Oral history presentation is on the program for December 7

First Naylor Collection Credit: H. B. Lewis

Jack Naylor’s photographic collections had a couple of homes and at least two incarnations: He sold it once, rebuilt it and tried to sell it again. He produced a glossy sales brochure sent to collectors and museums all around the world. He held a marathon auction in New York that produced another comprehensiv catalog and moved part of the collection. But by then illness was taking its toll. He died before he could close a second deal.

Second Naylor Collection Credit: H. B. Lewis

The remaining bulk of the collection was sold to a Viennese auction house, WestLicht, and items marked “ex-Naylor” appear among the lots in that company’s current auctions (you can see an online catalog at www.westlicht-auction.com — the book-camera on the site’s home page is from Jack’s collection).

The story of the dismantling of the Naylor collection is the subject for PHSNE’s December meeting. Lew Regelman will lead a graphical tour of the Naylor collection, and moderate a discussion of the last hectic days of clearing out Jack’s museum in the basement of his house in Chestnut Hill, MA, and his warehouse in Needham.

Camera Watch Credit: H. B. Lewis

The auction house was under a strict deadline, and its representative was glad to have some help. PHSNE was contacted and invited to remove historical materials that pertained to the society, records, archives, and publications that went back to Jack’s days as secretary of the organization and editor of the Journal. Several members who participated will have interesting stories to tell about the scramble, as the winnowing of photographic history became photographic history itself.

PHSNE members George Champine, David DeJean, Ralph Johnson, Ron Polito, Lew Regelman, and Joe Walters will share their experiences, and members are invited to share stories about Jack and his museum. The program will include videos, slides, and photographs of the collection as well as stories of how Jack obtained some of the unusual items in his collection.

-From snap shots, December 2008.