Jane Kimball's New Trench Art Book Is Here

[Guest shenkursk]

The first shipment of Jane's new reference arrived at the AGM offices yesterday afternoon, and work came to an absolute halt while everyone took a copy to browse.

I am admittedly prejudiced - Jane is a good friend and customer - but I am proud to say that her reference surpasses all expectations.

This is over 400 pages with thousands of full-color photographs. The items included cover all aspects of trench art - shells, aluminum, beadwork, bone, painted equipment, etc.

The thing that impressed me the most was the very clear and professional scholarship that she used in constructing this work. She draws very heavily from primary source material and everything is properly annotated.

In the text she covers construction techniques, national differences, care and preservation, identification of headstamps, nomenclature, etc. Though you will probably spend the first few days just looking at the photos, when you get around to using it as a reference you will find it very thoughtfully organized and easy to use. Don't drop it on your foot, though. It is a monster, weighing in at over 7 pounds!

I do not post this as an advertisement. Shipping to most of the pals in Europe would be expensive on this one, so it is probably best that you seek it from a European source. If you have trouble, though, and want a copy do let me know. I will try to make one of the Arlon shows this spring and will bring copies with me.

Three cheers for Jane!

Jeff Shrader

[Max Poilu]

Jeff,

Thanks for the info - going by Jane's website and your brief description this looks set to become the bible of trench art. It was discussed a few weeks ago and carried rather a hefty price IIRC - how much would you be able to obtain it for and ship to UK Pals?

Typically it will be far more expensive from a UK source but shipping must be factored in of course.

[redbarchetta]

I would recommend ordering from amazon.com (not co.uk) for UK and continental buyers - the weak dollar helps and I've ordered mine, postage paid for a little over £30 - can't argue with that !!

Having said that, amazon are experiencing problems (something about their shipment being snowed in at Ohio, apparently), so I still haven't had my copy yet (grrr...!) but it should arrive in the next week or so.

This is definately a 'labour of love', and Jane's "magnificent octopus" is a must for the militaria collectors among us...

I'm not in the slightest bit biased, you understand...!

Jim

[Max Poilu]

Jim,

After posting previously I had a look at that this afternoon and also ordered a copy!

[Guest shenkursk]

If you can get it for 30 pounds postpaid, then that is certainly the best option for continental buyers. When I checked into this, postage to the UK for this 7 pound masterpiece was no less than $40 USD! (Ever since the post office deleted the 'media mail' rate for overseas shipments, things have been tough.)

Unfortunately for Jane, her publisher dumped a bunch of copies through Amazon to quickly recoup costs, but this makes it very, very difficult for anyone else to sell the book. They are selling it for pennies over wholesale which means that Jane probably will not see a dime from any Amazon sales.

I hope your copy makes it out of the Ohio snow and ice soon. They are not telling you tall tales - Ohio has really have been clobbered lately. Our former business partner and his family spent Christmas in a house with no heat, light, or water.... cooking meals outside on a campfire (in freezing temperatures). It took nearly a week for the power to return!

Jeff