Lincoln and his Generals by T. Harry Williams.

Lincoln and his Generals by T. Harry Williams. Hardcover book published by Gramercy 2000, 368 pages.

“This is the human, dramatic, and fascinating story of Lincoln as commander in chief of an army at war against its brothers. It is a riveting look at his search for a winning general, and of his own emergence as a master strategist. Here is the Lincoln who, in loneliness and doubt, bore the whole burden of forging a modern command system that would serve a nation in years to come.”

There are many people who read books on history. I read books on various histories preferring to keep it as broad or as narrow a range as I feel like at any particular time. I do have a slight bias towards books about the history of India. This interest came about whilst travelling and it was due to a desire to better understand what I had seen whilst journeying and not having had a full comprehension of the whole story at the time (...and what an amazing story it is). Over the years I have become a little more enlightened about the sub continent and i still find the odd tome to tempt me.

Some people like to read about the American Civil War. From memory there are more than a few past prominent Australians who count themselves amongst those with more than a passing interest. My tastes haven't ventured towards this area of the world's history and at this point in time I can't see it happening all too soon. I'm not sure why this is, or why others with no obvious link here in Australia, should have a fascination with a war that was more than a few years ago. I guess i'm no different as I also have no obvious link with my favoured historic topic/place other than spending a bit of time there.

A final observation: I've noticed that the Civil War is not so popular with the on line book buyers here in Australia. Yep, I don't seem to be able to sell books about Americans killing Americans on ebay. From experience though, these books did sell over the counter in a bricks and mortar situation... mmmmmm... Stay tuned for some important Huc & Gabet news in the next few weeks.

Click here to view this book on ebay.

Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader.

Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader. Hardcover book published by W. W. Norton & Company 2007, 355 pages with some black and white illustrations and colour photographs.

“Is this how they make them in France?” As Dan Leader watched Rolf, one of the bakers at Tobias Maurer’s Stuttgart bakery, shape French loaves, Dan thought that he had misheard Rolf’s question. Stuttgart is a six- hour train ride from Paris, and it was incomprehensible to Dan that this master baker, who spent his life making different kinds of German rye breads, wouldn’t be aware of French baguettes. All over Europe, the bakers Dan visited in his search for unique artisan breads were, like Rolf, devoted to baking locally. It is this commitment to place and tradition that accounts for their greatness. Although globalization has made its way across Europe, Dan managed to discover local bakers in great numbers making breads handed down from their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, improving on the old recipes and adapting them to new technology, but always with an eye to keeping tradition alive. In Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe ‘s Best Artisan Bakers, Dan provides us with both colorful stories of the people he found — local artisans making local breads — and their treasured recipes, which he has translated for American home bakers.

I've eaten bread more than a few times in my life and it is something that I enjoy eating, particularly if it is tasty and is as far away from the taste of tasteless cardboard, as possible. Discovering new breads is a real joy. A few weeks back I was at a function here in Clunes, when someone I know wheeled out a basket full of home made Parker House rolls. If you're as up to date with breads of the world as i am, you are probably as perplexed as i was. What is a Parker House roll? (Click here and all will be revealed.)  The reason i mention these rolls is that they were quite simply outstanding in both taste and texture and they were picture book is appearance (they looked great).

Parker House rolls are not European and therefore are sadly not in this book. European bread is what this book considers in all its doughy glory. I've travelled through Europe a few times and i have to say that i don't particularly remember the breads i ate. I do remember the beers and various other bits and pieces, but bread is not something that i came back to Australia wanting to share anecdotes with others about. I wonder if that's me or was it the bread. I think we have some amazing breads from all over the world here in Australia so there is the possiblity that my taste buds were tasting what i've already known and loved for many years. This sounds a bit arrogant but seriously if you go out of your way, don't shop at a supermarket and avoid mass produced tasteless white bread, the bread here is pretty damn good. Which leads me to another theory about why i don't remember much about European bread and that has to do with knowing where to go to get the good stuff and avoiding the bad stuff. Travelling through Europe, i wasn't focussed on bread and clearly, according to this book, i have missed out. I should have been exploring the bakeries and tasting their wares...which is exactly what the author of this book did. This is something to look forward too the next time i venture forth.

Regardless of why or how i missed out on the breads of europe, this is a book filled with many varied and detailed recipes from “Europe's Best Artisan Bakers”. Maybe this is how i can taste the breads of Europe... bake them myself.

The Day Of Creation by J. G. Ballard. SIGNED COPY.

The Day Of Creation by J. G. Ballard. Hardcover book published by Victor Gollancz 1987, 254 pages. SIGNED COPY.

Here at Huc & Gabet we are just a little bit excited about the new J.G. Ballard film. OK, the film is not made by Ballard (he died in 2009) but it is based on one of his magnificent books, namely, High Rise. This film is starting to get a bit of interest on the www... or maybe it's just me, a Ballard fan, wanting people to be interested. Either way, there is a film coming soon. Thinking back to the last time I read it (it was this century), I can well imagine High Rise on the screen and for some reason the image of the drowned dog is one that I hope they keep in the film.... not because I think that drowned dogs are a good thing, but rather it's a powerful image that has stuck with this High Rise reader.

Film adaptions can at times be a bit dodgy... or even a lot dodgy. A few of Ballards books have made the transition previously (Empire of the Sun and Crash). Crash in particular seems to polarise viewers. The book is about sex and car accidents and amazingly, so is the film. I guess if you don't want to watch a fetish movie about sex and car accidents then it's probably not a film for you. Personally, I thought it was a fine adaptation and yes it was a bit disturbing, a bit like the book.

I don't currently have either a copy of High Rise or Crash for sale. I do have a copy of The Day of Creation which is a later book by Mr Ballard. Here in Australia, this is not an uncommon book to find in hardcover and at a more than reasonable price. What is not that common is to find a copy that has been signed by the man himself:

Despite signed copies being uncommon here in Australia, this isn't the first copy i've found that has been signed during what was probably a promotional tour. I think it's a nice thing to have particularly if you're a fan... as I am.

I mentioned this book to a fellow bookseller the other day and his response was rather interesting. He said that he wasn't that keen on any signed copies of anything as they tended to ruin/damage a book. Despite enjoying an authors scribble, I sort of understand this concept... but that doesn't mean that I don't get excited... and it doesn't mean that one of the earlier signed copies I unearthed isn't in my personal collection.

Dav Pilkey, Creator of CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, on Banning Books

Pyramids For Gymnastic Displays: With a chapter on how to pose by Staff-Sergt. Moss.

Pyramids For Gymnastic Displays: With a chapter on how to pose by Staff-Sergt. Moss. Hardcover book (stiff card)(no dust jacket) published by Athletic Publications (no date, probably early 20th century), 74 pages with a few pages of advertising.

PYRAMIDS are a fitting termination to all gymnastic displays owing to the fact that every individual performing may take part in the final event, and show that not only do they excel in individual gymastics, but that they can work successfully in combination. Pyramids are, indeed, frequently the most effective and pleasing item in the programme of displays. The original idea of the Pyramid was to form a number of men in such a manner as to represent the outline of the famous Pyramids of Egypt. This idea has now, however, been largely lost sight of in subsequent development, and, to-day, a great deal of variety obtains in connection with gymnastic tableaux. Of course, the main thing to be studied in the presentation of a Pyramid is a graceful and striking effect. Care must be taken to ensure that the appearance of the tableaux is graceful and finished, as obviously, if the arrangement is clumsy, the general impression is bad, even although the desired outline may, to some extent, be obtained. In the succeeding pages there are illustrated many kinds of Pyramids, calling for a varying number of men, and arranged in many different ways. Any particular one may be selected, if necessary, ideas may be selected from a number and worked into one figure. This, however, should not prove necessary, as much time and thought has been used in making the selections thoroughly representative and complete. A few of these pieces have names, but the names have not been inserted, as, after much trouble, it has been found.

Oh yeah. I couldn't help myself.

Maybe it's just me but when I find a book such as this one and regardless of the condition (this copy has spent quite a bit of time tumbling and twirling), I feel the urge...

No, not the urge to get a group of people together and form a pyramid, but the urge to share this book with someone who genuinely loves this sort of thing... and who doesn't.

It was a different time back then and you may have noticed that I haven't listed a date, that's because there is no date on a book that is as timeless as this one. This was a time when fun meant doing very strange things for other people to admire. This was a time before the internet, a time when...

...ummm, this is a bit weird.  What's with the leopard skin? ... and no pyramid!!!... i guess this is posing. 

This is such a crazy book and it reminds me how much fun book hunting and selling can be. If only everyday could be a Pyramids for Gymnastic Display day. I love it.

Complete Course In Pick Pocketing by Pierre Jacques.

Complete Course In Pick Pocketing by Pierre Jacques. Hardcover book published by Tannens Magic Manuscript 1983, 91 pages with black and white photographs.

Fortunately I have never had the displeasure of experiencing a strangers hands inside my pockets. That doesn't mean that there has never been a strange hand in my pocket as anyone who puts the information in this book to use would supposedly not be detectable and therefore I wouldn't notice this sort of thing happening:

I find these photos fascinating as they are so anonymous and victimless, yet we all know that pick pocketing is a crime... unless of course it's done in the name of entertainment!!!

When I first saw this book I hesitated and then noticed it was published by a Magic publisher... and still hesitated. Something that is so evil, could be used for evil... unless of course it is used for 'fun' magic purposes. I'm fairly sure that someone pick pocketing me in front of others would not be a 'fun' experience... but maybe that's just me and my perverse desire to not have things stolen from my person. As I write this with a little distance from my purchase point, I'm still a bit torn between whether this book is a good thing or not. It's definitely of interest, I just hope that I don't bump into the person who buys it, at a later date. …here, take my watch.

I'd like to see the face of someone who steals my watch when they realise that it's worth less than a fiver.

 

Paxette Guide: Making the most of the Paxette and Super Paxette Models by W.D. Emanuel.

Paxette Guide: Making the most of the Paxette and Super Paxette Models by W.D. Emanuel.

Paperback book (approx 12cm x 16cm x 4mm) published by The Focal Press 1957 (fourth edition), 72 pages with black and white illustrations and a few black and white photographs. Also contains a single page (folded) brochure for Agfa film.

This book is a guide to the Paxette and Super Paxette Cameras. The Paxette belongs to the small group of early post-war cameras which, through their original design (breaking away from many pre-war traditions), helped to create a new look and new trend in modern photography. At the same time they paved the way for numerous latecomers in the field of the inexpensive 35mm camera. The Paxette has no bellows, the lens being fitted rigidly to the camera front, thus doing away with opening up of the camera. It is fitted with a film transport coupled with the shutter tensioning and exposure counter. The viewfinder is an integral part built into the camera body.

Cameras have changed a bit since 1957. Most often they are now called “mobile phones” or “mobile devices”. Don't let the “phones” in the first one confuse you, it's a camera and sometimes a phone. You can still buy a camera, but I think I can confidently and arrogantly assert that more photos are taken on mobiles than on Cameras. Correct me if i'm wrong.

Despite the changing world of picture taking, there are those that persist with the camera and there are even those who appreciate the vintage camera. I know of at least 3 people who own and regularly use a real camera, 2 of these I would even catagorise as collectors of vintage cameras. It was with this knowledge of appreciators that saw me pick up this guide/manual for the Paxette. I had no idea what a Paxette was at the time, but fortunately due to the picture on the cover and the format of the book (small booklet size bordering on ephemera), I figured out that it was a camera and that this book had something to do with it. I guess it's all part of the learning curve that this bookseller is still curving through.