Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Turner Donovan Books


paulgranger

Recommended Posts

I expect those in the know will already know, but had  an e-mail from TD Books on Monday. They are handing the sale of a large collection of books amassed by the late Mr Pritchard, all apparently rarities. I'm not a collector of rare volumes, so I'll pass, but for those who are, there may be pickings to be had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first of several catalogues from David’s collection. Half of this one has sold already and I’m certainly a little poorer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was relieved that the list didn't include any titles on my essentials list. I am a little stretched this month.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear All,

I was amused at one of the the TD items on offer: "Fly Papers", by a two-seater RFC pilot.

Kindest regards,

Kim.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something to get stuck (in)to.

 

I am unable to assist in relieving Mr D of some of his catalogue: having recently been caught forking out rather a lot on Vols 2 & 3 of his magnum opus on the Indian Order of Merit, and not having a work address to send anything to, discretion is very much the better part ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Steven Broomfield,

I know the feeling well - as much as I would like to own the "Fly Papers"...

Kindest regards,

Kim.

PS: Attached,Dockrell_small.jpg.cac7c3285580fc64d538ef1b1c6ed2d2.jpg 'something Indian'!

Edited by Kimberley John Lindsay
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Pritchard left an amazing collection if Alan's wonderful Great War Dust Jackets site is any judge. I learned over well over a decade ago that I would be the sure loser in an eBay battle with David when he was on the hunt for a jacketed book to add to his collection. I was tempted by more than a few books in the catalog and bought the one or two gems that Alan left. The coming months will provide equal parts of hopeful anticipation and the fear of financial ruin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe there were 7 or 800 books in the collection so there’ll be a lot more to look forward to. David never marked his books in any way so Tom has printed a card to go in each volume. It would have been a shame for the collection to be dispersed without any record of where they came from.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

I believe there were 7 or 800 books in the collection so there’ll be a lot more to look forward to. David never marked his books in any way so Tom has printed a card to go in each volume. It would have been a shame for the collection to be dispersed without any record of where they came from.

I must admit that I've never understood why people write their names in books ( unless they're the author ) . You wouldn't get a bayonet collector (for example)

carving their names into their prized possessions .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Black Maria said:

I must admit that I've never understood why people write their names in books ( unless they're the author ) . You wouldn't get a bayonet collector (for example)

carving their names into their prized possessions .

 

Yes .. but I am sure all of us have a volume or two (or more) which has been inscribed by someone 'interesting'. For me, having a regimental history annotated by a former member is a wonder and a great increment to my knowledge and my pride in having the book.

 

That said I would never write my name in anything!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Black Maria said:

I must admit that I've never understood why people write their names in books ( unless they're the author ) . You wouldn't get a bayonet collector (for example)

carving their names into their prized possessions .

I suppose it depends on how you record your ownership. A small bookplate or ex Libris can be rather nice, a name scrawled in biro across the title page most definitely not. I rather treasure the books I have stamped with a florid letter ‘F’ which shows they came from what must have been the rather impressive collection of RSM Finch.

I have to admit to having a little sticker that goes in all my WW1 books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Steven Broomfield said:

 

Yes .. but I am sure all of us have a volume or two (or more) which has been inscribed by someone 'interesting'. For me, having a regimental history annotated by a former member is a wonder and a great increment to my knowledge and my pride in having the book.

 

That said I would never write my name in anything!

Very true , I also have some books with very interesting annotations . It doesn't really bother me having another persons name in a book , I think it's even worse

when people feel the need to scrawl out the name and write theirs in or sometimes they tear out the page altogether .

 

2 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

I suppose it depends on how you record your ownership. A small bookplate or ex Libris can be rather nice, a name scrawled in biro across the title page most definitely not. I rather treasure the books I have stamped with a florid letter ‘F’ which shows they came from what must have been the rather impressive collection of RSM Finch.

I have to admit to having a little sticker that goes in all my WW1 books.

Yes , a small sticker or bookplate can look good but I don't think I could ever bring myself to write anything in a book . It would somehow not feel right .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Somewhat ironically, the books having been free of markings, they now carry Tom’s stock numbers. At least they’re in pencil!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are a lot of people around who mark library books with their initial or a symbol of some kind.

 

I think that it's so they can check whether they've read it. However, I've never to my knowledge met anyone who does it - or admits to doing it - I'm not sure whether that is correct.

 

Oh, and just for the record …  I certainly don't do it!

Edited by The Scorer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Somewhat ironically, the books having been free of markings, they now carry Tom’s stock numbers. At least they’re in pencil!

That's true , mind you that can be interesting sometimes . I once purchased a very scarce memoir  , the only other one I had seen had been in a TD

catalogue about six years before and when I opened it up I saw Tom's pencil numbers and realised it was the same copy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, The Scorer said:

There are a lot of people around who mark library books with their initial or a symbol of some kind.

 

I think that it's so they can check whether they've read it. However, I've never to my knowledge met anyone who does it - or admits to doing it - I'm not sure whether that is correct.

 

Oh, and just for the record …  I certainly don't do it!

Yes I think I've heard of that being done . I once had an x-lib copy of ' Inglorious Soldier ' which looked inside like someone had eat their dinner off it .

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Black Maria said:

That's true , mind you that can be interesting sometimes . I once purchased a very scarce memoir  , the only other one I had seen had been in a TD

catalogue about six years before and when I opened it up I saw Tom's pencil numbers and realised it was the same copy.

More and more I find when buying a rare WW1 book from anyone other than Tom that it already has his mark in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Black Maria said:

Yes I think I've heard of that being done . I once had an x-lib copy of ' Inglorious Soldier ' which looked inside like someone had eat their dinner off it .

 

 

Ughhh …!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

had to make purchases  well it would have been rude not too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Dave G said:

Mr. Pritchard left an amazing collection if Alan's wonderful Great War Dust Jackets site is any judge. I learned over well over a decade ago that I would be the sure loser in an eBay battle with David when he was on the hunt for a jacketed book to add to his collection.

I only managed to outbid D.P once in an e-bay auction , it was a very rare jacketed book that I'd never seen for sale before . About two weeks later another

jacketed copy appeared , presumably because the owner had seen how much the other one had gone for ,  D.P was the only bidder and got it at a bargain price.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re the Turner Donovan catalogue, this is indeed fascinating and thanks for drawing attention to it.  However the catalogue says a number of the books are illustrated on their website, and I can't find these images anywhere.  Can someone point me towards them please?

 

Thanks, John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, johntaylor said:

Re the Turner Donovan catalogue, this is indeed fascinating and thanks for drawing attention to it.  However the catalogue says a number of the books are illustrated on their website, and I can't find these images anywhere.  Can someone point me towards them please?

 

Thanks, John

The ones that sell are removed  , so if you can't see them on the site someone has probably bought them I'm afraid .

7 hours ago, barkalotloudly said:

had to make purchases  well it would have been rude not too

Me too , now we just have to guess what books we've all bought :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

David's collection seemed always have the best copies going, and yes very hard to compete against him at auction. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, johntaylor said:

Re the Turner Donovan catalogue, this is indeed fascinating and thanks for drawing attention to it.  However the catalogue says a number of the books are illustrated on their website, and I can't find these images anywhere.  Can someone point me towards them please?

 

Thanks, John

In the pull down menu on Tom’s site go to First World War and then click ‘Catalogue Only’. Only 49 left now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Years ago, after he had cleaned my clock several times on eBay, I decided to have a look at his buying history (when you could still do that) to see exactly who I was competing against. The results were a combination of rare WWI literature and women's accessories and nothing else. The list was something like Merry Hell, ladies jumper, Storm of Steel, ladies suede jacket, Field Guns in France, ladies high heels, Pillbox 17, pearl ear rings, etc. Their shared eBay account was always a source of amusement and assuaged the loss. A little. I'm sure he's having a laugh at this round about memorial.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...