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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Rarest book?


Audax

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For me, it was 'Cours de Cavalerie', over 200 hand-written pages of notes written in hand by Lt Colonel Champeaux at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre in 1909-1910. Priceless.

Robert

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Well, the History of the Welch Regiment (Whitehorn and Marden, 1930s) is quite scarce. Saw one for £250 when I didn't have £250 spare.

Just paid £50 for the History of the South Wales Borderers.

Bernard

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1st edition of the collected poems of Rupert Brooke, which I picked up at a house clearance sale.

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Official History Operations in Persia, one of a possible 50 to survive.

Mart

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Mine was probably 'Die Judischen Gefallenen des Deutschen Heeres, der Deutschen Marine und der Deutschen Schtztruppen 1914-1918'. It is hard to find, quite expensive generally and I was lucky enough to find a good copy from an Argentinian dealer a few years back.

Ralph

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Seventh service battalion Royal Sussex regiment, managed to pick one up yesterday for about £22.00 including tatty dustwrapper

best regards John

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W.V. Tilsley "Other ranks". One of the most neglected works on the war - and it is brilliant. In possibly the luckiest stroke I have ever had on WW1 stuff, I found a copy in a second hand shop many years ago and got it for £1. I have never seen another copy either in the flesh or for sale.

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I have been seeking published English translations of a number of German and Austro-Hungarian books for several years. Sheer persistance does pay off though, I have just found one in the US after looking for four or five years - and in a dustjacket. You just have to keep 'abeing' and hoping!

Regards

David

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Nice one, John.

Chris

You'll have seen that a descendent of Tilsley's appeared on the thread. At first, I thought I was being spoofed by a Pal but further checks indicated the chap was genuine. We came to a mutually rewarding arrangement which means I no longer have the book (except in digi-form, of course).

John

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Just tried a library search for Other Ranks - the nearest copy to Portsmouth is in the Bodleian. All the others that Google books could find were in the states.

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I had a similar experience to John with a copy of "At Ypres with Best-Dunckley" that went off to a relative who had put a want ad in "Stand To". I was happy to keep a copy and send it off to a more deserving home.

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So has any forum member got a subscribers copy of "Seven Pillars of Wisdom"?

Mart

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So has any forum member got a subscribers copy of "Seven Pillars of Wisdom"?

Mine dates to 1935 - the year it went on general circulation. First printed, privately, 1926.

J

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Mine dates to 1935 - the year it went on general circulation. First printed, privately, 1926.

J

John, as you no doubt know the subscribers edition is the 1926 printing, under 200 produced. Got a spare 100K?

Regards

Mart

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John - can you nip back to the pub and see if they've got the 'History of the Welch Regiment' on the shelves please? I'll have that for nowt too, please...

[ps didn't get into the loft today - give me a week or so]

Bernard

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Rarest book - the privately printed memoir of Lt Elias Tremlett who is buried at Mory. Even the British Library don't have a copy. Though I think Barnstaple library have two.

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The hardest for me to find was "With the 5th Gloucesters at home and overseas" by W.J. Wood. I had never seen a copy until I bought an old collection of Gloucesters Regimental histories. Since then, I have been contacted twice by book dealers trying to locate a copy.

Steve

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The hardest I had was "The Escapers' Club". I first heard of it in the introduction to the Colditz Story in 1956, and couldn't find a copy at all (its been out of print since the 1930s) until about 1990 when I found a Penguin copy in a bookshop at Redu (the Belgian Book Village). Cost about a pound or so.

The in about 2000 I was in S. Africa in a small village wandering around a souvenir shop. They had a few second hand books, among which was again this one, and same edition. I've regretted not buying it ever since. Several people have asked for a copy over the years.

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I should think HQ Tanks 1917-18 published privately and anonymously by Capt. Edward Evan Charteris would certainly be a candidate for rare status.

All the best,

Dave

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I just remembered another title that is rarely seen: Wolfgang Ackermann's And We Are Civilized (New York: Covici Friede, 1936). The story of an Austrian officer on the Russian and Italian fronts.

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Glancing through I noticed the The Escapers' Club". is that meant to be The Escaping Club by AJ Evans if so I have it stashed at the back of the bookcase a car boot special.

My rarest is Khaki and Gown an autobiography signed by FM Birdwood and The History of the Cameronians 1910-1933.

Rob

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  • 2 weeks later...

Pals

I have just started to read a copy of "The War Record of the 1/5th Battalion The Royal Warwickshire Regiment" - by Lieut C E Carrington, MC. Circa March 1922 according to the erratta notice. Haven't been able to turn one up on either ABE books or some of my other favourite books sites, so I don't really know if it's rare or valuable. It has decorations and awards, as well as "Roll of Killed", broken down by battle/action. Anyone seeking any lookups for 1/5th Battalion, just let me know.

Regards, Tommy.

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