Recommendations on Tobacco and/or Pipe Related Books?

[hauntedmyst]

I don’t know if the online content is active since they stopped publishing. In terms of an up to date perspective keep in mind it’s pipes, not much has changed since the discovery of Briar. The biggest changes is where they are made. The English and Italians march on albeit at a lower capacity, the Danes still rule the high end but the biggest change is the world wide acceptance of boutique carvers in the past 10 to 15 year. Included in that is the Americans and Russians, which were just really beginning 20 years or so and are now highly respected. Tobacco is like food, as long as you have a few chefs you’ll have people finding new ways to use the same ingredients. It’s just that this time they are being chased by government Nazis.

 

[odobenus]

Here are a few more good ones:
'Pipes--Artisans and Trademarks,' by Jose Manuel Lopes (if you can find this one, GET IT)
'The Illustrated History of the Pipe,' by Alexis Leibaert and Alain Maya
'Pipe--The Art and Lore of a Great Tradition,' by Robin Crole
'The Pipe--A Functional Work of Art' (beautiful coffee table book)
'Scandinavian Pipemakers' by Jan Andersson

 

[odobenus]

Richard Hacker wrote a number of books. I would say the info in them is good but his writing style is fairly self aggrandizing

Agreed 100%. I'm wading through his cigar book right now and sometimes I have to put the book down and snort.
Example, pg. 160: "So take a Power Smoke to your next business seminar or dinner. Offer one to your boss. If an associate offers you a Power Smoke, clasp his hand heartily and return the favor. You've got a valuable ally."
Power Smoke! Business seminar! WTF, man. This is when I know I'm not the target demographic.

 

[odobenus]

Any knowledge/thoughts on the Pipes and Tobacco's online content? It looks to be subscription based...

That's a non-starter. But if you subscribe to 'The Pipe Collector,' you will get some amusement and a sense of community, if not always a ton of useful information...
The Pipe Collector - http://www.naspc.org/newsletter.htm

 

[americaman]

I have not read these but they sound interesting:

When Tobacco Was King - Paul Allen

Tobakkonacht: The Antismoking Endgame - Michael McFadden

 

[sablebrush52]

"The Pipe Smokers Ephemeris" is going for $400-500 on eBay. That's a hard pass at this point. Thanks for the suggestions.

Yikes! Idiots abound! I should sell mine.

 

[sablebrush52]

'Pipes--Artisans and Trademarks,' by Jose Manuel Lopes (if you can find this one, GET IT)

I have a copy and don't recommend it unless you can find it CHEAP. By its very nature, it is woefully out of date. The guy's knowledge wasn't that deep to begin with, and you can find better informed and more up-to-date infomation on PIpedia.org and Pipephil.eu for free. Its one saving grace is that it's pretty.

 

[Smoking In The Fast Lane]

That's a non-starter. But if you subscribe to 'The Pipe Collector,' you will get some amusement and a sense of community, if not always a ton of useful information...
The Pipe Collector - http://www.naspc.org/newsletter.htm

I became a NASPC member shortly before the new year... am definitely looking forward to this.

 

[Rebub24]

The Pipe: A Functional Work of Art

I picked this book up from Smokingpipes a few months back. It's awesome. Discusses pipes, harvesting briar, carving a pipe, and some of the masters of pipe making

 

[Smoking In The Fast Lane]

With all of the great comments this is becoming a "Suggested Reading" list of sorts. Thank you everyone for your contributions. I've alot of reading to do! ??

 

[odobenus]

I have a copy and don't recommend it unless you can find it CHEAP. By its very nature, it is woefully out of date. The guy's knowledge wasn't that deep to begin with, and you can find better informed and more up-to-date infomation on PIpedia.org and Pipephil.eu for free. Its one saving grace is that it's pretty.

You're entirely right, of course -- it sure is pretty though.

 

[dino]

All About Tobacco, by Milton M. Sherman, an oldie, but still pertinent and informative.
The Perfect Pipe, by H. Paul Jeffers, rich in illustrations.
The Perfect Smoke, by Fred Hanna, a delightful collection of essays and articles, some from Pipes &Tobaccos magazine and from The Pipe Collector, the magazine of NASPC, the North American Society of Pipe Collectors.
And, of course, a membership-subscription to that NASPC newsletter/magazine.

 

[homesteader]

"Webber's Guide to Pipes and Pipe Smoking" is a good introduction. "Pipe and Pouch, The Smokers Own Book of Poetry" is a collection of poems featuring smoking in all its forms. It's available as a free download on archive.org.