Rarest book?

[MartH]

Alan Thanks, I now think I have all the Official Publications on Mespot. 

Now was it one of the rare Vol 3a's not signed by Becke? Always a hard one to find.

I had a similar pruchase pattern fro Casualties and Medical Statistics nothing for 30 years then 4 in 2 months.

Don't forget :

 

 

[Dust Jacket Collector]

3 hours ago, MartH said:

Alan Thanks, I now think I have all the Official Publications on Mespot. 

Now was it one of the rare Vol 3a's not signed by Becke? Always a hard one to find.

I had a similar pruchase pattern fro Casualties and Medical Statistics nothing for 30 years then 4 in 2 months.

Don't forget :

 

 

Something tells me that’s exceedingly rare.

[MartH]

13 hours ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Something tells me that’s exceedingly rare.

We know at least 20 copies were bound up and issued, the man in Brighton was not aware of it until we had a discusion.

There may be more extant, todate we know 2 copies are on World Cat https://www.worldcat.org/formats-editions/28921624, and SeaJane (the knowledge) knows of two other copies. Mine came from the British Medical Association Library. 

So we know of 5, surely there are more, but if that is the true the surviving number its "beyond rare", took 40 years plus to find it....

[GreyC]

21 minutes ago, MartH said:

Mine came from the British Medical Association Library.

Good for you! (and I mean it.) But isn´t it a shame, really, that such an institution which should have an obligation (at least to its members) to provide such rare sources of knowledge to them, gets rid of it by selling it? Or would that have been a spare/surplus copy? That would make it six known copies. But a surplus copy is hard to believe, with only 20 bound.

GreyC

 

Edited 19 October , 2023 by GreyC

[MartH]

8 minutes ago, GreyC said:

Good for you! (and I mean it.) But isn´t it a shame, really, that such an institution which should have an obligation (at least to its members) to provide such rare sources of knowledge to them, gets rid of it by selling it? Or would that have been a spare/surplus copy? That would make it six known copies. But a surplus copy is hard to believe, with only 20 bound.

GreyC

 

I agree it's a shame and a institution losing a knowledge base it should maintain. Sadly this has been happening across British insititutions as long as I have been buying. Recently I bought a very rare Naval Historical Division Official History on Burma 1943-45. It had been written because Roskill when he wrote the Official History the War at Sea he could not find any information. It was the Admiralty Libary Refernce copy!!!

[GreyC]

8 minutes ago, MartH said:

Admiralty Libary Refernce copy!!!

Oh dear! But then again, good to know it to be in good and knowledgeable hands.

GreyC

Edited 19 October , 2023 by GreyC

[seaJane]

2 hours ago, MartH said:

Admiralty Libary Refernce copy

Most likely because they're de-duplicating and have another copy in a better state 🙂

[GreyC]

2 hours ago, seaJane said:

de-duplicating

Interesting word. Let´s hope so.

GreyC

[MartH]

We live in hope, the copy is slightly warn but has crips maps....

 

[Dust Jacket Collector]

1 hour ago, MartH said:

We live in hope, the copy is slightly warn but has crips maps....

 

When you find another I’ll be happy to relieve you of this tatty one!

[Loopgraaf]

Two Dutch books. The little book is from 1916. Wrote by  M.W.F. Treub, that was an old minisiter from the Dutch Goverment, so it is inside information what he wrote. Title Oorlogstijd Herinneringen en Indrukken (War time, memories and impressions). Because he was a politician that make this book special

The other book is from somewhere mid 1930"s. Written by H. Brugman. Title 1914-1918 Geschiedenis van den wereldoorlog (1914-1918 history of the world war)

And that last title History of World War, is for me a special title. No One or Great or First in title, it was before what is gonna happen years after this book, the second World War. So it is written without the upcoming of Nazi and Hitler. Just about the war of 1914-1918.

 

[MartH]

They are nice!

[MartH]

19 hours ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

When you find another I’ll be happy to relieve you of this tatty one!

Alan I thought you only collected GW books, and this one never had a DJ...

 

[Dust Jacket Collector]

27 minutes ago, MartH said:

Alan I thought you only collected GW books, and this one never had a DJ...

 

It’s words like ‘restricted’, ‘confidential’ & ‘secret’ that trump all boundaries. I must say I struggle these days to find almost anything of real interest.

[MartH]

1 hour ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

It’s words like ‘restricted’, ‘confidential’ & ‘secret’ that trump all boundaries. I must say I struggle these days to find almost anything of real interest.

I have to agree, can we add For Official Use Only?

Edited 20 October , 2023 by MartH

[Dust Jacket Collector]

2 hours ago, MartH said:

I have to agree, can we add For Official Use Only?

Most definitely!

[MartH]

So to add a few more Mesopotamia Official Publications. The Indian Army Critical Study. Done before and during a battlefield visit in 1923.

The map volume which like all copies extant is missing the key

[MartH]

The title page 

[MartH]

Now it is a particularly rare set, both maps and text .  1,000 copies alleged printed, with 10 sets and partial sets in libraries across the world.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

6 hours ago, MartH said:

Now it is a particularly rare set, both maps and text .  1,000 copies alleged printed, with 10 sets and partial sets in libraries across the world.

Get thee behind me, Satan! I see the map volume (less one) is on ABE for a little over £3100 and it’ll have to stay there! Nice set you have though. Pity the late Charlie Watts didn’t collect books like this otherwise we’d all be adding another ‘0’ to our valuations.

[MartH]

To complete the set on Mesopt books, here is the Mesopotamia Commission Report. A nice copy with the seperate report by Commader J Wedwood, grandfather of Hilary Benn.

 

Edited 22 October , 2023 by MartH

[Black Maria]

'Jottings by a Gunner and Chaplain' by John A Boullier , Charles H. Kelly London 1917 ( 96pp ) . I've been looking out for a copy of this book for about twelve years so it was nice to finally find one and a bonus that it included it's original jacket ! The author served in the R.F.A and later as a chaplain ( The Retreat from Mons to The Battle of the Somme ).

Edited 27 December , 2023 by Black Maria

[healdav]

I searched vainly for a copy of "Escapers Club" for about 40 years, then I found a copy in a shop in Belgium. A few weeks later I was in South Africa and, yes, found another copy in a second hand bookshop there!

[Black Maria]

2 minutes ago, healdav said:

I searched vainly for a copy of "Escapers Club" for about 40 years, then I found a copy in a shop in Belgium. A few weeks later I was in South Africa and, yes, found another copy in a second hand bookshop there!

Yes it's strange how often that happens and it's annoying if you've splashed out more for your copy than the other that suddenly turns up 

[other ranker]

Happy Christmas and New Year Black Maria! I haven't seen the 'Jottings' book before. Well done with a DJ. I have never really looked hard at the books written by the Clergy. Are there any that are a must have? I await your thoughts.