The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just received this newsletter from Mainspring Press:

https://78records.wordpress.com/author/mainspring001/

Looks like book publication is at an end. Too bad!


The few reference books I have of theirs are indispensable! I'd suggest you'd consider ordering any if you've been on the fence about them!

Bob

P.S. Sorry to read their beloved dog Rocky (seven years old) lost his fight to cancer.

This is sad news indeed.

I echo Bob's advice to order any Mainspring Press books now. We old-timers have seen this happen before: once out-of-print, books related to our hobby can rapidly be valued into the hundreds of dollars. (For instance, just try finding a good copy of Frow's Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion or Baumbach's Columbia Phonograph Companion Vol. II [disc]).

For those of us who love books not only for the information they contain, but the ease and portability they provide, the aroma of printer's ink, and the comforting heft of paper and binding, this is all rather depressing.

George P.

Also look on ebay for their sale listings too. They frequently have "bumped" copies of their books at greatly reduced prices.

Mainspring's seller ID on ebay is mspbooks

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mspbooks/m.html ... p=1&_rdc=1

They list several brand-new undamaged books at greatly-reduced prices. The Blue Amberol Cylinder Book is especially good!

Bob

That's too bad. I hope that isn't the death spiral of the hobby.
Harvey Kravitz

I imagine Mr. Sutton saw there was no financially viable future in print discographies of the antique recordings, especially with this well-funded entity nipping at his heels:

http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/

Personally, I find physical books much easier to use then the database offered above. On the other hand, when I think of how much I paid for some of the discographies that that website now duplicates/updates…

Too bad about the two books that will now either not be published or will be published elsewhere, someday. (I hope I hear about it!). I imagine Alex van der Tuuk’s Paramount biographies largely duplicates the work he did for the Third Man/Revenant two-box series of Paramount reissues, but Richard Raichelson’s Marsh Labs bio-discography would be a huge loss if it goes without being published in some manner.

Best wishes, Mark

Phonofreak wrote:That's too bad. I hope that isn't the death spiral of the hobby.
Harvey Kravitz

I was going to say, is this more of the bottom dropping out? Probably not, but it is a shame. I expect the books will circulate on the used market at vastly inflated prices now.

phonogfp wrote:This is sad news indeed.

...(For instance, just try finding a good copy of Frow's Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion or Baumbach's Columbia Phonograph Companion Vol. II [disc])....

George P.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDet ... _sr=impact YIKES!!!

OF

OrthoFan wrote:

phonogfp wrote:This is sad news indeed.

...(For instance, just try finding a good copy of Frow's Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion or Baumbach's Columbia Phonograph Companion Vol. II [disc])....

George P.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDet ... _sr=impact YIKES!!!

OF

That must be a new record for the Frow Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion asking price - - and for optimism!

George P.

phonogfp wrote:

OrthoFan wrote:

phonogfp wrote:This is sad news indeed.

...(For instance, just try finding a good copy of Frow's Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion or Baumbach's Columbia Phonograph Companion Vol. II [disc])....

George P.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDet ... _sr=impact YIKES!!!

OF

That must be a new record for the Frow Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion asking price - - and for optimism!

George P.

I'm thinking that if that were a realistic price, none of us would own the book anymore.

A perfect example of paradox.

Fran