History of the Portfolio

The portfolio was in the possession of George Seeley's sister Laura at the time of her death in 1979. According to the terms of her will, the portfolio passed to her niece, Mrs. Marion Davis Byron, along with a large number of the artist's photographs and paintings. By the mid-1980s, Mrs. Byron had sold a large portion of the collection, and the portfolio passed through the hands of a number of private collectors. Recognizing the importance of keeping this object intact and making it available to the public, its former owner offered it to the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Clark Art Institute. It was purchased in February of 2001 in honor of retiring Assistant Director John H. Brooks.