Some of you may remember that on May 27th this year the massive and interesting collection of butterflies accumulated by Charles Rothschild and housed for many years at Harrow School was to be auctioned, much to the chagrin of many commentators including our own Jon Downes who got rather vitriolic about the whole affair.
Well the good news is that the auction has been cancelled. The collection has been bought by a collector in its entirety and will be kept as one body in the United Kingdom. This news was given to me by a spokeswoman at the Tetbury office of the auctioneers Bonhams today, May 7th.
This news should please lepidopterists everywhere and fulfils the wish of Hitoshi Takano:
“Hitoshi Takano, a Harrow old boy and consultant for the sale,remembers his joy at finding out the Harrow butterflies existed……Takano hopes the butterflies will be bought as a job lot-the estimate for the 27 May sale is £60,000 to £80,000-and by someone who can keep them together and allow public access and study.” (The Guardian February 23rd 2009)
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