I bought this in a whim. Anyone has any information in the quality of information in this book?
PBAD - Show Your Pipe Books Here
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Last time I opened this thread, there was not much interest. Having said that, I immediately purchased The Pipe book by Alfred Dunhill. While I have finished the Benjamin Rapaport book, and have read Dunhill book for the most part, I have not enjoyed them much. The writing style is like a boring textbook, and focuses on areas of pipe smoking (early history) and early collectible pipes, which are not my interest area.
Today the book by Rick Newcombe arrived. It is much more enjoyable as it is written with a point of view based on personal experiences. Thoroughly entertaining. The Richard Carleton Hacker book also should arrive next week, and I am hoping to get more perspectives from that.
Today the book by Rick Newcombe arrived. It is much more enjoyable as it is written with a point of view based on personal experiences. Thoroughly entertaining. The Richard Carleton Hacker book also should arrive next week, and I am hoping to get more perspectives from that.
I've got one of Carl Ehwa's "The Book of Pipes and Tobacco". Seems really well written but points of price and technique make it a bit dated.
I will try to find that book. I believe that the forum is a great source of latest information on pipe smoking, but some of the earlier works also help.
Although not, as I discovered, much of a "pipe book" (when it arrived at last after a five week voyage from the UK), I was happy to finally get my own copy of Dunhill by Design: A Very English Story (2005), last week. This after sporadically hunting for an affordable copy for several years.
Nor is it particularly useful as an essential reference, even for the diehard Dunhill enthusiast, say, in the practical, hands-on way I've found John Loring's modest, self-published, 77-page paperback, The Dunhill Briar Pipe: The Patent Years and After.
But, not unlike Michael Balfour's lavishly illustrated history of the company (Alfred Dunhill: One Hundred Years and More), Dunhill by Design does offer more than a few fun, tantalizing glimpses of documents from the Dunhill archives, and a pretty dazzling selection of carefully curated objects. For instance, a modest silver Tallboy cigarette lighter on which Picacco etched a tiny portrait of his lover, Dora Maar. All of it presented in a slick coffee table format halfway between a hardback auction house catalogue of "important jewels" and Vogue Italia fashion editorial.
As for the 1920s "ladies pipe" (one of several illustrated-- and evidently a demographic that Dunhill assiduously courted not only for its cigarette business), shown with a demure diamond "collar"-- its White Spot almost certainly was made of real ivory.
Nor is it particularly useful as an essential reference, even for the diehard Dunhill enthusiast, say, in the practical, hands-on way I've found John Loring's modest, self-published, 77-page paperback, The Dunhill Briar Pipe: The Patent Years and After.
But, not unlike Michael Balfour's lavishly illustrated history of the company (Alfred Dunhill: One Hundred Years and More), Dunhill by Design does offer more than a few fun, tantalizing glimpses of documents from the Dunhill archives, and a pretty dazzling selection of carefully curated objects. For instance, a modest silver Tallboy cigarette lighter on which Picacco etched a tiny portrait of his lover, Dora Maar. All of it presented in a slick coffee table format halfway between a hardback auction house catalogue of "important jewels" and Vogue Italia fashion editorial.
As for the 1920s "ladies pipe" (one of several illustrated-- and evidently a demographic that Dunhill assiduously courted not only for its cigarette business), shown with a demure diamond "collar"-- its White Spot almost certainly was made of real ivory.
That one got debunked a few years ago.
Dunhill White Spot Drama :: British Pipes
Several days ago I spoke with Rob Cooper ("Coopersark" on eBay) at some length about the importance of historical details, originality, and so forth to many pipe collectors. In the course of that conversation Dunhill's "white spot" was mentioned as something which factored into determining...
pipesmagazine.com
I am well aware of Georged's brilliant demonstration (which wholly convinced me), as well as the unsubstantiated legend that circulated for decades, both.
What has not been debunked, insofar as I know, was that Dunhill did offer actual ivory stems before World War II. As well as making occasional use of ivory in other one-off ultra luxury objets d'art.
Even if my comment, said partly in jest, with the intention to amuse, is unlikely to be provable either way in this particular instance, this pipe is rather more a piece of jewelry than it is a pipe. And indeed was offered as a contender for the old idea of an exception that proves the rule.
This said, the last thing I want to do is revive the dreaded ivory dot debate. So, all my apologies if I have do so.
The Richard Carleton Hacker book also arrived. While I don’t care much about the fact that it is autographed by the author, some of you might find it interesting
Do please report back what you think of Hacker's book. He also wrote another one devoted to Christmas Pipes that has never particularly peaked my interest, and a third pipe book of more general interest that I own, called Rare Smoke (1999).
This latter provoked a devastating response from Dunhill authority John Loring, consisting of over two pages of single spaced, itemized corrections, in a tiny font, limited to addressing Hacker's Dunhill factual errors only, titled-- "A DUNHILL ERRATA SHEET FOR R.C. HACKER'S 'RARE SMOKE.'" This published originally on John's website in October 1999.
It cannot have been received well. Indeed, unlike The Ultimate Pipe Book, which seems to have had at least two editions and multiple printings, Rare Smoke was published in a single edition of 2500 copies.
Fortunately, the Loring errata is preserved over at pipedia:
A DUNHILL ERRATA SHEET FOR R. C. HACKER'S "RARE SMOKE" - Pipedia - https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_DUNHILL_ERRATA_SHEET_FOR_R._C._HACKER%27S_%22RARE_SMOKE%22
Insofar as I know, despite the implication of the book's designation as "Volume 1," no subsequent volume ever appeared. And I suspect that Loring's absolutely scathing criticism might well have been the reason.
Great thread. I’ll try to post some of mine. I got some winners at Powell’s Bookshop in Portland... best bookshop I’ve ever seen!
this one I actually have on hand.
I’ve read the first one at least 3 or 4 times now.
this one I actually have on hand.
I’ve read the first one at least 3 or 4 times now.
Some of my other rarities are in storage but I found this one. This is the 5th impression of this book printed in 1973.
This is an excellent book!
This is an excellent book!
Neil Archer Roan's publication about Comoy's Blue Ribands...
Even the book I have (The Ultimate Pipe Book) is a nice reading, but based on my limited knowledge also has incorrect facts.I could easily spot the following:
1. My book is an U.K./EU edition. The conversation from Imperial unit to Metric unit is often wrong. This could have been easily corrected doing a little bit of research.
2. The pipe tobacco varietals are described wrongly. I attributed it to the fact that it was written many years ago
So I would expect what you just said.However, I enjoyed his passionate writing, and have actually ordered the Rare Smoke at a price gouging price ?
Thanks for the heads up on the errata. I will print it out!
1. My book is an U.K./EU edition. The conversation from Imperial unit to Metric unit is often wrong. This could have been easily corrected doing a little bit of research.
2. The pipe tobacco varietals are described wrongly. I attributed it to the fact that it was written many years ago
So I would expect what you just said.However, I enjoyed his passionate writing, and have actually ordered the Rare Smoke at a price gouging price ?
Thanks for the heads up on the errata. I will print it out!
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I enjoyed Rick’s work although he seems a little opinionated. I ordered the second book “Still Searching For Pipe Dreams” this Friday, and should have it by the middle of the week. Rick’s work is available in Amazon.
I have it in my wishlist but on lower priority as it is way too focused. Now if he had written about Sasieni ...
Neil Archer Roan's publication about Comoy's Blue Ribands...
I don’t have that one by him but this one I would assume is much more geared towards tobacco, even gets into snuff making!