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November 7, 2015
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Y’all are going to have to excuse me, Mattern’s Handloading Ammunition just showed up.
Mike
The book that launched the most important of all gun-book publishers, Samworth Books; in the original ed, it’s the scarcest of all Samworths, which is why I never acquired it. Is it the Wolfe reprint you received?
November 7, 2015
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clarence said
The book that launched the most important of all gun-book publishers, Samworth Books; in the original ed, it’s the scarcest of all Samworths, which is why I never acquired it. Is it the Wolfe reprint you received?
No, appears to be a first edition. Title page says it was published by Small Arms Technical Publishing Company, did that evolve into Samworth?
I’ve been reloading for over 40 years, always willing to learn. It seems he considered the Winchester tools on my coffee table obsolete back in 1926. He said smokeless powder made them obsolete. Very interesting perspective. Brad Dunbar told me about this book, it will find a home in my little reference library.
Mike
No, appears to be a first edition. Title page says it was published by Small Arms Technical Publishing Company, did that evolve into Samworth?TXGunNut said
Yes, a few yrs later. If it has a plain fabric binding, not that garish (I think) Wolfe binding, it must be an original. Samworth later said he broke even, but made no money, on this book, but it established his reputation in the publishing business.
November 7, 2015
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Clarence-
It lists the copyright date and doesn’t mention a subsequent print date. It does have the fabric binding and most of the lettering is gone from the spine. Good quality paper but I’ll be careful with it. I don’t know if they printed more than one edition but it is in good condition for what appears to be a retired library book.
Mike
TXGunNut said I don’t know if they printed more than one edition but it is in good condition for what appears to be a retired library book.
Only one, without a DJ. Sharpe’s larger book probably forestalled any later ed. Try to imagine any library today acquiring a similar book!
TXGunNut said
It does have the fabric binding and most of the lettering is gone from the spine.
I’ll have to pull my copy out. IIRC, the title on the spine reads bottom to top instead of top to bottom.
November 7, 2015
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mrcvs said
TXGunNut said
It does have the fabric binding and most of the lettering is gone from the spine.
I’ll have to pull my copy out. IIRC, the title on the spine reads bottom to top instead of top to bottom.
Interesting, top to bottom here.
Mike
TXGunNut said Interesting, top to bottom here.
Mrcvs has the special Australian ed, very rare!
November 7, 2015
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clarence said
TXGunNut said I don’t know if they printed more than one edition but it is in good condition for what appears to be a retired library book.
Only one, without a DJ. Sharpe’s larger book probably forestalled any later ed. Try to imagine any library today acquiring a similar book!
Exactly what I was thinking! My Schwing 2nd Edition Slide Action book is a retired library book too. Go figure.
Mike
mrcvs said
TXGunNut said
It does have the fabric binding and most of the lettering is gone from the spine.
I’ll have to pull my copy out. IIRC, the title on the spine reads bottom to top instead of top to bottom.
I recalled correctly. Here are some photographs.
I give up. How does a photograph of the cover of a book with its spine exceed maximum file size?
November 7, 2015
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mrcvs said
mrcvs said
TXGunNut said
It does have the fabric binding and most of the lettering is gone from the spine.
I’ll have to pull my copy out. IIRC, the title on the spine reads bottom to top instead of top to bottom.
I recalled correctly. Here are some photographs.
Cool! Obviously an error but I like it. Looks just like the title page of my book. I’ve been reading about all the hand reloading tools available at that time, interesting but a bit tedious. Mattern had most of them and goes into some detail about their construction and use. I realize we’re fortunate to have a few options that work very well. I don’t think hand presses are available today but bench presses are a good value and much easier to use. Powder measures are largely the same unless you include the electronic scale/measures. Modern tools are much more conducive to precision reloading but I’m impressed by the effort reloaders of the day invested in their hand loads. I think this chapter will be useful for identifying vintage reloading tools if I encounter them.
Mike
TXGunNut said
I don’t think hand presses are available today but bench presses are a good value and much easier to use.
Hand-presses? Would that include the Ideal tong tools? Still considerable interest in their direct descendants, the Lyman 310 tool, I believe. I’ve used them for certain special purposes, such as neck-sizing only. My first reloading tool, as it was for many others I’ve heard, was the original Lee Loader, the essence of simplicity.
I zoomed in and this photograph uploaded. Not the ideal photograph but it shows the cover and spine and the spine reading in the opposite direction one would expect. Just a curiosity…
mrcvs said
I zoomed in and this photograph uploaded. Not the ideal photograph but it shows the cover and spine and the spine reading in the opposite direction one would expect. Just a curiosity…
The curiosity came about in this way: Samworth couldn’t afford to have all 3000 copies bound at the same time, so he had only half of them bound when he first advertised them for sale. (Not an uncommon publishing practice, which is why “First Eds” turn up with similar binding variations.) When those began to sell out, the remainder were bound, so there were two distinct batches of them, though whether it was the 1st or 2nd batch that have the inverted spine title, it’s impossible to determine. Very scarce books, either way.
Wow, the 1926 edition of this book got expensive! $75 to almost $150 a copy various locations on the internet. I think I paid $22 for mine about 10 years ago.
mrcvs said
Wow, the 1926 edition of this book got expensive! $75 to almost $150 a copy various locations on the internet. I think I paid $22 for mine about 10 years ago.
Actually, most collector book prices have declined since the internet put all the pro sporting book dealers (who previously controlled prices) out of business. At one time I was getting an average of one dealer catalog a month; all gone! High as they were, at least they would buy books back, at half-price of course; that’s all gone, too. You got your copy at that price partly out of luck, but mainly because serious collectors won’t buy ex-lib copies.
The ridiculous prices listed on ebay for certain modern gun books like Houze’s 52 book are a deviation from the general value decline, because they are sucker-priced for well-heeled gun, not book, collectors; if you’ve got 5 or 6 Gs to lay out on a 52 Sporting, what’s $300 for a book originally sold at $30?
November 7, 2015
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Thanks for the insight, Clarence. I’m not a book collector although my modest reference library may suggest otherwise. I do suspect, after seeing other offerings, that I got a very good deal on this book. I think seller was confusing it with the reprint editition.
Mike
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