The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am very excited to read through all of these. Thanks for all you have done to make these available in hard copy.

Hey Benjamin, can't wait to get my set. As we discussed I will have my set on display on my tables at the Wayne NJ show in October along with the order forms. I hope everyone will enjoy seeing them and that they pick up a form and order a set.

Rich Gordon

Anxiously awaiting my set! Let me know when it ships. Thanks a lot!

WOW! That was quick Benjamin. My set arrived today, all the way across the big pond. Honestly I was not expecting them for another month!

All 15 volumes were expertly packed in five separate boxes, total weight just under 47 pounds. Bed time reading for a couple Winters here at least.

I've got mine too and I must say that they are totally addictive. They're the perfect way to fill an odd moment...or an evening. As an Edison nut, the articles at the time of the introduction of the Diamond Disc are very interesting indeed. Like the fact that the first list price Disc Phonograph was sold in Boston on December the 9th, 1912, to he shipped as a Xmas gift to a chap in California. Meaning, of course they were selling disc machines..on a limited basis... for the Xmas trade of 1912. Essentially Diamond Discs and Blue Amberols hit the market at the same time. Interesting, eh? We always KNEW this anecdotally, but it's nice to have it confirmed.

Jim

Well, it's about time you "outside of U.S.A." fellows started getting your stuff before the rest of us!

But enough's enough - - it's time we "locals" received ours, too!

Looking forward to it - -

George P.

Glad your enjoying your books, Bruce and Jim. I was shocked at the estimated shipping speed to Europe, and thought it was completely out of the ballpack, but it appears they new what they were talking about.

As for the rest of you US collectors: these books are being sent directly from the printers, and they're taking longer than usual to get the books out. If they're not shipped by early next week, I'll be contacting them to confirm what the delay is about. Just hang on tight, the books will be there soon!

Benjamin

Update: All the books shipped out today; contact me if you'd like tracking numbers. Bruce has alerted me to the fact that Volume VIII, and XIA have pages missing. I managed to miss a page in Volume VIII, while the missing pages in XIA is the fault of the printer, and may not be missing in all books. I'll be working to get this issue corrected, and be shipping out replacement volumes. You can keep the extra volumes with the errors, or pass them on too a friend, etc. If, when your books arrive you could tell me if you are missing pages from volume XIA, no. 3, that would be great. Since the mistake in volumbe XIA is a printer mistake, it may not be present in all copies.

Benjamin

I got my set today. Thanks again Benjamin. I will have them on display at the Wayne Show in October. I hope this generates a lot more orders for you.

Rich Gordon

Looks what landed on my front porch this morning! Hooray!
These were nicely packed in double-wall boxes, and after skimming through a few volumes, I can say that they're beautifully done. Most of the images look better than what's on the Internet (Benjamin did a good job cleaning them up), and MUCH better than the microfilm I've been working from for the past 18 years. Speaking of which, those 18 spools cost something over $300 back then, and of course require the use of a microfilm reader (reader/copier if you want to print out anything). That means I've had to drive the 7 miles to a nearby University if I've wanted to peruse any pages that I haven't copied. Not very convenient.

Now, we can simply reach for the bookshelf whenever we want to fact-check or (more enjoyably) simply wander through the pages for fun. I wish I'd had these 18 years ago!

Thanks, Benjamin!

George P.