New arrival

[CINDERS]

The Seventeenth Battalion AIF - In The Great War 1914 - 1918. 2nd Ed? 1946

Latest addition to my library on Australia in WWI, I managed to get it fairly cheap actually cannot find to many copies for sale there is a 1980 facsimile for sale at $159.
The original was published in 1933 I believe so this could be a 2nd Ed but does not say much either way I am pretty happy to have it bears some interesting inscriptions which I have pictured.

I will probably never get to own all the books about our WWI service in H/C's some are just well outside of my wallet $1000 + for some copies, plus it is a long process waiting for the books to come up at the right price and condition.
Also just finished after 10 years piecing together a reading copies of the 12 volume set written by C E W Bean of Australia's 1914-1918 war (price V's availability) as my other set is too good & pristine being a shelf dweller.
And just upgraded my 5th Australian Division H/C 1st Ed for a better one also a 1st Ed and eagerly await its arrival as I am selling the one I have to help fund it.

So in the age of plastic people and computers there is nothing better to me than the feel of paper and the printed word I am pretty happy with that lot.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[RASelkirk]

Agreed, paper books are so much nicer. Hang in there and keep looking, you'd be surprised at the number of things you can get for the "right price" by simply waiting.

Russ

[CINDERS]

Okay I did some more thorough research on this book and I am now booked in to getting new glasses because the book I thought was the seventeenth for sale on fleabay is really the "Seventh Battalion" ? Okay I will take it my vision is compromised.....

However after going round the web looking at various sites it may be a possibility that my 1946 Ed of the Seventeenth's history is in fact a 1st Ed which is even better for myself.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

And the disturbing thing is that of the billions of books published in the last two centuries, it seems that the oldest will survive the longest.

The reason is manifold, but it relates to materials and processes.

For a VERY long time, paper was made from COTTON, sometimes with a bit of linen thrown in. By the beginning of the 20th Century, the demand for paper was such that a new source of fibre was needed, and wood-pulp was it. The problem was that wood-pulp formed a nasty BROWN shade of paper (lignin), thus the need for "bleaching".

The earliest successful processes centered around variations on "Oxygen Bleaching" and it involved slow processes. The huge rise in demand for paper saw the introduction of a "faster and cheaper" process; "acid-bleaching".

The problem is that the RESIDUAL acid degrades the paper, slowly but inexorably, from the day of manufacture.

Ever wondered why your much-thumbed copy of "Bolt-Action Rifles" or "Cartridges of the World" is looking a little "brown" and the pages feel "dusty"?

Acid-bleached paper.

By contrast, copies of "Twentieth Century Locomotives (1898 Ed.) or the original "Illustrated War News" (1914-1918) look positively pristine, with WHITE, glossy paper that feels smooth and "un-dusty". The bindings may be looking scruffy, but the Century-plus vintage pages are remarkably fresh.

I have dozens of 1950's, '60's and '70's vintage paperback editions of historical texts. like "The Washing of the Spears" (Desmond Morris) and "Inside the Third Reich" (Albert Speer), and a swag of classic Science Fiction titles, and they are starting to look decidedly "tired".

Then there are computer floppy discs, a mere three decades old, which look in pretty good shape, but how many folk will ever be able to read them again?

[Bruce_in_Oz]

[CINDERS]

Nice ones Bruce

As for the "Dunny dweller"

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

So in the age of plastic people and computers there is nothing better to me than the feel of paper and the printed word I am pretty happy with that lot.

Well said.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

And, the other good thing about paper books is that the battery doesn't go flat just when you get to a good bit.

[AD-4NA]

Agreed, paper books are so much nicer. Hang in there and keep looking, you'd be surprised at the number of things you can get for the "right price" by simply waiting.

Russ

True, plus I don't want to sound too much like "kids these days" because that opinion is BS and I might be one of those "kids" but for some First World War items the generation that fought the war or whose parents, grandparents or even great grandparents fought the war are leaving us so someone might not know what they have or appreciate it as much since there is less of a connection.

[usabaker]

[quote=CINDERS;423976]I am pretty happy to have it bears some interesting inscriptions[/quote

When I find old books with inscriptions I get sucked in like a Kirby. I got these two books not too long ago.