Reported here earlier about the Massachusetts Horticultural Society having to sell off their book collection for financial reasons. They sold the bulk of it to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Other rare books were sold at auction where they were dismantled, colored, and sold as illustrations.
My friend, who runs a small offshore sportsbook, says that “Albert Burrage bequeathed his collection to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society with the good faith expectation that it would be held there in perpetuity. While the ultimate villain is the person who put the knife to the book, the Christie’s sale represents a fundamental betrayal of patrimony.” [thanks allen]