Now in the hands of an rpg auction house, an undoubtedly white-hot bidding war is about to commence--and thus my case of the sads. A golden opportunity to regain missing pieces of the early history of our hobby once again slips out of the public domain and eye and into the hands of private collectors.
Looking through
the pictures over at the GeekDad exclusive, it's hard not to notice
how great of a loss we are talking about. Just take a gander of the
pictures of a spread of the Domesday Book, the near-lost newsletters
of the medieval wargaming Castle and Crusade Society that D&D
sprung Athena-like out of the head of. Pre-D&D details of
Blackmoor are among some of things covered in the issues. And that
leaves out all the unpublished manuscripts found in there.
This is not a rant
against private collectors per se. I have known several collectors
who have a profound love of the game and its history. Some like
Harami who drop by to provide real insights into the grand
experiments of that day. I sincerely hope that one such collector has
an eye to sharing highlights and missing links with the rest of us
“fever pitch” fans.
It's hard not to
be with GeekDad in openly pining for a public archive to swoop in
like this and help preserve it for the long haul.
Compare
to what happened with the legacy of one of other hobby giants, M.A.R.
Barker (who serendipitously is being mourned and celebrated as I type
by our friends up in Minnesota). Again you had a giant collection of
gaming history, but instead of auctioning it off, it was donated to
the Tekumel Foundation (assisted by the Aethervox Gamers).
That collection is being carefully archived and restored with the ultimate eye of being
accessible to lovers of that great world-building effort. It's not a
theoretical push, we've already seen the re-release of the pre-TSR
1974 manuscript of Empire of the Petal Throne. Several more
historical documents including the early-awaited Jakallan underworld
are coming down the pipe.
Let's pray it goes to a good home. Wonder if somebody could start a Kickstarter to bid on the collection.
ReplyDeleteYou're not the only one who is saddened by this.
ReplyDeleteIt Dave Arneson had put stipulations in his will that his collection would be donated upon his death to a group or organization so that it could be treated like gaming history, we wouldn't be having this discussion. He didn't. He left it to his heirs, and they abandoned it.
ReplyDeleteThat was his decision. Not one I agree with, but his alone to make.
Paul Stormberg is Archiving the collection Chris. The originals will disappear into the void, but who cares its just fragile paper. Exactly how the archived material will be handled is something that has yet to be revealed, (and something I'm talking to him about), but, as I understand it the information will be preserved for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that and thank you for making the effort to reach out to those archiving the material.
DeleteThat's good to hear. I was trying to mobilize the meager fundraising power of the Play Generated Map and Document Archive to try and acquire some of the choicest items for public sharing. This makes things less urgent.
Deletetim h
plagmada.org
I am also saddened. However, it is my understanding that Arneson wanted the collection (or a sizable portion of it) to be sold for the benefit of his heirs. What is happening now perhaps isn't exactly what he intended, but the end result for the rpg community is the same.
ReplyDeleteas I understand it the information will be preserved for everyone.
ReplyDeleteWhat does this mean in practical terms? Will this information be made available in some form for others to see? That's the great thing about the Tékumel Foundation and the way it's preserving Professor Barker's papers: it'll be accessible to others who want to study it. That neither Gygax's nor Arneson's papers will be similarly available is a crying shame.
That's the key question that comes to my mind too. The Tekumel Foundation is making a serious effort to do systematic and professional archiving and restoration of all that collected material. So you not only have it being preserved, but organized in an accessibly organized way to be useful to scholars and fans.
DeleteI would very much like to see something like this. Alot of people in the past have been very critical of Arneson's notes and such, but I personally suspect that they have been asking the "wrong" questions.
DeleteDave gave very explicit directions on what his family was to do with this collection, and they are doing exactly what he wanted. It was his intention to use this to help provide for his family.
ReplyDeleteHe told me this himself approximately two weeks before his passing. Victor Raymond of Tekumel Foundation was there with me.
Dave's family did not "abandon" his collection. People not in possession of facts should keep their ignorant opinions to themselves.
Dave was my friend, as was his granddaughter.
"It was his intention to use this to help provide for his family."
DeleteI completely respect that and it wasn't my intention with the post to belittle those wishes.
I am just saddened by the possibility of seeing his work pass into a sealed collector's vault. It may not, but it would be loss to many of us if it did.
i was referring to a paragraph from the linked to article:
Delete“An unforeseen turn of events” is how Paul J. Stormberg, founder of The Collector’s Trove, an Omaha-based online auction agent, described how his company came to auction the items. “The management of the collection apparently became too much for Dave’s heirs to handle and they abandoned it in a storage locker.” The storage facility’s owner tried to contact the heirs to no avail, leaving the “fate of the collection in the hands of others.”
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIt's a unclear from the article who stands to gain the most from the auction.
DeleteParsing it from the article you get the impression that the family lost possession of it when the fees weren't paid and it went to a local auction company. The Cox and Stormberg bought it from them so they wouldn't chuck it.
The article says: "Both Stormberg and Cox’s companies will get commission, as is standard practice in auctions. Stormberg stressed that he plans to return certain personal family items to the heirs and to donate some materials to educational institutions."
So does the family get significant amount from the sale? Do you happen to know, Michael?
I normally don't chime in on such weighty issues, and I'm certainly no expert on the matter, but I'll make an exception today:
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, I believe we are very lucky that the collection - seemingly by pure chance - made it's way into the possession of Paul Stormberg. Yes, he deals in selling gaming rarities for insane dollar amounts to collectors, but he is also a gamer himself.
This dude drove a giant sand table and hundreds of pounds of sand from Nebraska to Lake Geneva so it could be used to run games in the tradition of Gary's basement. I hung out for quite a while for a Chainmail scenario he was running. He not only taught the game, but he also spent the time teaching all the players and spectators things we've learned about the early days of the hobby. He had a great set of miniatures and old toys, and was telling us about how there were no monster figures back then, so they would use what was available and make modifications, like painting them green to make ogres, taking 72mm figures and adding clubs for giants, modifying plastic stegosaurus toys to make them into dragons, etc. He even had the exact toy that was the inspiration for the original rust monster.
This man is not just some grubby dude with dollar signs in his eyes with a deathgrip on collectible items. He has a genuine love for the game and the history of the hobby, and it is something he wants to share with others. If you ever get the opportunity to meet him, I suggest you spend some time talking with him, and you'll see what I mean. His enthusiasm will become evident in mere moments.
Now, I read that he is archiving (scanning) all the stuff, or has done so already. Even though Arneson's heirs effectively abandoned their claim to this stuff (in my mind anyways) I think that one of the goals is to give them the opportunity to benefit from the publication of some of this stuff. To me this seems reasonable and in the spirit of what Dave wanted. I think we'll have to see where that leads before we really know what comes next.
At any rate, from what I do know based on my interactions with Paul Stormberg, I think I can safely say that seeing this wealth of information fade into obscurity forever is not among his motives.
Thanks for chiming in Jeremy, especially to give us some insight on who is running this. I think it's wrongheaded to blanket denounce collectors based on my experience (though there really are some who are fully deserving of it). From your account Paul sounds like a stand-up guy.
Delete"I think I can safely say that seeing this wealth of information fade into obscurity forever is not among his motives."
I sincerely hope this happens.
I'll second Jeremy's assessment of Paul, whom I've known since the middle '90s. Paul straddles the collector-gamer-historian-archivist roles with ease and skill, and is friendly, approachable, and has a love of the hobby that's authentic.
DeleteMichael Cox may not be as well-known now as Paul is, but has been involved in online collecting for a very long time as well, and has an excellent reputation as both a collector and gaming historian.
I posted this on ENWorld in a similar discussion:
===
Folks: there's actually a lot personal research time, collecting experience, and appreciation for this collection being brought to bear by both Michael Cox at the Dragon's Trove and Paul Stormberg at The Collector's Trove. Both a long-time gamers, with deep knowledge of and love for the hobby. Both have shelled out considerable time and effort and money to catalog and preserve this collection, in addition to auctioning off its contents. Paul has also stated publicly that he plans to share the proceeds from the auction with Dave's heirs.
In short, Paul and Michael are not the bad guys some folks are looking for.
===
I'm heartened to hear that the manuscripts and related materials will be scanned to preserve them, which is SOP for Paul's handling of such auctions these days. Perhaps Dave's family will decide to publish the materials, eventually, which would be a wonderful boon for all lovers of the early history of our hobby.
Allan.
The fact remains that unless the collection, or at least significant portions of it, is made available to the public in some way (print or pdf), yet another chunk of priceless RPG history will effectively be locked away from public view. This would be the case even if copies are made available for study by those who can physically travel to them. History belongs to us all. It's a shame when people think history should come under copyright or belong solely to the privileged few.
ReplyDeleteThe copyrights to any manuscripts would still be owned by Dave's heirs.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather see the material go into the sealed vaults of collectors than the dumpster of a storage facility, but the best possible outcome would be for the everything to be made widely available for study and enjoyment. I'll buy most PDF's released by the Tekumel Foundation, and would be happy to have the chance to buy scans of rarities like the Domesday newsletters or unpublished Arneson materials.
ReplyDeletePosted about this on my blog you are not alone in this.
ReplyDeleteERIC!
Alas, we're too late for a kickstarter, I think. This should have become a fixed archive and Kickstarter would've been the perfect platform for making it happen.
ReplyDeleteDang, I was wrong. Dave did INDEED leave instructions, but they were not followed, and his collection was indeed jettisoned.
ReplyDeleteI was wrong.
I was wrong.
I was wrong.
Anything I tell you three times is true.
Anything I tell you three times is true.