Last year I was able to get a large number of sample cards that were part of Peter Francis' collection at the Bead Museum in Arizona.
I promised not only to keep them together, but also to make them available for anyone who would like to use them for research. I have set up a database, which is converted to a website. There are now nearly 200 sample cards on there, and it will grow with time. I still have about 100 cards from the Peter Francis' collection, and about 200 or more of my own to add. Most cards are from the period between 1950 and 1990. Currently online are a large set of sample cards from Elliot Greene, the New York bead importing company, Czech Jablonex beads, Japanese seed beads and some others.
Each sample card can be seen from the front, the back and with some detailed pictures, all in high resolution. You can search the cards with a google search bar. If you are looking for a specific selection, let me know, and I can make a PDF for you with all the specific cards.
The site (under news) also has my three books available for download as a PDF and an Ebook: Beads from Briare, Beads from Tucson, Beads from Jablonec.
For inspiration, research and just some fun bead gazing: enjoy!
http://beadmuseum.com/index.html
For inspiration and research: bead sample cards
