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Rarest book?


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Tom Donovan copy?? possibly mine

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Tom Donovan copy?? possibly mine

I thought maybe that's where it went. Feel free to send it to me by return post!
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Hey all,

I recently found a book I've been hunting for about a decade: A.C. Stewart's The Shell (1917). Published by William Briggs, Toronto. 70 odd pages of reasonably competent poetry, with the title poem being written in the first person from the perspective of an artillery shell. The binding is so wonderful though, one can overlook the marginal quality of the verse. There are about a dozen copies held in various academic libraries, but it's very hard to find for sale. Quite rare.

post-100204-0-22124500-1465060537_thumb.

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What a wonderful find, jc. Never heard of it before but it's gone straight onto my wants list.

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Great jacket!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thought I'd add another book to this thread just to see if I can make the new software work!

Frederick Sleath served with the Royal Scots at Ypres before being invalided home to a desk job. He published some six books, only the first two of which, this & the better known 'Sniper Jackson', concern WW1. Both books are very scarce but I've only ever seen one copy of each in their original wrappers.

(There doesn't seem to be a 'Preview Post' button anymore, so no chance to make alterations before posting your reply).

sleath seventh vial-001.jpg

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Nice dust jacket Alan, it's a shame so few have survived.

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I have just finished reading 'Letters From Flanders' by A.D. Gillespie. I found it a great read in the fact that it was just about a day by day account of his life at the front. I found it very moving at the end where his last letter explains how he has to lead his men in to action the next day and then...... no more.

This copy has a review pasted in the front from what looks like, 'The Times'. It is also signed by a member of the family which looks something like E?G Gillespie.

 

 

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1 hour ago, other ranker said:

I have just finished reading 'Letters From Flanders' by A.D. Gillespie. I found it a great read in the fact that it was just about a day by day account of his life at the front. I found it very moving at the end where his last letter explains how he has to lead his men in to action the next day and then...... no more.

This copy has a review pasted in the front from what looks like, 'The Times'. It is also signed by a member of the family which looks something like E?G Gillespie.

 

 

It's nice to have a copy with family connections, it sounds quite a poignant book. I will have to get my copy out and read it sometime. One of the biggest

problems with collecting books is finding the time to read them all :D

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  • 1 month later...

Rarest book?:

 

Merian C. Hooper was the producer of a number of Hollywood films, including 'King Kong' (1933) and 'Fort Apache'. During the GW he had served as a bomber pilot with the US Army Air Service: after the War he volunteered for Kościuszko's Escadrille and during the Polish-Soviet War was shot down and imprisoned in a Soviet PoW camp.

 

The 'Open Library' takes up the story:

 

"During his time as a PoW ... [he] wrote an autobiography: 'Things Men Die For' by 'C'. He turned the manuscript over to Dagmar Matson to type for publisher submission. It was submitted to G. P. Putnam's Sons in New York (the Knickerbocker Press) in 1927 and published that same year. Just after the book's release, he changed his mind about releasing the personal details about 'Nina' [a woman with whom he had had an affair] and asked Dagmar to buy up every copy she could find. She managed to acquire most of the 5,000 copies that had been released. Cooper kept a copy and Dagmar kept a copy, while the rest were eventually destroyed. Dagmar sent Nina money every month, on behalf of Cooper, until his death."

 

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6703214M/Things_men_die_for

 

image.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just managed to buy a copy of Beckles Willson's "In the Ypres Salient" . I think it's quite a rare one in its first edition. I'd be interested to know if its a proper rarity if anyone's got a view.  

 

 

Ypres Book.JPG

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Thanks for posting, Cymro. An interesting little book but not scarce I think. There are 6 originals on ABE at this moment. I love the period lettering though. I might treat myself to a copy.

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1 minute ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Thanks for posting, Cymro. An interesting little book but not scarce I think. There are 6 originals on ABE at this moment. I love the period lettering though. I might treat myself to a copy.

Thanks for that DJC - I'm looking forward to reading it. I was lucky enough to find a copy of the Collingwood Battalion  book featured earlier in this thread on ebay some time ago. I think that was rather fortunate given the subsequent comments on its scarcity!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's one that certainly earns its status as a legendary rarity. I first saw this copy some 30 years ago and as far as I'm aware it's the only one to have retained its jacket. Sadly too expensive for me this time around.

war the infantry kes dw.jpg

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 I remember seeing it in a Tom Donovan catalogue c 2000 , I think it was about £200 at the time, which sounds quite cheap now.

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24 minutes ago, Black Maria said:

 I remember seeing it in a Tom Donovan catalogue c 2000 , I think it was about £200 at the time, which sounds quite cheap now.

At least an order of magnitude increase.

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Whilst failing to buy the last book mentioned, I did manage to afford this one which whilst not as rare as the Dunn is distinctly scarce in it's jacket. Focusing on the doings of a single company at Gallipoli it's one of the finest Unit Histories I've come across. It even manages a short biography & photo of everyone who served with it! Published in Dublin in 1917.

Mindful of the fact that this topic is not one of the most popular on the site I've included a picture of a bayonet that my uncle brought back from the Somme in 1918.

pals at suvla hanna.jpg         bayonet.jpg

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18 hours ago, Black Maria said:

 I remember seeing it in a Tom Donovan catalogue c 2000 , I think it was about £200 at the time, which sounds quite cheap now.

Tom admitted he sold it too cheap!!!

 

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A French Lebel  Bayonet if I'm not mistaken.. Oh no I think I'm going over to the dark side !

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2 hours ago, barkalotloudly said:

Tom admitted he sold it too cheap!!!

 

Been there and got the t-shirt I'm sorry to say. I still regret selling my WW1 militaria collection for a song back in the early eighties, including a German

sawback bayonet :)

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55 minutes ago, Black Maria said:

A French Lebel  Bayonet if I'm not mistaken.. Oh no I think I'm going over to the dark side !

Thanks John. I know nothing about them & I was reluctant to ask in case I got a thousand replies. I think it must have been amongst his effects and been sent to my auntie after he was killed. It's a miracle it's survived as I spent most of my childhood running around her garden sticking it into any piece of wood I came across.

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39 minutes ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Thanks John. I know nothing about them & I was reluctant to ask in case I got a thousand replies. I think it must have been amongst his effects and been sent to my auntie after he was killed. It's a miracle it's survived as I spent most of my childhood running around her garden sticking it into any piece of wood I came across.

That's okay Alan, those were the days eh ?, when you could run around the garden with a bayonet without the armed response unit being called by the

neighbours:D

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A Machine Gunner's Notes France 1918 a book available digitally online but seldom seen in original hard copy.  Autographed by the author.  Belonged to my uncle along with History of 311th Machine Gun Battalion, 79th Division A.E.F. - the history of the MG Battalion with which he served, which was printed across the street from my boyhood home in Pennsylvania.

MG Notes.jpg

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Hello all,

 

I recently picked up a copy of Canada in Khaki, (issue no.2) a magazine of verse and stories published to raise money for the Canadian War Memorials Fund.  Mine has been rebound in leather, and I believe it's a one of a kind item.  The bookplate is quite good.

 

Cheers,

 

James

 

IMG_20160829_172811_zpsyjnnsf08.jpg

 

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