Old Leica Books

[shag00]

Do people still use/want old Leica books such as the 2 below? The one on the left published in 1946 and the one on the right in 1947.

 

[Jeff15]

Probably no longer used but worth something to a collector.......

 

[Derrel]

Put 'em on e-Bay and list 'em each at $70 Buy It Now.

Be sure to use the word "Rare" several times in your listing.

 

[webestang64]

Be sure to use the word "Rare" several times in your listing.

Don't forget to say "No longer in print" and "Vintage" as well.......LOL


But yeah, should get a couple a bucks from a collector.

 

[Derrel]

Focal Press used to publish some pretty good books. They published a landmark book years ago called the Focal encyclopedia of Photography, anextremely large, almost 6 inch thick book,in one volume,which was at the time of its first writing considered to be almost an almost heroic undertaking. There were several different editions of it and I was gifted a copy from a guy from this form over a decade ago, and it's pretty common for this book to be passed along from person to person.

The book titled Leica Manual was clearly publish by Focal, but I suspect that the other book which appears to be in significantly worse condition might have been published by Leitz
itself or at their behest

Around the world there are a lot of Leica collectors, and there is definitely a market for ephemera such as books and manuals.

Since these two books date to the era right after World War II, they are about seven or eight years before the release of the first M-series Leica, which was the M3 in 1953. In other words I have a feeling that camera such as the IIIgand IIIf were probably very well documented in these books .

 

[IanG]

The Focal Press Camera Guides were first published during WWII initially as the UK government had asked people to donate camera equipment to the military etc.

Andor Kraszna-Krausz, a Hungarian photographer who had fled Germany in 1937, set up the company the following year. Many of the writers were fellow emigres, the most important were Kurt (Curt) Jacobson who wrote Developing, and then Enlarging, and L.A. Mannheim who also worked with Jacobson at Pavelle (an early colour print process and professional processing machines became Durst UK).

The book titled Leica Manual was clearly publish by Focal, but I suspect that the other book which appears to be in significantly worse condition might have been published by Leitz
itself or at their behest

I think you meant the other way around. The Laica Manual was published by Morgan and Lester, The Leica Way was published by Focal Press, like the later Pentax Way and others these were an expansion of the earlier Focal Press Camera Guides.

Both books are sort after by owners of early Leica cameras but they aren't rare.

Ian

 

[petrochemist]

The Focal Press Camera Guides were first published during WWII initially as the UK government had asked people to donate camera equipment to the military etc.

Andor Kraszna-Krausz, a Hungarian photographer who had fled Germany in 1937, set up the company the following year. Many of the writers were fellow emigres, the most important were Kurt (Curt) Jacobson who wrote Developing, and then Enlarging, and L.A. Mannheim who also worked with Jacobson at Pavelle (an early colour print process and professional processing machines became Durst UK).

The book titled Leica Manual was clearly publish by Focal, but I suspect that the other book which appears to be in significantly worse condition might have been published by Leitz
itself or at their behest

I think you meant the other way around. The Laica Manual was published by Morgan and Lester, The Leica Way was published by Focal Press, like the later Pentax Way and others these were an expansion of the earlier Focal Press Camera Guides.

Both books are sort after by owners of early Leica cameras but they aren't rare.

Ian

Generally things listed with RARE in the title are just old and quite common - I've seen it for things I have a handful of at home, like the Helios 44.
I did see a copy of 'The Pentax way' in a bookshop during the week IIRC they wanted £8 for it which is considerably more than I usually pay for my used photographic books. If it had been £2 I'd have added it to my purchases.

 

[Derrel]

While neither might be rare, as books go, they are also not "common". The idea in writing an e-Bay description is to stoke desire in potential buyers/ bidders. Using the word "Rare" in a description is a well-understood tactic.

 

[petrochemist]

While neither might be rare, as books go, they are also not "common". The idea in writing an e-Bay description is to stoke desire in potential buyers/ bidders. Using the word "Rare" in a description is a well-understood tactic.

Lying is an increasingly common tactic in politics, so I suppose it's only to be expected in commerce too.

On e-bay with me it gives the impression the seller doesn't know anything about the topic so I generally just pass on to the next one.

 

[IanG]

Generally things listed with RARE in the title are just old and quite common - I've seen it for things I have a handful of at home, like the Helios 44.
I did see a copy of 'The Pentax way' in a bookshop during the week IIRC they wanted £8 for it which is considerably more than I usually pay for my used photographic books. If it had been £2 I'd have added it to my purchases.

I agree, I wouldn't add the term "Rare" if I was selling those books

Rare to me is very difficult to find or almost unique - a bit like my 110 camera

Ian

 

[Derrel]

"All's fair in love and in e-Bay listings."

How many copies of the same titles can be found on the web?

Is either as popular or as common as say, The Amateur Photographer's Handbook"?

rare
[rer]
ADJECTIVE

1. (of an event, situation, or condition) not occurring very often.
   "a rare genetic disorder" ·
   infrequent · few and far between · scarce · sparse · scattered ·
   unusual · uncommon · unfamiliar · out of the ordinary · atypical ·
   [more]
2. unusually good or remarkable.

 

[compur]

I just checked and there are currently 5,538,570 rare items for sale on eBay (USA site).

 

[IanG]

I just checked and there are currently 5,538,570 rare items for sale on eBay (USA site).

There is only one universal eBay regardless of where you access from it's the same database, user names and passwords.

What differs is the portal you use to search, that can be eBay.com, .co.uk. .ca, .au, .fr, .de, .it. etc, etc. This can be veryuseful, I log onto the German portal sometimes eBay.de using my normal eBay name and password and can buy or save/watch items and all show up when logged into eBay.co.uk or EBay.com

Ian

 

[compur]

here is only one universal eBay regardless of where you access from it's the same database, user names and passwords.

Sorry, but that's not true. There are 23 international eBay sites. While it's true that you can log into any of them with your eBay ID and password, you will not see all item listings from all 23 sites. When you search eBay.com you will only see results from eBay.com. You won't see results from eBay Thailand or Switzerland or Spain, etc, etc.

For good reason. Why would someone want to see listings written in languages that they can't read?

 

[IanG]

Sorry, but that's not true. There are 23 international eBay sites. While it's true that you can log into any of them with your eBay ID and password, you will not see all item listings from all 23 sites. When you search eBay.com you will only see results from eBay.com. You won't see results from eBay Thailand or Switzerland or Spain, etc, etc.

For good reason. Why would someone want to see listings written in languages that they can't read?

There may be 23 portals but there's still only one central database. When you list an item you have the choice of whether it's listed locally, regionally or worldwide, it's just a couple of fields in the database.

I've bought a few items listed in languages I can't read, mostly German - Google translate works well enough.

Ian