NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Buying secondhand maritime books.
From: William Allen
Date: 2004 Jan 31, 13:27 -0800
From: William Allen
Date: 2004 Jan 31, 13:27 -0800
George, I paid US$95 for the Andrewes book. This seemed a bit high, but I only found three listed on Abebooks, and this copy was the cheapest. Interestingly, all three listings spelled the author's last name differently, so I found these three by searching on the title only. I have not seen the book yet (it is on the way) but I am using George's spelling of the author's name in deference to my experience with his usual precision and expertise. I also am a bookworm, collecting old books on navigation and other nautical themes. Unfortunately, I don't have the access to the second hand book shops that George describes, which I can imagine are nearby to him (having lived in Oxford myself for a number of years). Southern California (Santa Barbara) where I presently reside, although providing beautiful sailing weather, seems somewhat deficient in reasonably priced used books on these topics. I rely primarily on Abebooks (with some 100 books stored in Wants), although occasionally there is a deal to be had on Ebay (but too many participants these days are chasing the 19th century Bowditch, Norie, and other well known texts). I have also left standing orders using Amazon.com for used books at my designated price and condition. Very seldom do I get hits, though. For example, I left an order for Cotter's History of Nautical Astronomy (I think this is the proper title -- I don't have it in front of me) for almost two years with no response. I finally found a copy through Abebooks at Maggs Brothers in London (author's name was misspelled in the listing -- probably why it was still available) and picked it up in person on a business trip. My interest in these books stems from my own boating life. I own a classic old wooden trawler that I have been working to restore (pictures can be seen at www.elvica.com -- horrific pictures of the re-framing, re-planking, re-decking, etc. at Ventura harbour boatyard can be seen using the link on this site). I have scoured antique stores around the world on my travels to find interest items to put in my "little ship". For example, I have a working engine order telegraph, a WWII system of battle phones, a helmsman's helper, a telltale compass (installed over the master's bunk as usual and identical to the one on the Cutty Sark), an early 20th century binnacle with quadrantal balls and a Flinders tube (which I would love to know how to use if anyone can help) up on the bridge deck, a radio direction finder, taffrail logs, and many other items onboard(not to mention the sextants, of course). I have established (in cooperation with the Harbour authorities) on board my boat an Academy of Nautical Navigation, a non-profit organisation that provides navigation training and practice at no fee. We use the saloon of my trawler (it is quite spacious) for small group seminars and then go out into the channel to practice taking sights and working other techniques. Of course, we also use modern tools like GPS, radar, and sonar as well. I have found that there are occasionally visitors to Santa Barbara that want to have a little bit of an educational and historical nautical experience while they are here enjoying the natural beauty. So my collections of nautical books come in quite handy! I hope this was of some interest. Sorry for the length. Bill -----Original Message----- From: Navigation Mailing List [mailto:NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM] On Behalf Of George Huxtable Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2004 1:35 AM To: NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM Subject: Buying secondhand maritime books. Was: How was GMT originally established ? Bill Allen wrote, referring to "The Marine Chronometer" by Rupert Gould- > I tried to searched Abebooks (I think I did it properly), but I >will try it again and periodically in the future. and- >By the way, I purchased the Andrewes book on the lunar symposium (that >you mentioned). It looks fantastic -- thank you for that insight. This was "The Quest for Longitude", ed, William J H Andrewes, Harvard, 1996. I would be interested to know how much Bill had to pay for his copy, if he doesn't mind telling. =============== Buying secondhand maritime books. I am something of a book-freak, the problem being that there's now little free wall-space left at home, to put more bookshelves against. Books are bought for their content, not as a "collector" looking for increasing value; so I don't mind them being a bit grubby as long as they are intact. If an old book is really falling apart, it will then be cheap to buy, which might make a rebind, or retightening, worthwhile. Within reach of Oxford, there are many local bookbinders, as you might expect. I am a denizen of secondhand bookshops, at which you can sometimes find remarkable bargains in maritime books. For example, I 've found in a local shop a copy of Norie's Navigation of 1900 for ?2 (about $3). This is the combined volume, text and tables, of over 1000 pages (they were often sold split). The interesting aspect of this edition is that the tables relating to clearing lunars had not yet been culled. Being a regular customer, I get catalogues posted to me from several maritime bookdealers in the UK. Of course, having been sorted and listed by a specialist, they are no longer cheap. But my book searching isn't confined to the UK, and I often find stuff at a lower price in the US or Canada, which compensates for the shipping cost. Mostly, I use www.abebooks.com to find my books, and this has worked well, so far. You search by author and title, and if lucky come up with a list of several booksellers who have it in stock. If you use "advanced search", you can specify what country or countries the seller must be in, if you wish, and specify cheapest-first in that listing. Prices are always quoted in $US-equivalent, but of course you have to pay in the seller's local currency. One problem is that you sometimes find that the book has already been sold, but the dealer has been slow to remove it from the abebooks "shop-window". Having found your book at a dealer, you can click on that dealer to find his details, and do the rest directly with him, by phone or email, which is what I always do. Alternatively, abebooks offers the opportunity to buy directly through them. In that case they will charge a 10% commission to the dealer, so the prices he lists on abebooks will have already been boosted by 10%. I don't buy that way. If you are buying directly from a dealer, you can use that as an argument to ask for a 10% discount on the price he has listed on abebooks, and will often succeed. When buying "blind" like this, I have found the book-trade to be generally honest and to describe the condition of the books on offer fairly. I usually pay by credit-card, but a few small US dealers ask for cash. They are usually happy to hold the book for a week or so, long enough to acquire the necessary dollar-bills and post them off. This might seem risky, but it appears to work. I understand that amazon books also offers a second-hand service, but charges dealers a 20% commission. It would be interesting to learn about the experiences of other maritime bookworms, with any hints and tips. George. ================================================================ contact George Huxtable by email at george@huxtable.u-net.com, by phone at 01865 820222 (from outside UK, +44 1865 820222), or by mail at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK. ================================================================