Ontarian's WWI journals sold at auction

[niner domestic]

I'm torn between being sad that these documents have been sold outside the family with being relieved that they have been bought by a collector (who I hope will preserve them and perhaps, put them on display).

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2006/10/20/letters-kingston.html

I too, had all my family's letters and such bound into journals to try and preserve them in their entirety.  I have my grandfather's (both of them) letters home to my grandmother's during their service time (with an exception of time during my granpa's incarceration in a POW camp in Burma).  I also have all my dad's letters home to my mother.  I have some of the letters that my great-grandfather sent home during WWI and one special set of letters that were sent home during his time in South Africa during the Boer War.   I also have the majority of their personal journals that they wrote after their war services (seems my family likes to write..lol) I also have all their medals, service records and their "love me wall" objects. 

Unlike this fellow's family, I'd die if these treasures ever left my sight and ended up at an auction. 

 

[GAP]

The house had been bequeathed to the caregiver (not family) and she is the one who put them up for auction. At least she recognized the intristic value of them, if not the monetary value also, and passed them on to someone who will make good use of them. The $5,000 paid is money well spent.

Let's hope the dealer who bought them is able to focus on ensuring they end up in the public limelight, rather than some obscure collector's shelves.