Ashbee's will left his entire book collection to the British Museum, with the condition that the erotic works had to be accepted along with the more conventional items. Because the trustees of the Museum wanted the materials related to Cervantes, they decided to accept the entire bequest but not without some reluctance. The trustees were allowed to destroy any of the books if they already had a duplicate, but in practice went much further and destroyed six boxes "of offensive matter which is of no value or interest whatsoever" including cheaply produced Victorian erotica. The remainder of the erotic works formed the core of the Private Case which were kept hidden from readers in the British Library for many years; they include a work by William Simpson Potter. (See also Secretum).