The Great Cameron Clear Out
The Catalogue (also available as a PDF or Word file)
As some will know already, I am obliged to downsize in a drastic way, and this has caused me to sort out all my conchological material, be it actual samples, or the array of equipment that we use in the field and indoors, especially if, like me, you have kept and attempted to curate a collection. The actual shells are accounted for, with all but those I am currently working on offered to museums. There are more than 4,000 lots duly listed and labelled.
Equipment is another matter. I was an early adopter of the now fashionable business of working from home, as for most of my working life I was in Adult Education Departments that did not provide either laboratories or equipment. I did get some help with equipment, but I accumulated stuff from many sources, made some myself, had presents from family (wouldn’t you be delighted if your children gave you a few hundred tubes or display boxes for Christmas?).
What I thought would be a trivial task turns out to be a monster. The volume and variety are both immense. I have sorted and packed all this stuff, keeping only a little for myself, as I have not given up on fieldwork in this country. Now, I want to dispose of it, hopefully by reuse rather than recycling. So, I am soliciting “bids” for “lots” like an auction. The difference is, that with a few exceptions, it is all free; I do not want to make any money. However, I do hope for donations to either the Conchological Society or to Sorby Natural History Society roughly proportional to the amount and character of the material removed.
Accordingly, I have grouped the lots by guessed at value. At the cheapo end, I would hope for a donation of £1.00. At the top end, I would look for £30.00. A few individual items are “priced” separately. I will accept bids offering no donation, but they will be trumped by anyone offering the appropriate sum. Small payments can be cash on collection. For larger sums, a cheque made payable to the relevant society is preferred. Receipts will be given for cash.
I am unwilling to split lots; too much hassle. Equally, I will not post anything, and in any case the glass items are not packed to meet the rigours of postal delivery. I am willing to deliver to addresses within 30 miles of Sheffield if the donation offered exceeds £25. Otherwise, I would expect the bidder to collect personally from my home. (At present, apart from cost, many hours away from home is difficult). Clearly, I hope that people will want a number of lots to make their journey worthwhile.
I have tried to liven up the catalogue with a few comments on some items. There are pictures too! (not of everything) I have attempted to divide the lots by possible function: in the field, or indoors, when processing, storing or displaying, but many items might be multi-purpose. Glass is not for the field!
Each lot has a number, and there is an order form at the end. Some very numerous items have been split into several lots. I have often made up a lot, only to find more of the same lurking in the cellar. I have simply made another lot. Bids will be registered as they arrive. Bids offering the suggested donation will be accepted at once, and later bids told that they had failed. After one month, “empty” bids will be accepted if no other offers have been made. I really do not want to take stuff to the recycling centre. Pictures are grouped on two pages at the end of the catalogue, but before the order form.
Feel free to share this with others, even a hard-up institution. £500 secures the lot, but be aware that it would need a van rather than a car to take away.
Email is preferred for all communication:
But you can phone or text to 07913 705 559, or by post to 2 Victoria Road, Sheffield S10 2DL.
There is a link to an Order Form at the bottom of this page.
Special Items
Cameron Catalogue update, 27 June 2024
Lots already bought have been deleted; the Society will get more than £300!
Lot 1. A set of 16 library card index drawers, modified to house shell collections. Each drawer has been modified to hold a second shelf (see pictures); These are hand made and robust. Each drawer has thin card open-top boxes made to fit, so that segregation of species is easy. As a tower eight drawers high, it reaches a little under 1 metre. It has 4 sets of 4 drawers. Well-made and ornamental. £100 secures the lot automatically, but bids of £50 and upwards will be considered. I am not parting with these for nothing!
Lot 2. A set of drawers in a stack made up of the drawer parts of cheap office desks (picture). These have a home-made top. 7 drawers, standing just over a metre high. A bit scruffy, but have held a lot of samples. £20 secures them, bids of £10 or over considered.
Trays as Storage Items
Lots 5-9. Tough cardboard trays each c. 8cm x 5 cm, walls c. 2cm (Picture). Five lots of c.52 trays in each. £3 secures a lot.
These trays were sold by the Rock Shop in Sheffield for storing/displaying rock and mineral samples by amateur geologists. They housed most of my European, American and Australian samples in the x-ray drawers listed earlier,
Lot 12. 36 hand-made trays in strong cardboard, in various sizes and colours (picture). £2 secures. (made before I discovered the Rock Shop.)
Lot 13. A set of 10 plastic trays with lids, each c. 17 x 17.5 cm divided into 12 compartments (picture). Good for small tubes 5 cm tall. £10 secures.
Lot 14. A set of 5 plastic trays, no lid, each 34 x 21 cm divided into 15 compartments (picture). £6 secures.
Trays for sorting/processing
Lots 17-18. Plastic Petri Dishes (with lids), successively with 42 and 36 dishes in each lot £2, and £1.50. Many well used, and a bit opaque, but not all; some are “virgin”. (Lots determined by the sizes of cardboard boxes available!)
Lots 19 & 20. Each 30 of 10 x 10 x 2cm plastic boxes divided into 25 compartments (750 compartments in each lot) (picture). £ 5 each secures. I used these to get tiny Caseolus species from Porto Santo adjacent to each other from different sites. Put on the right way, the lid prevents stuff moving compartments.
An aside: Because most of lots 15 to 20 have been used, I have learnt two lessons. Adhesive tape (no trade names, no litigation) does not last forever, but when it decays, the tape parts from the adhesive, but the adhesive does NOT part from the plastic, and is remarkably difficult to remove. Surgical spirit is some use, but white spirit causes seams in the plastic to come apart. Further, different makes of permanent marker differ in the ease with which they can be removed. Some are literally permanent, unless you use an abrasive. Others will come off with surgical spirit, but not with 70% ethanol (I had a little, from working in museums abroad). You will find faint relics of past use on some. More to say when we come to plastic lunch boxes for live material.
In the Field (or for storage)
Lot 23. 100 standard plastic sample pots with screw top lids (Picture). 8 cm tall inside, c 2.8 cm diam. Well-used. £6 secures.
Lots 24 & 25. Two sets of 40 coated metal pots, 10 cm tall, diam c.7.3 cm, with screw top lids and a good seal (picture). Mostly unused. £10 each lot secures. These pots were for the University of Dundee Greenland expedition many years ago. I was not involved, but happy to accept their unused items. Too happy, since few have been used.
Lot 29. 27 large plastic sample pots with various lids. Roughly 7 cm deep, diameter at base c 5cm. The standard medical specimen pots, mostly bought in Poland. Not as robust as lot 26, but serviceable and with the advantage that they taper, and can be stacked for storage. Lids tend to be brand-specific, so they are not stacked here. £4 secures.
Lot 37. Total plastic ragbag of c. 40 items, many without lids. BUT: includes 3 cylindrical collecting pots with pull-off lids, each c. 11 cm tall and diam c. 7.2 cm. If you have romance in your soul, these have seen many Greek islands, passed down many field trips. £1 secures. Go on, add this to your order!
Glassware
All glassware has gone, but there will be a second, smaller catalogue later in the year
Display/storage boxes
These have all gone. I am unlikely to have any more to dispose of.
Transparent plastic lunch boxes (bought to keep live animals for crowding experiments)
Lots 63 & 64. Each with 40 small square boxes (10 x 10 cm, 7 cm deep, slightly tapered so can stack) and 16 large rectangular boxes (22 x 12 cm, 8 cm deep). Also tapered, and can stack. £15 secures each. Some have indelible marks
Oddities (I am not sure they would be wanted, but just in case!)
Lot 66. 39 Old fashioned, waxed card pill boxes (picture below). Useful for material alive or with bodies, because not airtight, so everything dries out rather than smelling. £2 secures.
Sometime, much later in the year, there will another lot, much smaller and less varied, as I sort a few samples not fully dealt with.
Sometime, much later in the year, there will another lot, much smaller and less varied, as I sort a few samples not fully dealt with.
Order Form
A PDF of the Order Form is available to download (note this order form is also contained within the 'Catalogue' PDF and Word file).
The order form is not for the special items; please bid for these separately.
Note that you are free to bid any amount, even nothing if Scrooge is in your ancestry (the proceeds go to your Society, not to me), but the first bid that meets the threshold will beat others. Do remember that you will have to collect yourself, unless you order at least £25 worth and live within 30 miles of Sheffield. I will notify you to tell you whether your order was accepted in full, in part or not at all. Cash is OK for small orders, but a cheque or bank transfer to the Society can be arranged.
