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Herbert Schmidt




Location: Austria / Europe
Joined: 21 Mar 2004

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 161

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 12:47 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Sean, I think this would have been a different - bur for me also better - approach. Have a goal, know what the book should look like and then calculate the price. Unfortunately nowadays it is often done the other way. One starts a project and immediately a price tag is fixed and this should be met. So in this case it was obviously 100,- preferably the usual 0.10 less. And then everything is done that can be done for this price.

Books are mainly made for business, nothing else. If the author has any other goals or ambitions, the publisher hasn't. So either you are going to a publisher who is used to the kind of thinking you have and the kind of book you want to make or you'll get what the publisher is used to make.

In this world you have to compromise...

Herbert

www.arsgladii.at
Historical European Martial Arts
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Christian Henry Tobler




Location: Oxford, CT
Joined: 25 Aug 2003

Posts: 704

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 7:10 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Sean Flynt wrote:
Personally, if I were serious enough about the subject to invest at a slightly higher level--say $200--I'd want two volumes--one a true facsimile and the other containing the introduction, modern translation, clarified images as needed, bibliography, etc. These volumes would be in a single cloth slipcase, of course. Big Grin And, if the publisher is feeling generous, I'd welcome a bleed/transfer-free print of one of the most compelling images (acid-free for archival mounting, if you please).


And therein lies the problem Sean - "if I were serious enough". The Western Martial Arts market remains very small, and the subset of that market willing to invest $50+ on books on the subject is smaller still. On the flip side, there's insufficient interest among the medieval art aficianado or academic crowds in the Fechtbücher to warrant such a project. So it falls to those specializing in the subject to do it, which is small press.

Such a production wouldn't sell for $400 though - more like $1000 and up. As Herbert said, if you browse through the high-end facsimiles at something like the Adeva website, you'll easily find things in that price range.

All the best,

Christian

Christian Henry Tobler
Order of Selohaar

Freelance Academy Press: Books on Western Martial Arts and Historical Swordsmanship

Author, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts
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Christian Henry Tobler




Location: Oxford, CT
Joined: 25 Aug 2003

Posts: 704

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 7:18 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hello Herbert,

Herbert Schmidt wrote:
Sean, I think this would have been a different - bur for me also better - approach. Have a goal, know what the book should look like and then calculate the price. Unfortunately nowadays it is often done the other way. One starts a project and immediately a price tag is fixed and this should be met. So in this case it was obviously 100,- preferably the usual 0.10 less. And then everything is done that can be done for this price.


That's not how the project went at all. The intent was to create a book for the WMA, arms and armour, and costume enthusiast crowds that would reproduce the images at full size and at a high quality. At no point was it proposed that a much more grandiose project be undertaken; in fact, quite the reverse is true: my original intent was to produce a black and white translation-oriented book along the lines of Mark Rector's (very excellent) Talhoffer book. When my publisher and I saw the high resolution images, we agreed that we needed to do a much more upscale book so that enthusiasts could see these images in their original glorious color and detail. Fortunately the BSB was excited by the idea and was a joy to deal with.

All the best,

Christian

Christian Henry Tobler
Order of Selohaar

Freelance Academy Press: Books on Western Martial Arts and Historical Swordsmanship

Author, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts
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Sean Flynt




Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Likes: 10 pages
Reading list: 13 books

Spotlight topics: 7
Posts: 5,981

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 7:32 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

For the record, I think your book looks great! And although I am not a WMA practitioner and thus can't justify this particular purchase, there are plenty of $50+ arms and armour books on my shelves, including the Waldman polearms book, which, at a list price of almost $200 is literally worth its weight in some semi-precious metal. Eek!

I just went looking for a facsimile of Theurdank (?) that I've seen remaindered recently for under $100. It's the model I had in mind when describing the two-volume slipcased production. It was pricey in its original offering, but still under $200 IIRC. I didn't find that, but I did find this:

http://www.amazon.com/01166-f-83-Emperor/dp/B...55?ie=UTF8

...which illustrates the other point I was making about the artistic justification of cleaning up original artwork. I think this is VERY cool! I'm going to have to look through this collection of prints and see what other martial images they offer.

-Sean

Author of the Little Hammer novel

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Hammer-Sean-Flynt/dp/B08XN7HZ82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+hammer+book&qid=1627482034&sr=8-1
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Geoff Wood




Location: UK
Joined: 31 Aug 2003

Posts: 634

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 7:52 am    Post subject: foxing         Reply with quote

Nathan
Very interesting subject. Possibly to digress slightly, do you (or does anyone else) feel differently about biological changes (e.g. foxing or 'bookworm' holes), to the way you do about physical/chemical changes such as the bleed throughs or contact transfers discussed above?
Geoff
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Patrick Kelly




Location: Wichita, Kansas
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Reading list: 42 books

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Posts: 5,739

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 9:23 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Christian,

While a collector grade volume of your book would be great, I for one realize this was not your intent with this latest work. I love books, I have more of them than anything else. However, for me the real value in a book isn't in fancy bindings and coverings, in spite of the fact that these can be quite beautiful in themselves. For me, much like the sword, a book isn't a thing unto itself. The knowledge the book contains and what it can teach me is the really important part. Personally, the way the book is bound and formatted is far less important than the fact that you've gone to a considerable amount of effort to bring this information to us. Thank you.
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Sean Flynt




Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Likes: 10 pages
Reading list: 13 books

Spotlight topics: 7
Posts: 5,981

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 9:45 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I feel about damage to books the way I feel about damage to arms and armour. The unique flaws--foxing, etc.--are part of the artifact's history, and to remove them is to erase that history. There are valid reasons to do that, especially in the case of severe damage, problems that obscure the text or images, etc. Of course, we're talking about altering copies rather than originals, so there's a big difference between this work and, say, applying a Scotchbrite pad to a Maximillian armour. On the other hand, if you have a nearly-complete armour and lack an elbow cop, I think it's reasonable to commission a new cop to complete the piece. If you can digitally restore a book to its original state of clarity and impact, there are plenty of reasons to do so. With books, as with other antiques, there's conservation and then there's restoration, and healthy debate about which approach is appropriate in which circumstances.
-Sean

Author of the Little Hammer novel

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Hammer-Sean-Flynt/dp/B08XN7HZ82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=little+hammer+book&qid=1627482034&sr=8-1
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Christian Henry Tobler




Location: Oxford, CT
Joined: 25 Aug 2003

Posts: 704

PostPosted: Tue 29 Aug, 2006 10:57 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Patrick Kelly wrote:

While a collector grade volume of your book would be great, I for one realize this was not your intent with this latest work. I love books, I have more of them than anything else. However, for me the real value in a book isn't in fancy bindings and coverings, in spite of the fact that these can be quite beautiful in themselves. For me, much like the sword, a book isn't a thing unto itself. The knowledge the book contains and what it can teach me is the really important part. Personally, the way the book is bound and formatted is far less important than the fact that you've gone to a considerable amount of effort to bring this information to us. Thank you.


Thank you, Patrick, for the encouraging words. Hopefully, you'll enjoy both aspects of this work, the content and the packaging: it's leather-bound and will be in a slipcase.

Thanks again,

Christian

Christian Henry Tobler
Order of Selohaar

Freelance Academy Press: Books on Western Martial Arts and Historical Swordsmanship

Author, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts
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