[DCRM-L] Estates as personal vs. corporate donor name

[Kathryn Downing]

I recently had a conversation at my library related to this, as some of our older rare book record notes weren't input very clearly in terms of donors. On our records "Mr.  Smith" (for example) is recorded as a donor, but recent archival digging shows his wife actually donated the book after her husband -- who has his bookplate in the book -- passed away. (I'm thinking whomever created them way-back-when conflated bookplate provenance and the actual donor)

My recommendation would be to input the donor as a corporation, the estate, since "estate of" is in the NAF. It clarifies that the item was willed, not handed over by the live person, which could be an important distinction for future researchers who could then go to estate records.

I would also record the individual as a former owner, distinguishing provenance from donor. Such a record thus traces the book as going from the owner to the estate to your library, and covers all possible searching for Carmalt.

I also agree with Erin's reply, in that you're bound by what the documentation explicitly says.

Kathryn

[cid:79604895-06fe-47e4-a1ea-24954c20c8f1]

Kathryn Downing

Technical Services Librarian

Helen Fowler Library

Denver Botanic Gardens

909 York Street

Denver, CO 80206

720-865-3570 Phone

www.botanicgardens.org<http://www.botanicgardens.org/>

My work week is Sunday - Thursday.

________________________________
From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> on behalf of Erin Blake <erin.blake.folger at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 11:40 AM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Estates as personal vs. corporate donor name

If the documentation says "Estate of", I'd use:
710 2_ Geraldine Woolsey Carmalt Estate, $e donor. $5 NNC

We have a few instances where both are the case: donor explicitly left "x" and "y" to the Folger in their will, but they didn't say anything in the will about "z".  Later, his executors said "Hey, we're sending x and y to you..... do you also want z? Or should we throw it away?"  Items x and y get the personal name as former owner, item z gets the name of the estate. I don't know what the legal implications are, I just see it as important for provenance research: Firstname Lastname knew x and y would go to the Folger, but z was someone else's decision.

Erin.

______________________
Erin Blake, Ph.D.  |  Senior Cataloger  |  Folger Shakespeare Library  |  201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC, 20003  |  eblake at folger.edu<mailto:eblake at folger.edu>  |  www.folger.edu<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/-t5RCjRgpBtArRXC7R7_2?domain=urldefense.com>   |  Pronouns: she/her/hers




On Wed, Aug 5, 2020 at 1:05 PM Matthew C. Haugen <mch2167 at columbia.edu<mailto:mch2167 at columbia.edu>> wrote:
Hello all,

For the purposes of local access points for donors, if the source of information indicates that an item was the gift of a person's estate, would you record the individual person, or the estate as a corporate body?

For example, some items I am cataloging have either library-supplied bookplates or card-catalog records saying:

"Gift of the Geraldine Carmalt Estate"

I also find the statement "Gift of the Estate of Geraldine Woolsey Carmalt" related to several items on the Yale University Art Gallery website.

Which access point would you use?

700 1_ Carmalt, Geraldine Woolsey, $d 1875-1967, $e donor. $5 NNC
710 2_ Geraldine Woolsey Carmalt Estate, $e donor. $5 NNC

I would have probably defaulted to using a personal name, but I do find a few "Estate of" headings in the NAF.

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Matthew

--
Matthew C. Haugen
Rare Book Cataloger | Columbia University Libraries
matthew.haugen at columbia.edu<mailto:matthew.haugen at columbia.edu> | 212-851-2451 | he/him/his
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