APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 2005-06 > 1117896707


From: "Ken Aitken" <>
Subject: RE: [APG] Halberts and Bayley books
Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2005 08:51:47 -0600
In-Reply-To: <060420051421.10384.42A1B8D5000A089C00002890220075074401020E04070399089B0A02020A05@comcast.net>


I agree with Ken Milano, not because he bears a truly wonderful given name,
but because he's given an reasonably accurate reflection of the perspective
of the bookman. Much of my work in the last 20 years has been with
antiquarian bookdealers and others who sell used books. My brother is in the
trade, and I have a number of close professional acquaintences in the old
book trades. It is indeed the market, not the veracity of the book, that
dictates its value. Many books that contain misrepresentation of facts, or
unpopular predjudices from the past are still bought and sold. I shudder
when I think about the day I purchased a book about native americans written
100 years ago with "redskins" in the title. But is is important to provide
the balance, and to show the change in how Amerindians were viewed.
So much as I personally dislike Halberts and Bayleys works, I respect the
right of a bookman to offer them for sale. Discerning buyers everywhere
will shudder at the sticker price!


Kenneth G. Aitken
Prairie History Librarian
Regina Public Library
Regina, Saskatchewan Canada



-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:]
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 8:21 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [APG] Halberts and Bayley books


Eileen:

I do a lot of work for a rare bookseller, I help to catalogue manuscripts,
diaries, letters, and other ephemera items. I also have worked off and on in
the rare and scholarly booktrade since the late 1980's. Many of the
independent book dealers belong to the American Booksellers Association.
Rare book dealers generally will join the Antiquarian Bookseller's
Association of America, or the International League of Booksellers
(booksellers from around the globe). Even though the latter two groups are
for rare book dealers, you still get shops that handle general and scholarly
books too. Your ideas sound great, but booksellers are in business to make
money. They are a much different breed then libraries and librarians. In
fact most booksellers will tell you that librarians and bookbinders are the
worst enemies of books. My guess is most booksellers will either not
respond, nor will they care if someone doesn't think the book is up to
snuff, or a complete fraud. For them the mar!
ket will determine if the book has value, or not. Informing the public of
the scholarly value of a book is not in their interest.

Ken Milano, an old bookseller, hoping to turn genealogist
-------------- Original message --------------

> Earlier today I was searching the internet for old books and came across
> booksellers selling copies of books published by Halberts and Bayley... we
> all know the titles and what is included in these volumes. See below for
one
> entry I found. I decided I couldn't let some unsuspecting person buy one
of
> these from these unaware booksellers. So I wrote to a number of them to
> explain the problem with these books and asking them to remove them from
> their bookshelves and websites. These sites had places where you could
write
> for more information from the bookseller. It meant typing my name,
address,
> phone, email, etc. a few times as those fields were required (my name etc
is
> out there everywhere so I am not concerned about that ... it just took
time
> to type, unbillable time) and then I cut and pasted a paragraph which
> explained the situation. Unfortunately it was not possible to use the two
> names as key word searches successfully but it did help find a couple of
the
> listings. Others I noticed by scanning the page. But with 900 books on one
> website for many booksellers dealing with used books it was not possible
to
> scan for additional entries.
>
> So, that was my good deed for the day. And I think I'll keep my eyes open
> for other listings of this sort when I next go searching for that old book
> I'm looking to add to my collection. I suggest you do the same if you find
> this sort of listing. Protect the unsuspecting public. Next time I have
> "free" time I might try to find out who is in charge of those groups of
> dealers and get a message to someone in authority. No time just now to
> investigate this.
>
> So far I have heard back from two of the booksellers (out of approximately
7
> I wrote to) and they indicated they would look into the problem.
>
> >Seller Item#4020974
> >
> > Title: The World Book of Howells : Book No. 12900
> > Author: Halbert's writers
> > Publisher: Halbert's Family Heritage MCMXCVII
> > Description: Softcover, Very Good. Minor tape repair, front wrap.
> > Book is 8.5x11
> >
> >Price: $77.95
> >
>
> Eileen
>
>
>
> ==== APG Mailing List ====
> The Association of Professional Genealogists
> http://www.apgen.org/publications/apg-l/index.html
>


==== APG Mailing List ====
The Association of Professional Genealogists
http://www.apgen.org/publications/apg-l/index.html

This thread: