The Hall collection as a whole is one of the most accomplished studies of the subject ever assembled. Its formation began in the 1920’s and continued without interruption through the 1967 Lilly sale. During this time, public and private acquisitions were made from dispersals of the Hind, Mason, Ackerman, Knapp, Caspary, Hollowbush, Burrus and Lilly collections. With the guidance of Elliott Perry — the dean of the Carriers and Locals field — the Halls were able to acquire many of the rarest and most coveted items from these important sales. It was Perry who sold the Ackerman collection of Locals to the Halls in 1928, and, in almost every transaction since, Perry was involved, either as agent or expert, or both.

One cannot introduce this sale without pointing to an extraordinary circumstance. Last November, the Siegel firm sold the David Golden collection of Carriers and Locals. At the same time, we negotiated the private sale of the Richard Schwartz collection, some of which later appeared in our auctions. Now, the Hall collection comes out of hiding. Today’s collectors of Carriers and Locals have never enjoyed a time when there was so much activity in the market, fueled by a supply of material that remained hidden for decades. In part, this activity has helped revive the Carriers and Locals Society, and we encourage all of our clients who have an interest in this field to join and participate in this group.

One note about this sale catalogue. When we prepared the Golden catalogue, we felt it was important to quantify the rarity of the items by including detailed census information. The response to our research was very favorable, and we have presented the Hall collection in a similar manner. Quite a few of the census lists changed as a result of the Hall and Schwartz collections becoming available for study, and we encourage specialists to examine the updated information. We have tried to point to revisions and updates, and we welcome further additions and corrections.

Having spent the past six months deeply immersed in the study of this collection, I confess to painful feelings in anticipation of its dispersal. The items — beautifully mounted on pages prepared by Elliott Perry — made me feel like Alladin in the treasure cave. Items known to two generations of collectors only from old photographs and pictures in books were alive among the pages of Godden Deluxe albums. To see them leave our vault will hurt my pride of temporary possession, but I can only hope that the successful bidders will enjoy custodianship as much as I have.

Which reminds me of story told by John R. Boker, Jr.

A collector was challenged to explain why he paid $1,000 — a terribly high price — for one rarity in his collection. The collector responded that he felt the price was a bargain, because each time he admired it, he charged himself $25, and at this point he was enjoying himself well past the cost of admission.

We are fortunate to have such collectors in the world.