3 ms·
Why the sad face? Without the mechanism of sale the artifact would not be accessible to the person who appreciates it.
by adolph 4y ago
Why the sad face? Without the mechanism of sale the artifact would not be accessible to the person who appreciates it.
- adrianmonk 4y agoIt's not a comment about the fact that the document itself can be bought and sold. It means that the physical integrity of the document is metaphorically "for sale". If damaging the document (by cutting it up) leads to more profit, then there are people who will choose profit over preservation.
- dmix 4y agoThat would probably reduce the total value, so there are some disincentives.
- bryanrasmussen 4y agoIf it diminished the total value, then why did it happen? Other comments here seems to suggest it happens because it increases the total value.
- freetime2 4y agoCould be a difference in long-term vs short-term outlook. In the short term, cutting it up and selling it in pieces increases the number of potential buyers, which probably helps to fetch a higher price. But in the long term, you may be able to fetch a higher price by keeping it intact - especially if fully intact works become increasingly rare due to people cutting them up in pursuit of short term gains.
- dmix 4y agoYes, exactly. It’s only done to find a buyer quickly.
- Bud 4y agoFuck "mechanism of sale". You can't see the value of preserving the full, priceless manuscript in its original form?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- adolph 4y agoThis is not a question of biblioclasm but that an important factor in stewardship of artifacts is transfer between custodians. Instead of someone binning that artifact they offered it for sale. This allowed someone who saw its value to become its steward. All things have tradeoffs. It is a tragedy to some degree that the missal was deconstructed. However, the counterfactual is not known--held in one piece, it might have all been destroyed in fire, or lost forever. As it stands, it was distributed, shared and appreciated by many.
- h0l0cube 4y agoNothing precluded the book being sold intact. That was at the moral discretion of the seller.