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Remembered Today:

Rarest book?


Audax

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No I haven't. What's it called?

Maybe it's better for us that these books are scarce. Part of the joy of collecting is searching for and finding that elusive rarity.

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I'm assuming it's 'Survivors of a Kind' ?

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Its Brain Bond Editor, The First World War and British Military History, ISBN 978 0198222996 I suggest you borrow it first.

An Ma thesis on the subject http://bir.brandeis.edu/bitstream/handle/10192/23858/Final%20MA%20Thesis.pdf?sequence=3 I have yet to read and an Unobtainable!

IMG_20140211_151534.jpg

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Just got in and read the discussion to my question regarding 'There's a devil...', fantastic stuff, thankyou!

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Just started reading 'A Subaltern in the field' by E.C Matthews, another of those books that I searched for in 2002 and it took me 9 years to find a copy, though I noticed

John Marrin had a copy in the d/w for sale recently. It was published by Heath Cranton in 1920 and is only a small book, 63pp with 12 illustrations so I suppose you

could easily miss it if it were in a second hand bookshop ( what are they?) and the construction of the book is not very robust, maybe that's why so few copies exist?

(E.C Matthews was a Lieutenant in the D.C.L.I )

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When I first decided to collect rare original Great War memoirs back in 2002 I started to write a list each year in an exercise book of my top 20-30 books to try and collect

for that year, I thought my fellow collectors may be interested in my first list and the year I managed to find a copy of the books listed.

1. Unwilling Passenger (2002)

2.Passchendaele and The Somme (2002)

3.A Trooper in the Tins (2002)

4.The First Three Months (2006)

5.From Mons to the First battle of Ypres (2005)

6.The Gambardier (2002)

7.Memoirs of a Camp Follower (2002)

8.With a Reservist in France (2002)

9.Medicine and Duty (2003)

10.Henry Dundas :Scots Guard (2002)

11.Two Men a Memoir (2002)

12.A Subaltern in the Field (2011)

13.A Soldiers Diary of the Great War (2007)

14.A Schoolmaster at War (2002)

15.Three Years in the ninth Division (2003)

16.The War Letters of a Light infantryman (2004)

17.From Langemark to Cambrai (2002)

18.Q6a and other places of 1916,17,18 (2004)

19.Salute of Guns (2002)

20.The Big Fight (2002)

21.Battle line Narratives (2002)

22.The Breaking of the Storm (2004)

23.A Nomad under Arms (2002)

24.A Soldier's War (2010)

25.The Somme 1916 (2002)

26.P. Howell a memoir (2002)

27. Gun fodder (2002)

28.From Cloisters to Camp (2009)

29.The Distant Drum (2002)

30.A Kitchener Man's Bit (2004)

31.Attack and other essays (2002)

32.And All for What ? (2009)

33. No Great Shakes (2002)

34. Time Gathered a autobiography (2003)

35. Mons, Anzac and Kut (2006)

36.Recollections of an Amateur Soldier (2008)

37.The Gallant Company(2003)

38.The Hungry One (2003)

39. Winter's Tale (2009)

40. A Subaltern's War (2004)

These were the pre internet days for me so most of the books were from book fairs/ catalogues and it was the most successful year for finding books, my average now

is finding about 5 out of a list of about 30 per year.

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5 is still not bad. I loved catalogues and fairs, I got an Italian toy so I could go to book fairs in style!

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Well done, BM, I trust they're all in their jackets! Don't know no's 26, 30, 31, 34, 38 & 39 - could you give the authors of those. I'd be interested to see your latest list. I had an original list from about 30 years ago which ran to around 6 pages but it's now down to 2 - pages that is.

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5 is still not bad. I loved catalogues and fairs, I got an Italian toy so I could go to book fairs in style!

Me too, my favourite were the Naval and Military book fairs at Tunbridge Wells and Marlborough, i found some really good books there.

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Well done, BM, I trust they're all in their jackets! Don't know no's 26, 30, 31, 34, 38 & 39 - could you give the authors of those. I'd be interested to see your latest list. I had an original list from about 30 years ago which ran to around 6 pages but it's now down to 2 - pages that is.

Thanks, No's 1. 26. 29 and 31 were in their jackets , no's 25 & 38 were newer books so had them and I've since found jackets for no's 2. 6. 7. 20. 39. and 40.

Philip Howell a memoir by his wife was in the latest T.D catalogue ( on your site also)

A Kitchener man's bit is a quite recent paperback but rare (been mentioned on the book thread recently)

Attack and other papers (not essays) is by R.H Tawney A & U 1953 he was a sergeant in the Manchester Regt and was wounded on the first day of the Somme

he was characterised in a quite recent documentary on the Somme.

Time Gathered by W.B Maxwell Hutchinson 1937 , I saw it mentioned in a bibliography but it only has about 40 pages on the war.

Winter's Tale is a good memoir by General Sir Ormonde Winter , a subaltern in India pre ww1 he served in Gallipoli and F&F and was in charge of the Black and Tans

during the Irish 'troubles'.(The Richard's Press 1955)

The Hungry one is a more modern memoir but scarce.

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Always got good books at Marlborough and nice drive too!

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I rather enjoy the Deepcut fare - pity it's in the middle of nowhere. Bought some good things there last year. This year there will be a special WW1 bookfair at the Royal National on 10th August - that should be good.

Thank's for the info, BM, more books for me to look for.

If anyone's interested there's a jacketed 2nd impression of 'Storm of Steel' on EBay at the moment.

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I rather enjoy the Deepcut fare - pity it's in the middle of nowhere. Bought some good things there last year. This year there will be a special WW1 bookfair at the Royal National on 10th August - that should be good.

Thank's for the info, BM, more books for me to look for.

If anyone's interested there's a jacketed 2nd impression of 'Storm of Steel' on EBay at the moment.

Yes I saw that, pity the jacket has been laminated to the boards though.

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I missed that part. Oh well there's always Harrington's copy for £2,500.

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Have ordered the Tawney, but not A Kitchener Man's Bit - £300 seemed rather a lot for a paperback! Should have bought the Howell but missed it.

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Have ordered the Tawney, but not A Kitchener Man's Bit - £300 seemed rather a lot for a paperback! Should have bought the Howell but missed it.

I think I first saw 'Attack and other papers' in the bibliography at the back of 'Death's Men' by Denis Winter ( a good source for anyone starting out collecting memoirs),

I must admit there are only two chapters that deal with his Great War experiences and most of the book is about his post war life, but it is interesting that his experiences

on 1st July 1916 were included in the B.B.C docudrama ' The Somme from defeat to victory', which also included the experiences of Frank Maxwell V.C (another famous

memoir), so i am glad I purchased a copy.

Yes it's a shame about the Junger , ruins it really for a collector, a bit like a chip or crack in a piece of fine porcelain, still it's worth having I suppose if your not a purist or

you can get it for little money.

P.S I'm sure another 'Kitchener man's bit' will turn up eventually, two or three all at once probably, that's what usually happens with scarce books!

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Without doubt it is the bound version of the Hampshire Regiment monthly magazines. These are an incredible source of info on the Hampshires - detailed casualty lists which tell you exactly how each man was wounded, reports, letters, exhortations - all details of promotions etc etc.

I believe there are only about five copies in existence

John

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I think I first saw 'Attack and other papers' in the bibliography at the back of 'Death's Men' by Denis Winter ( a good source for anyone starting out collecting memoirs),

!

Death's Men - I was trying to remember which list I used to start with & that was it. I think you & I have been chasing exactly the same books for a long time now!

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Death's Men - I was trying to remember which list I used to start with & that was it. I think you & I have been chasing exactly the same books for a long time now!

We have, when i first visited the Military Parade bookshop in Marlborough and told the man i was looking for WW1 memoirs he said "Oh yes, you collect 1st editions in

their jackets"(they thought i was you) and the same thing happened at book fairs, it felt like we were the only two collecting WW1 memoirs.

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You were lucky to find the shop open. Not visited it for years having failed to gain entry so often. Used to be a good Military Bookfair in the Town Hall but sadly no more.

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I know, it was always a bit of a hit and miss affair but worth trying if passing through, I always enjoyed the book fairs there, my biggest regret was not buying a copy of

Big game, Boers and Boches by Prescott-Westcar in it's dust jacket, I think it was only about £45.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Pleased to have just acquired a very reasonably priced jacketed copy of 'They also served' by Cecil Thomas , an extremely rare P.O.W memoir published by Hurst & Blackett in 1939.

Thomas served in the London Regiment and was captured at Vimy Ridge in 1916.

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Pleased to have just acquired a very reasonably priced jacketed copy of 'They also served' by Cecil Thomas , an extremely rare P.O.W memoir published by Hurst & Blackett in 1939.

What a bit of luck - certainly a very scarce book. There's a jacketless 2nd impression on Amazon for £125, ex library so not too tempting.

Picked up the first volume of Gen. Wauchope's history of the Black Watch in the War. Not scarce but this was inscribed by Wauchope to General Wavell.

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Books published just before the Second World War do not seemed to have survived that well.

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