New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan, edited by Helen Hardacre, with Adam L. Kern

New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan, edited by Helen Hardacre, with Adam L. Kern (Brill's Japanese Studies Library).  Hardcover book published by Brill 1997.

The cheapest copy of this title on the interwebs right now is… $250.  A bargain.  There are a few other copies at a similar price and then it climbs to a massive $459.  $250 and available from… Huc & Gabet (that’s me).  Mmmmm it may be a bargain, but it’s only a bargain when someone actually buys it and it’s at that point in time, that that someone saves the difference between this copy and all the other copies.  For the past 12 months this book has been available on line (the interwebs) at this cheap price and there has been no “someone”.  In other words, it ain’t sold. 

I have a whole book case packed full of these sort of books (ie unsold $$$ books) and as I mentioned about a year ago, these are books that I have parked on line awaiting a sale.  Recently I have started referring to this book case as the Book Case of Death in a reference to dead titles that are sitting on the shelf, lifeless and slowly decaying.  I’m happy to sell them at a reasonable price (meaning cheapest price) as is the case with this book, but I am reluctant to have a fire sale and just get rid of them at any old price.  I had a very rare book a few years ago, that had an online starting value of $500.  I ended up fire saleing it for $20… that’s a big difference.  At the time I figured that at least I now have $20 for it… but you know what, this sale has reluctantly stuck in my mind and now I am very wary and skeptical of these so called “rare” books.  Give me a $20 book that I can sell easily as apposed to the $250 book that will sit on my shelf whilst I get old. 

There is of course the whole question of whether on line values are realistic and whether I should just take what I can get and ignore what the interwebs tells me, which I guess is a bigger question than I can reasonably handle here and now in this blog entry.  So I wont go there.  But let me just say this, I do need to make money.

Anyway, New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan has been available for sale from Huc & Gabet for quite a while and after a whole year I have decided to give it another go on ebay.  So far still no action and I gotta tell ya, I reckon its gonna be sitting in the Book Case of Death for a while longer.  In this instance, I’d like to be wrong.

Keeping Silkworms by Monnie Fenner.

Keeping Silkworms by Monnie Fenner.  Paperback book published by Greenhouse 1991.

This is the one and only book I have ever found on the fascinating pastime/hobby of Keeping Silkworms.  I haven’t really been looking for books on the subject, but this one sort of jumps out at you when you see it, as it is an unusual subject matter.  At least I thought it was unusual until I casually mentioned it to my mother who informed me that during the Second World War this pastime was actively encouraged and pursued by children in Germany of which she was one thereof. 

Cynicism is of course easy with a comment like this… you know what I mean.  The Nazi’s obviously needed silk, probably for parachutes and other things for their nasty war and decided what better way to get it than to get children to actively grow and harvest silk worms… and they can do their school projects on them as well.

So that’s the darker side of this fascinating hobby.  People were breeding (etc) Silk Worms long before Adolf and it’s good to see that people are still continuing the activity without some guy yelling and gesticulating at them.  

Fairfield: A History of the District by Vance George.

Fairfield: A History of the District by Vance George.  Hardcover book published 1991.

Some of you may have noticed an unashamed egotistical pride in some of my blog entries.  Usually this is in regards to my ability in picking a great/interesting book from the mountains of rubbish books that I peruse through.  The truth is I only write about my successes and I try to avoid writing about my failures.  In an effort to be slightly more balanced and a little more humble, I want to tell you about one of these failures.

Recently I experienced an overwhelming feeling of success and achievement in unearthing this particular title.  So great was this feeling, that I even contemplated doing a little victory dance whilst holding the book high in the air swiveling my hips and shouting “Yes, Yes, Yes”.  Fairfield is an inner suburb of Melbourne which is here in Victoria.  In other words a history of Fairfield has some local relevance and one would assume is 1/ of incredible interest, 2/ popular and 3/ much sought after, particularly to those who are interested in inner city histories.  Outer suburb histories for some reason, are less popular*.  I guess there’s less history on the fringes of cities whilst the closer you get to where a big city began, the more history there is.  Therefore my thinking is: Fairfield = Inner city history = Much sought after.

The book is a hefty tome and is a title that I had never seen before… it’s uncommon… at least it’s uncommon within my knowledge.   I was with a few other booksellers at the time of this unearthing, and proudly displayed my find and from memory they were impressed as well and why wouldn’t they be, this book has everything going for it.  So I get it home, still feeling the pride, still wanting to dance and look it up on line to get an idea of an approximate value and… it’s NOT worth the big $$$ that I intuitively felt that it should be worth. 

Let me recap before I continue.  This is an uncommon book on a subject that should be a surefire seller worth the big $$$.  So what’s the problem?

This book isn’t a history of Fairfield, Melbourne.  It’s a history of Fairfield, Sydney which is not an inner suburb of Sydney.  As I mentioned above, outer suburb histories are a little harder to sell and a history of Fairfield, Sydney (located 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district) is just that little bit less desirable (possibly a lot less desirable) than a history of Fairfield, Melbourne (6 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district) and I guess the online value of the book is probably the best demonstration of this. The book is of course of interest to anyone who is interested in Fairfield (Sydney), but I have a feeling that if it had of been a book about Fairfield (Melbourne) it would have been of more of interest / sold by now.  In other words, the book is not what I thought it was.

So my dancing shoes have been packed away and my unashamed egotistical pride has been deflated.  Yes readers, for every “The New Hotdog Cookbook” there is a “Fairfield: A History of the District”.  I will continue to search for that elusive (maybe non existent) history of Fairfield, Melbourne as you never know, one day the dancing shoes may once again be contemplated.

*Based on personal experience.

Anglers Knots in Gut and Nylon by Stanley Barnes.

Anglers Knots in Gut and Nylon by Stanley Barnes.  Hardcover book published by Cornish Brothers (no date, probably 1940s).

Perfect fishing weather here in Victoria at the moment… at least I think it is.  Actually I have no idea whether it is or not.  I do know that I saw someone fishing the other day which in itself is not necessarily an indicator of perfect fishing weather.  I guess it is perfect if you don’t want to stand or sit on the edge of a river (or ocean) in the middle of winter in the pouring rain.  What I’m implying here is that I have no idea at all about fishing.

As a young boy I went fishing a number of times and never caught anything… although I might of caught a cold once.  Standing around skewering worms on hooks and dragging up sticks and weeds was not an enjoyable experience for me and this activity/pastime is not something that I have pursued later in life.  There are of course those that have a great passion for fishing.  My brother is a keen fisherman and my ex brother in law was also a keen fisherman, but for me, fish that has already been caught and gutted is the way to go.

This book looks at the art of knot tying in relation to fishing.  It’s a bit of a cross over book as it considers in detail the difference between various knots tied with gut and nylon.  There's quite a bit of text and these wonderful illustrations/diagrams:

“(The author)… has performed a series of experiments in the laboratory, testing not only the various knots used by anglers but also the materials, gut and nylon, when used under angling conditions. As a result of his bench tests, he gives advice as to the knots which can be used safely with nylon, and indicates which knots, satisfactory with gut, are unsafe with the more slippery and elastic monofil. The author has applied the lessons learned on the bench to practical angling on lake and river, and gives the results of his own practice. The knots discussed are illustrated by diagrams in colour. Those which he regards as being particularly important in nylon are illustrated in detail and their history, when known, is recorded. An attempt has also been made to give a name to each knot, and there is indicated the corresponding term which sailors use for their knots in rope and twine. To the novice, the catalogue of knots and the detailed description of how to make them, should be of the greatest help. To the expert in gut who has been discouraged by repeated failures with nylon, the reason for his break may be made clear.”

I like the reference above to the “laboratory”.  For some reason I'm picturing an image of a man sitting on a river bank mucking around with knots and absolutely no image of people in a sterile room with white coats on.

No doubt there are fishermen out there who still haven’t switched to nylon and I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that they probably won’t switch at any time soon*.  This book was originally written for those people resisting the change which happened quite a while ago.  Is it still of interest?  No idea.  I’d like to think it is, but “I have no idea at all about fishing”.  Despite this lack of knowledge on this subject, I do think this book will be of interest to someone, somewhere… maybe the guy I saw fishing the other day, my brother or my ex brother in law?

*I'm not even sure that nylon is what contemporary fishing line made of.

Children's and Maternity Garments (by Mary Brooks Picken)

Children's and Maternity Garments (by Mary Brooks Picken?).  Softcover book published by Woman’s Institute (no date, probably 1920s to 1930s).

This a lovely book published at some stage in the early part of the twentieth century.  The cover is a smart looking embossed black mock leather… at least I think its mock.  Whatever it is, insects are fond of it and have caused a bit of damage to both the cover and endpages.  But not to worry, I believe the subject matter can carry this book towards a sale despite the damage.  Even the preface confirms this thought:

“So satisfactory and pleasurable to most women is the making of clothes for children, that this text, with its thoughtful treatment of the subject, awakens a very lively interest among women.” 

I guess the authors never considered that men might also consider this pleasurable, although men were probably busy at the time fighting wars… or starting them. 

The author of this book was more than likely Mary Brooks Picken who was also the founder of the Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences (the publisher). From what I can gather she was a bit of an expert on the whole fashion, fabric and sewing business and wrote numerous books on the subject(s) during her 95 years.  What I like about this book is the excellent vintage illustrations and photographs.  

I’m not an expert on the whole sewing of maternity wear or children’s clothing (at the time I would probably have been off fighting a war… or starting one), but by today’s standards some of the instructions and illustrations seem a bit sparse on information.  I guess the book assumes a certain skill level, whereas most of todays sewing books tend to have slightly more detailed illustrations and diagrams and assume a slightly lower skill level. 

Sarcoidosis by J.G. Scadding and D.N. Mitchell.

Sarcoidosis by J.G. Scadding and D.N. Mitchell.  Hardcover book published by Chapman and Hall 1985. 

“Sarcoidosis (from sarc meaning flesh, -oid, like, and -osis, diseased or abnormal condition), also called sarcoid, Besnier-Boeck disease or Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease, is a disease in which abnormal collections of chronic inflammatory cells (granulomas) form as nodules in multiple organs. The cause of sarcoidosis is unknown.” Wikipedia

So of all the medical texts in the world of secondhand books why would I pluck out a book on Sarcoid?  It’s pretty dry… the book that is, not the disease.  There’s pages and pages of x-rays and photos of sick people and then there’s heaps of text… Which is page after page of more dryness.  Well dear reader, I picked up this book because I have first hand experience of sarcoid.  I have (had?) sarcoid. 

Sarcoid is a fairly complex disease to diagnose and I only found out that I had it the first time my lungs collapsed.  By the time this happened a second time, I well and truely knew about it… sort of like meeting up with an old friend that you haven’t seen for a while… but with less oxygen.  It took a bit of a biopsy (which is like an autopsy… but on live people) till it was all confirmed that I didn’t have cancer… but I did have Sarcoid… doctors have such a way with words.  So a number of years of monitoring my condition and one round of steroids (never again) and here I am 15 years later and I have no idea whether I still have it or not.  I’ve got a sneaking suspicion it has simply vanished* in the same way that this book hasn’t sold. 

So with my knowledge and first hand experience of Sarcoid, I purchased this book.  It’s the sort of book that I wear with pride… that’s my ability to select this book, not in regards to the having of the disease.  Of course when I found it, I had to share my excitement with someone and what better person to discuss a great book like this than with another bookseller and here’s where it gets really interesting.  I start mentioning this book to a local bookseller and don’t even get to the title and he asks, “It’s not about Sarcoid, is it?” I was gobsmacked.  Of all the medical texts and nasty insidious diseases in the world how did he know?  It turns out, that this other bookseller also has (had?) Sarcoid of the lungs and from my glowing introduction and description to this title, he guessed what it was.  I find this weird as it’s not that common a disease and it certainly is not a disease of the bookseller. 

So there you go, there’s 2 people who know what Sarcoid is.  I’ve met a few others over the years who are acquainted with it but generally only medical professionals and some of those have been a little vague on the exact details.  What they need is a good book on the subject…?

*There is no cure for sarcoid but it can mysteriously just disappear