Gorham catalogues

Magazine Antiques, Nov, 2003 by Alfred Mayor

As everyone knows who has a mailbox, catalogues reproduce like rabbits, filling trash bins as fast as they are emptied. This instant obsolescence is a pity in the long run, since it creates an instant collectible. A case in point is a set of eight CD-ROMs containing the full run of catalogues issued by the Gorham silver company between 1880 and 1909. Gathering complete copies of these nineteen catalogues required years of persistent searching by the editor of the collection, Samuel J. Hough, who owns an eclectic rare-book shop in Cranston, Rhode Island, that specializes primarily in Italian history and culture, particularly of the Renaissance and secondarily in American industrial silver, particularly Gorham's.

The technologically challenged must persist to realize the full benefit of this collection. Disk number one contains the index for the entire collection, including small pictures of every catalogue page. The remaining disks reproduce the catalogue pages in large and in detail. The blowups are so large that one must roam the screen with the mouse to see bits of them at a time. As for printing these detailed pictures, read the directions and then consult someone under twenty-five, who will know how to do it in his sleep.

To find a category of objects, say Martele, you select "Index Interface" under the rubric "Index (no Toc)." There you will find at the bottom of the screen comforting blank boxes labeled "search," "field" (meaning category, description, or model), and "year" ("all" or specific years). Filling in these boxes produces a list of the relevant items and where to find them in the collection. In addition, when a listing is clicked on, the thumbnail picture of it pops up along with a more detailed description of its location among the CD-ROMs.

The opening page of disk number one advises that the price of the CD-ROM collection covers costs and contributes to the restoration of "workable condition catalogs and catalogs and drawings in the Gorham Archive and Design Library" in the John Hay Library at Brown University in Providence. The page ends on a poignant note in this age of indiscriminate downloading: "If you are using a bootleg set and wish to salve your conscience, you may contribute to the restoration project."

The Gorham Design Library: Gorham Annual Catalogs, 1880-1909, ed. Samuel J. Hough (The Owl at the Bridge, 401-467-7362), $350.00 plus $5.00 shipping (8 CD-ROMs, boxed).