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I agree with Ken's misgivings about this.

The publisher's price for "Sextants at Greenwich" is all of �120 (about US$ 
180), which seems outrageous for any 360-page book, no matter what the 
quality. Even the pre-publication price quoted by Amazon is the same. 
There's a publisher's offer of �96 for early-buyers from the Scientific 
Instrument Society, which I doubt if I will take up.

Prices of "academic" books always seem to be high, OUP particularly so, and 
many previous publications stemming from Greenwich have also cost a lot. Put 
all those factors together, and this is what we get  I deplore it, though.

Presumably, it's what OUP thinks the market will bear. They can rely on a 
limited number of assured sales, to academic libraries, museums, antique 
dealers, and well-heeled collectors. Perhaps, when those needs have been 
met, a paperback version will appear for the likes of us.

By comparison, Bill Morris' e-book on sextants, at $25 for a download, comes 
across as a bargain!

George.

contact George Huxtable, now at george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.

===============================

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Gebhart" 
To: 
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 3:07 AM
Subject: [NavList 6741] Re: Two books on Sextants.



It would be interesting to know why the price is set so high for a
book which should not cost more than �15 to print, even in small
quantities.

Ken Gebhart
On Dec 14, 2008, at 9:20 AM, George Huxtable wrote:

>
> The second work on sextants isn't out yet, but is promised for
> February.
> It's "Sextants at Greenwich", by W F J Morzer-Bruyns, and will be
> published
> by Oxford University Press, hardback, 336 pages. Willem has been
> working at
> Greenwich on their sextant collection for a couple of years, since
> retiring
> from the Amsterdam Maritime Museum. It's the biggest and best
> collection in
> the World, and Willem is well qualified to tackle it, describing each
> object. I'm looking forward to its appearance, but (here's the bad
> news) the
> publisher's price is �120, so I may have to read it in a library.
>
> George.
>
> contact George Huxtable, now at george@hux.me.uk
> or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
> or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
>
>
> >






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