Oldman Read Me File
This dataset has been built from the transcribed business records of the William Ockleford Oldman, a British dealer of ethnographic material, arms, and armour. His business W.O. Oldman, Ethnographic Specimens, London traded between the late 1890s and 1913. These business records (Sales Registers and Collections Ledgers) of Oldman are held by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) and include detailed information about his purchases and sales of objects including names of original sources for objects he acquired and sold. 
The dataset includes transcription of the sale registers and other business records which contain detailed information about Oldman’s purchases and sales of objects. 
The dataset is available as a CVS, XML and plain text files. 
Sale registers include: 
* Sales Register, 1904-1910; CA000228/001/0001 (255 digital images)
* Sales Register; 1910-1914; CA000228/001/0002 (252 digital images)
* Sales Register; 1902-1903; CA000228/001/0003 (46 digital images)
* Sales Register; 1903; CA000228/001/0004; (37 digital images)
* Sales Register: Pistols; 1914-1916; CA000228/001/0005 (181 digital images)
The typical data sets for Sales registers, where available, include: 
       Stock No.: This is the number assigned to the specimen by Oldman
       Catalogue No. : This is the specimen number as featured in Oldman’s catalogues
Description of Specimen: This describes the specimen/ object often including its geographical origin and materials.
       Date Purchased: This is the date Oldman purchased the specimen/ object
& Where (ie. the seller): This is the person Oldman purchased the specimen/ object from
       Price sold for: This is the price Oldman resold the specimen/ object for. 
       Price paid: This is the price Oldman purchased the specimen/ object for. 
       Balance: This is the difference between the price paid and price sold
       Date sold: This is the date Oldman sold the specimen/ object
       & to who (i.e. the buyer): This is the person Oldman sold the specimen/ object to
       
Note: Oldman recorded prices in pounds, shillings, and pennies. The transcription records do not indicate the currency, decimal points, etc. The transcriptions record the prices as originally appear, either with hyphens or dashes, or decimal points. 
Collection Ledgers include:
* Collection ledger, 1 to 33668, 1902-1916; CA000231/001/0001 (899 digital images). 
* Collection ledger, 33669 to 37700, 1914-1916; CA000231/002/0001 (199 digital images)
The typical data sets for the Collection Ledgers, where available, include: 
       Stock No.: This is the number assigned to the specimen by Oldman
       Cost: 
Object Description: This describes the specimen/ object often including its geographical origin and materials.
Code of Buyer and date of sale: This is the date Oldman sold the specimen/ object to and the date sold
       Price: This is the price Oldman resold the specimen/ object for. 
The transcription of these records, was conducted by the Smithsonian Transcription Centre (https://transcription.si.edu/) and 215 volunteers. Volunteers transcribe the records as seen, including spelling and grammatical errors, these transcriptions are peer reviewed before being accepted. Some human errors may exist within the data set. The transcribers worked to the following instructions: https://web.archive.org/web/20200722184618/https://transcription.si.edu/instructions
Ethnographic specimens with a provenance to Oldman’s business can now be found in various public institutions around the world including the Te Papa and the National Museum of the American Indian. This data will be useful in establishing and confirming the provenance information for various institutions collections.