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Peter Ewart
Joined: 31 Aug 2005 |
Posts: 1797 |
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England. |
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:44 pm |
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Paul
They certainly are high. I think an expensive Moodie is in there somewhere too (it's several days since I looked) and I think the reprint business will eventually have its effect on the antiquarian book market. For those who want a first (or at least early) edition - a proper book, as it were - then reprints are no substitute, but I suspect this sector of the market may eventually diminish, and the prices asked for won't be sustained, unless there at least two very keen bidders after the same item.
On the other hand, some Olive Schreiner material went through the roof last month. Another factor is the very poor quality of many reprints - it seems everyone is at it and some of their efforts don't really pass muster. Not even all the text and illustrations sometimes, and often poor copying. It is, of course, a very cheap method of getting hold of (sometimes only most of) the text, though!
Peter
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Peter Ewart
Joined: 31 Aug 2005 |
Posts: 1797 |
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England. |
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:13 pm |
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Paul
I suspect a large part of this market (certainly on AZW works) is overseas rather than in S Africa. This bookshop is usually towards the top end with regard to prices (I think I'm on safe ground with that statement!)
Some of the asking prices do baffle me - and others. These works are certainly in demand but I really can't imagine much of a push towards those prices for some of the titles, which have certainly changed hands for much less in recent years. Of course, scarce firsts in good condition will always command a premium, and even more so if they have "association" status, but that would normally be flagged up in the catalogue. Two or three of the titles here (Moodie, Stalker etc) are classic rarities - but even so ...
In last month's Explorer auction the same shop offered half a dozen or so works, mostly by, or linked to, the Schreiner family, each with very small reserves (just a few pounds really) and estimates and, although sold individually, they went for a total of around �20,000. The climax to this online auction (which, unlike eBay for example, allows two more minutes of bidding after the deadline, each "late" bid extending the auction by another two minutes!) was an amazing spectacle, as these different works spiralled up into the thousands in a few minutes! Without being involved in the bidding, one could just sit back and gasp as two (at least) bidders somewhere in the world spent a lot of money very quickly. I needed a drink after that excitement, so what the bidder and under-bidder(s) needed is anyone's guess!
I did just check the three Schreiner works on my shelves but, sadly(!) they had no interesting inscriptions, nor are they firsts, although in the case of my copy of Trooper Peter Halkett it does contain the gruesome photo omitted from many editions. I was also relieved to pick up a title I'd been after for some time for as little as about �20 including airmail postage!
Rich - what I meant was with so many little firms entering the reprint market, I think the prices of some titles will gradually ease, unless there are at least two who want the original really badly. The online scene, such as google books or the gadgets Coll describes, can only deal with material out of copyright of course - which, I suppose, these expensive bits of Africana certainly are. But do you want to sit by the fire, glass of wine at your elbow and the feel of a beautiful book (read by who knows during the last 100 years or so) in your hands - or fiddle with an infernal piece of plastic? If a work remains out of reach price wise, then thank goodness for decent reprints, but staring at a screen for long would not be for me.
Not only that - but without the need for bookshelves, how would we cover all our walls? We'd have to learn to decorate!
Peter
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Keith Smith
Joined: 30 Aug 2005 |
Posts: 540 |
Location: Northern NSW, Australia |
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:54 pm |
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Gentlemen
My own view about books is that I love them! but even more, I love the information that they contain. I have bought many books in recent years and a lot of them are originals. These are wonderful and take pride of place in my collection. On the other hand, some are reprints of one kind or another, and these suit me too, because they contain the authentic words of the author, so essential to a researcher. Recently, however, I bought a reprint which purported to be produced by Optical Character Recognition(OCR) a means by which I myself produce documents. The result, however, was entirely unedited, making it completely incomprehensible. Readers beware, the books produced by this method are entirely useless and I shall not buy another. I returned the book and received a full credit, but not for the postage either way. Caveat emptor, say I.
KIS
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Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:50 pm |
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Although an amateur enthusiast of the AZW, especially of Isandlwana, it'd be fantastic to get my hands on material, which is mostly beyond my reach financially.
I very much like actual books myself, but information is my main interest, meaning if such a wealth of detail can be supplied for an e-reader (is that the right term?) which is book-size and clearly written, then I'm all for it.
I'm always unsure how I present myself on the forum, but I really would like to be considered a serious enthusiast, with the assistance of more detailed materials, at an affordable cost.
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