August 10, 2005

• There's some nice stuff there. Thanks. But it's kind of odd to just collect old book pictures. I mean that in a curious and not critical way. If one wants to portray Welsh manors (with that being the focus) then restricting oneself to only obtaining images from 'old books' (whatever that means) results in a minor image set. Perhaps I'm being harsh or I haven't fully checked out the site or something but the focus is the images, not the books isn't it? That seems defeatestly gimmicky. Shoot me down.
• peacay: Perhaps it's because of the fact that reproducing images from new books without permission would be copyright infringement. However, I think that your complaint is curmudgeonly. It is impossible for an individual to cover the whole of human knowledge; it makes eminent sense for someone to focus on a small subset, which is exactly what this gentleman has done. Do one thing, and do it well. This is actually the great strength of the internet: all these different specialisations contribute to the diverse body of knowledge.
• ThreeDayMonk there's nothing ill-tempered with my observation - well musing really. Aside from that unnecessary personal slight you've made some reasonable points I guess. As I say, it was just my first thought - and I did say that I liked what was there. And I didn't otherwise think that new books need come into the equation. There's a ton of useable material out there is all I implied. Anyway, I like the pictures so that success does in actuality undermine my initial reaction.
• I'm sorry if you took that as a personal slight; it wasn't meant to be, which is why I was careful to direct it at the complaint rather than you.
• ))) for the link ASTB! Well, I must say that this is one of my hobbies. For me, its more of a love affair I have with old books. It's the smell, the feel, the look, the craftsmanship that went into the final published product... Finding little notes or mementos that were tucked away decades ago - - it totally fascinates me. Anyhow, I started scanning images from old books from the moment I got my first scanner. The first book I "initiated" was an illustrated collection of nursery rhymes from the mid 1800's. It was my great-great grandfather's as a child, and has somehow survived all these years. There's several hand-colored images; a look that just cannot be duplicated in modern printing (IMHO). For obvious reasons, there are scanning techniques unique to capturing images of old books. Makes me wonder, what exactly defines a book as old?? (I usually judge by my nose, but then again, I'm strange like that!).
• ThreeDayMonk - no worries. Crossed lines. I regret having voiced my silly opinion actually. These people are doing a nice thing is all.
• Dear monkeys, allow me to offer some cats as a consolation to all.
• Second the ))). A number of folk collect old books and even old periodicals primarily for the woodcuts, engravings, lithographs and so on. Sometimes dealers in antiques and others remove illustrations fron books, even frame them, and sell them separately. Which is infuriating if ye like books as books. And must be exceedingly annoying for purchasers under the impression they are buying an original print. (Buyers beware!) Illustrated children's books, even some quite recently published, such as reprints of FranK Baum's Oz series, bring surprisingly high prices these days, and are also sometimes vandalized in the way described, as are books with reproductions of engravings, prints and other art, illustrated natural histories, and so on.
• Excellent point you bring up bees. I've come across a lot of these "framed prints" which are in fact, clippings from old books. I find it rather disheartening, but I don't think there is much that can be done about it. The market for such books, however, is quite flourishing. And you are correct about the high prices they can fetch... (I've been outbid many-a-time on such online auctions *sigh*).
• I once attended a lecture by a fellow who was an expert in book illustrations over the ages. As examples, he had illustrations from a book in a protective cover passed out among the audience. As he did this, he explained, "You're not all getting the same page, as I wouldn't rip up 30 copies of this book for any reason." He then explained that he took his examples primarily from books whose bindings had crumbled beyond repair.
• I have a 1915 The Bells and Other Poems that I rescued from a dumpster (cracked spine), that's just sitting around waiting for me to gain the heart to rip out the beautiful Dulac illustrations. I can't do it.
• Nice linky, Two Birds. Have some Pop Tarts with your nanars. It's a sin to cut the illustrations from a book unless you are rescuing them from a book that is disintegrating.
• Glad you liked fromoldbooks :-) There is also an RSS feed if you get super-keen: I try to add a few new images each week, averaging one a day or more. peacay, some of the books are literally picture-books: they were published because of the 18th and 19th Century craze for romantic ruins, castles and landscape engravings. I do try and include relevent text and notes, but if I transcribed the whole book every time it'd take forever. There are some complete books (a dictionary of proverbs, a dictionary of thieving slang), and lengthy extracts from others (a Grammar of Heraldry, a chapter from Oman's book of Castles, several biographies from a 30-volume dictionary of biography I bought in Oxford in a wild fit of stupidity almost 15 years ago, and more) Best, Liam
• Thankyou Liam, and thanks for the visit. :)
• *applauds Liam*