How to See Kansai Area: Kyoto – Osaka - Kobe – Nara.

How to See Kansai Area: Kyoto – Osaka - Kobe – Nara. Hardcover book published 1949.

The key to what is of interest about this book, is a slip of paper that the publisher has stuck onto one of the last pages.  Right at the bottom it reads “Printed in Occupied Japan, 1949”.  The end of the Second World War was only a few years before and Japan would have been in the midst of recovery and rebuilding.  Yet there was a Japan Travel Bureau in 1949 that considered an English language guide book important enough to publish. Why?  At a guess I reckon that all of those US (and other) soldiers that were part of the occupying forces until 1952, needed a hand and some advice with getting around the Kansai area… or maybe the broader tourist industry had already reignited by 1949… I think English speaking soldiers is a better guess.  (Check out this video footage from 1946) 

The descriptions are very matter of fact and to the point which I guess is what most of us want in a guide book… no waffling on, just the hard facts.  There are black and white photographs and there are numerous maps throughout the book.  The photos are not of a high quality, but there is a certain charm and beauty to the maps (Huc & Gabet opinion).

One thing that I particularly like is the small amount of advertising in the back.  Obviously the JTB subsidized the publication with the advertising.

This particular copy has only slight wear to the cover including some fading to the spine and back cover.  The paper stock reminds me of many European War and Post War publications (Austerity Publications?) that were obviously printed on cheaper paper and over the past 62 years have noticeably yellowed.  Looking at the condition of the cover and the pages, my guess is that this guide book was never used.  There’s something a little sad about a guide book that has sat on the shelf for 62 years and never been dragged around the sites… or maybe this is just my opinion on guide books.  I look at them as tools to be read and used… and used hard.  There are people who collect vintage travel guides, generally a little older than this one (that’s the books… not the people).  To be honest I’ve collected a few myself… but I wouldn’t consider myself a “collector”.

Finally, something to think about.  If Japan was able to get their tourist industry going so quickly after a war, how long till we are booking holidays in Afghanistan?  (I’ve got a guide book if you need one).

Namennayo Cats

Namennayo Cats, created and produced by Satoru Tsuda.  Paperback book published 1981.

I’ve tackled all the hard hitting issues here at Huc & Gabet blogspot (?)… and possibly looked a little too much at crazy cat books, but sometimes it’s important to write about things that people NEED to know about and Namennayo Cats is another crazy cat book that the whole world NEEDs to know about.

The phenomenon known as Namennayo Cats is truly a dirt to kitty litter story.  Satoru Tsuda found a stray kitten and despite a dislike of cats, took it home.  Over time he became fond of the kitten.  He claims the kitten was playing with some dolls clothes when he had the brilliant idea of dressing it in some of the clothes and taking some photographs and some more photographs and then a few more, until finally he had built an extensive portfolio and empire based around these primped and primed kitten images. 

So practically overnight Namennayo Cats became megastars in Japan.  This book is an Australian edition and has English translations of all the captions, proving that Cat Photo humour is universal.  Over the years I’ve heard a number of book dealers talk about Namennayo Cats with great fondness and not just regarding it’s value.  People love this stuff… even hardened book dealers.

There were and still are concerns and issues about cruelty in regard to these cats and the photographs. Apparently Satoru was not totally oblivious to the “discomfort” he was inflicting, so he stuck to a few basic rules.  Cats were dressed only for a short period of time (10 minutes) with up to eight people working on each photo shoot, this included 2 to 3 people dressing the cats… apparently they didn’t like wearing the clothes.  All of this would take place only once in 3 days.  When the cats were 50 to 80 days old, they were retired.*  (My cynical mind tells me that maybe after 50 to 80 days they weren’t as cute as they had been which is probably why they were retired.)

Anyway, Namennayo Cats were an 80s phenomenon and took the world by storm.  Today we have Stuff On My Cats etc etc but before people put stuff on cats or thought that Cats looked like Hitler, they dressed them up and took silly photos at a time when photoshop was beyond our wildest imagination.  Thankfully we now have photoshop and can feel a little better about out crazy cat photos… and so can the kittens.

Australian Poultry Standards

Australian Poultry Standards: First Edition.  Hardcover book published 1998.

Published by the Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association Inc. in 1998, this compendium of Gallus gallus domesticus (Chickens) looks specifically at the standards required for the exhibition of poultry in Australia.  In other words, this book is about serious chicken fancying and isn’t just a quick guide to your average backyard chook.  We’ve got everything here from Silver Grey Dorkings to Gold Pencilled Hamburghs, Black Red Old English Game Bantams to White Faced Black Spanish and trust me when I write that it doesn’t end there… there’s even a small section of Ducks, Geese and Turkeys. 

The book includes “complete descriptions and judging points for all standardised breeds and varieties of domestic poultry in the Commonwealth of Australia”.  To me, a complete novice in regards to chicken that isn’t on a plate, the contents seem to be fairly comprehensive and when they write “all standardised breeds” I guess they mean “all”.  This is serious stuff.  What I would like to know is how much poultry is not here in the Commonwealth of Australia… of course this book doesn’t answer this question and I guess you need to check further a field if you really want to keep a breast of the current state of chickens in Australia. 

The book was written to enable Australian Standards to have a lesser dependence on British Standards.  In other words, the VPFA had plucked up enough courage to go it alone.  In 1998, the Aussie chicken had come of age.  

The VPFA seems to have been very concerned with the fact that this was the first edition (see image above).  I am unable to confirm whether there were any further editions as there doesn’t seem to be any other editions (or this edition) currently listed on my usual reference points on the www.  A slightly broader search and there are a few references but only to this one.  Obviously the compilers chickened out of a second edition… or maybe there was a wishful thought that this first edition would drum up enough interest for a second edition.  So this book and this edition is it… and it is possibly as rare as some of these chickens. 

A rare book is something to crow about.

The complete midvvife's practice

The complete midvvife's practice enlarged in the most weighty and high concernments of the birth of man: Containing a perfect directory or rules for midwives and nurses. As also a guide for women in their conception, bearing and nursing of children: from the experience of our English Viz. Sir Theodore Mayern, Dr. Chamberlain, Mr. Nich. Culpeper and others of foreign nations. With instructions of the queen of France's midwife to her daughter ... touching the practice of the said art etc. 

Hardcover book (leather binding) printed for Obadiah Blagrave at the Bear in St. Pauls Churchyard, over against the little North-Door 1680, 336 pages with frontis and 6 black and white illustrations.

 The front cover

As incredible as this may be… I purchased this book completely by accident.  It was in a large box of books and was/is in such bad condition that I didn’t even look at it at the time of purchase, being keener on some of the other titles in the box.  I seriously thought that whatever it was and being in such obviously poor condition, it was not suitable for sale… how wrong was I.  When I write “poor condition”… I mean really bad.  Both the front and back covers have become detached and the spine has very little left of it… and there are scratches and the whole thing was being held together by an elastic band… it’s poor and at the lower end of “poor”.  In retrospect, all of this is not so surprising, as leather that hasn’t been cared for properly tends to deteriorate after 331 years… yep, that’s 331 years.  This is the oldest book that I have ever unearthed.

The title page… with the frontis and cover loose from the book.  The bottom right hand corner is a little blurry but you can just make out the date.

But there is some reasonably good news about this particular copy, despite the poor condition.  Firstly: I can’t find any other copies currently available for sale.  This of course means that anyone looking for this book will hopefully be tempted by my one and only copy.  Secondly: This copy has all its illustrations/plates intact.  With these older books, there are often bits missing and it’s these bits, such as illustrations, that are important when selling.  The condition is also important, but as I’ve indicated, in this case it’s nearly non existent, so having all the plates is a definite plus.

  One of the plates.

With this book were two other books published approximately 70 years later… their subject matter is of a religious nature and secondly they are in Dutch.  They are in similar condition, one is in slightly worse condition.  The reason I’ve mentioned this is that “Complete midvvife's practice etc” being written in English (not necessarily as we speak it today) and on Midwifery is far more sellable than old religious books written in Dutch (not necessarily as the Dutch speak it today)… at least here in Australia they are.  But of course I’m not complaining about any of these finds.

In a past lifetime, when I was a young bibliophile, I worked for a while at a large academic library.  Occasionally we would handle these sort of antiquated volumes and I remember them as often being in more than one piece.  Certain volumes were sent out for conservation and were often rebound in an appropriate manner.  I was talking to another book dealer about this wonderful book and he suggested that I should consider some conservation work as an option.  From memory, this is very expensive and time consuming… which is probably why it is so expensive.  So for now I will leave it as it is and describe it with all it’s faults and leave any possible restoration to the next owner.  The bookseller mentioned above also found an auction record of this book… 400 to 500 British Pounds.

And what of the books I was actually wanting to buy? … well they aren’t worth as much as I hoped.

Woobinda Animal Doctor

Woobinda Animal Doctor by Victor Barnes, Illustrated by Walter Stackpool.  Hardcover book published 1969.

“Tiggie is bright, excels at most sports, wears modern clothes and likes to keep herself sun-tanned.”

 

Is there something wrong with me?  I look at this picture and… well… the lamb is not the first thing that I notice.  Lamb. What lamb?  Indeed is it just my imagination or is the lamb pretty superfluous to the illustration.  

So what was Woobinda Animal Doctor?  Well, it doesn’t make it into Wikipedia, so without being able to cheat and completely from memory… Woobinda animal doctor was a 1960s Australian TV series about a Vet in the Australian bush/outback.  Lots of adventures possibly in the same mold as Skippy… at least I think they had lots of adventures. This picture is from a large format childrens book.

So who was Tiggie?  Well, she was the Vets daughter.  And why is she wearing a swimsuit and holding a lamb?  This is one of the great mysteries of life.

Chrysler Sigma: GE Series Service Manual Book 1 to 4

Chrysler Sigma: GE Series Service Manual Book 1 to 4.  4 volume paperback set published 1977.

 A wonky photo, taken on my phone.

A service manual for a Chrysler Sigma… now that’s interesting… OK, maybe it’s not interesting to you or I… unless of course “you” are the owner of a Chrysler Sigma, in which case this is a VERY interesting set of books… particularly if your Chrysler Sigma is in need of repair. 

Car manuals… are they a can of worms?  Overall I’m of the opinion that they are worth a go on ebay.  Some manuals are worth $$$ (like this one) and some aren’t.  Some are keenly sought after and some aren’t.  To be blunt about it, some sell and some don’t, but overall I have had enough success to warrant listing more.  So I tend to list as many as I can find and always with a “buy it now option”.  I figure that if you need a car manual, you probably need it now and not in 10 days time at the end of an auction.  

These books often have marks… greasy finger marks that is, which is something that on any other type of book, is not really acceptable.  Car manuals are generally used as working tools and most people don’t seem bothered by the marks probably because they are wanting to put their own greasy fingers all over them.  This set overall is in pretty clean condition.

So what happens to the manuals that I don’t sell on ebay?  Well I do sell some of my unsold stock to another book dealer who has a large selection/collection of car manuals for sale.  Recently I was at his shop when a young lady (one of many) discovered the manuals whilst browsing his stock.  She immediately called her boyfriend (a car mechanic) and on his advice bought a half dozen manuals.  I guess the large selection was too much of a temptation.

 Another wonky photo, taken on my phone.

But this particular set will not be sitting on his shelf.  I have decided to keep this one and list it on Books & Collectibles.  I haven’t got any other car manuals listed and I’m sort of interested in seeing how well this one does.

Snail by Eric Dando.

Snail by Eric Dando.  Paperback book published by Penguin 1996.

Earlier this year, a fellow book dealer sent me an email indicating that this book is not that common and also worth money, and that maybe I should keep my eyes open for it.  A quick search (www) proved this to be the case.  So with eyes firmly open, i subsequently did find it… and find it…. and find it and I’m now the proud owner of 4 copies of this book.  …this is a bad thing.  My issue is, that if the book is rare, then why have I been able to find 4 copies in a relatively short period of time? 

The original email I received was in January, so it’s worth my while checking the www again (5 months later) to see if there is still a value to this book… and yes, it has held it’s value.  Beginning at $60 and finishing at $177 there are now a few more copies available than in January.  Interestingly the original email I received had a copy of the one and only listing at the time… this particular copy is still for sale.  So what does this all mean?  Well, my guess is that the book is actually not that common, yet it’s desirability is possibly not that great.  Maybe I’m wrong, maybe what isn’t that popular, is the price tag.  Somehow I think that sales will be at a snails pace and it will be interesting to see if I have any copies left in another 5 months.