources.
Having such a mechanism in place would have a number
of benefits:
First, should something come onto the market that
would enhance the SPR’s archives, the Society could negotiate quickly and
confidently knowing that funds were ready, a strong position especially if
there were competing interests and the risk that a delay might mean the item went
elsewhere.
Secondly, it would act as a focus for people who
want to see the Society’s archives strengthened and are happy to give for that
specific purpose rather than for general activities. By ring-fencing the money
it would reassure potential benefactors that their gifts would be spent in a
way that they considered sensible, which they may not always think the case
with the general fund. Purchases could
be featured in the SPR’s magazine Paranormal
Review (as should all acquisitions as a matter of routine anyway) as a
reminder of the fund’s existence. Donors
could be named or remain anonymous, as preferred.
Thirdly, it would remind members and non-members
that the SPR’s archives are still growing, despite being housed at Cambridge
University Library; it is easy to assume that they are now closed but this is
not the case. Anyway, there is always
the possibility that one day the Society will be able to retrieve its collections
and house them in its own secure facility, though that prospect is some way
away and may never be realised, especially as it has just purchased a new
headquarters building that is not suitable to house all its holdings,
particularly the rare books.
Fourthly, it would act as a beacon for owners and
heirs, who might otherwise sell off significant items on the open market,
donate them overseas (the Archives for the
Unexplained in Sweden is a popular destination) or even throw them away, to
consider the SPR as a suitable repository.
Finally, the fund could be used as part of a campaign
to publicise the Society. Promoting the
fund would also be a reminder to the wider research community that the SPR has world-class
archives, and that should in turn encourage their use.
One disadvantage of a fund is the risk of inflating
the market, encouraging people who might otherwise have considered donating to
sell instead, thereby making the SPR pay for what it would previously have
received free. That is a risk, but one
outweighed by the danger of losing items, and even if there is a value to the
object the owner may still decide to donate.
In any case much of it will have little interest for non-specialists so in
the absence of competition should not be expensive.
Some things are always going to be beyond the SPR’s
resources, however big its budget. In
December 2013 an album of 27 of Canadian
Spiritualist Thomas Glendenning Hamilton's photographs taken between 1920 and
1922, put up for auction in New York, went well beyond the $4,000 to $6,000
estimate, going for $93,750 including the buyer’s premium.
There is no way he SPR could compete
with that level of expenditure.
Something in the hundreds or low thousands though should not be outside
its reach simply because no thought has been given to how it might be paid
for. Such sums could be spent now from
general funds, but working against that is inertia and other calls on the money
to be weighed against the less tangible value of fresh acquisitions.
It is easy to be complacent about the
archives and passively assume that they will expand through donations. This cannot be guaranteed and opportunities
will be missed. An active collection
policy with the finance to back it would help the archives to grow, and
generate interest in them.
Appeal funds work very well in the art and
museum world, where advertising acquisitions acts to encourage further
donations as well as benefiting the institution’s image. Having a dedicated fund would make it easier
to fulfil one of the core functions of an academic organisation – provide the
tools for scholarly research. It is a
proposal that is worth considering.
*An article, ‘The SPR Cambridge Archive’, which
appeared in the October 2005 issue of Paranormal
Review states that ‘ The kindly donation by the Freiburg Institute of the
Cyril Permutt Collection has increased the photographic and newspaper cutting
archive considerably.’ This is incorrect
as the IGPP did not donate the Cyril Permutt Collection but rather the money to
buy it.
