Request for Book Recommendations

[maxx]

I'm interested in books about pipes and pipe smoking, and would enjoy recommendations of both in print and out of print books. Thanks.

 

[stanlaurel]

Are you a history buff?
This Civil War Pipe book interests me.

 

[misterlowercase]

This Civil War Pipe book interests me

Stan,

This thread is pretty neat if ya ain't seen it:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pipe-smoking-in-the-civil-war-a-new-book-by-benjamin-rapaport
Maxx,

Have you seen The Pipeman's Hanbook of Useful Really Information by Chas. Mundungus?

https://app.box.com/s/oulxnfvdud1rhni4tjqq

I always like to recco it because I think it's great.
Other books I like:
Sublime Tobacco by Compton Mackenzie
The Book of Pipes and Tobacco by Carl Ehwa Jr.
The Perfect Smoke by Fred J. Hanna
...and other folks may add a few more titles.
If you like Dunhill,

One Hundred Years And More by Michael Balfour

is great...

...and,

this library contains some of the more esoteric and scarce titles:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/an-incredible-library-of-pipe-amp-tobacco-books
One of my faves, although more generalized, is this:

 

[ssjones]

This should give you some good options. I believe there are multiple threads on tobbaciana books here.

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pipe-smoking-books

 

[misterlowercase]

I found it from a seller in England on the cheap.

Similar to how Al found this very very scarce title:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/found-the-gbd-st-claude-story-klause
I ended up selling my Balfour book a few months back when I needed some cash, along with a very rare Cleaning Kit:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/attention-dunhill-accessory-collectors-look-here
You can find it on the cheap if you persevere and are patient.
I recently almost bought myself another copy because it's such a great book, but resisted, maybe I should have got it --- it was a Richard Dunhill signed copy but had a tatty dustcover, yet at $125 it was almost a bargain, sold by the famous NYC bookshop The Strand for $125 and found on abebooks, somebody bought it already...
::

 

[ssjones]

MLC is right, these books do show up more frequently via UK resellers. (and thanks to member Klause for the assist!)

I found all of my tobacciana collection on used book sites, Abe, Amazon, Goodwill. Most were under $20 shipped.

 

[briarfriar]

For practical information, Richard Carleton Hacker's The Ultimate Pipe Book is very useful, somewhat up to date, and a pleasure to read. And probably inexpensive.
Jay

 

[dukdalf]

Hacker has two more titles to his name: "Rare Smoke: The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Collecting" (ISBN 0-931253-10-1) and "Pipesmoking: A 21st Century Guide" (ISBN 0-931253-13-6). The best in general reference I think is Alexis Liebaert and Alain Maya's "The Illustrated History of the Pipe" (ISBN 1-872457-20-7). If you can find a copy, "The Pipeman's Companion" ( a sponsored publication by Ogden's of Liverpool and Imperial Tobacco) is quite enjoyable too.

 

[misterlowercase]

If you can find a copy, "The Pipeman's Companion" ( a sponsored publication by Ogden's of Liverpool and Imperial Tobacco) is quite enjoyable too.

+1

I love that book,

it's great!
Also on topic of Ogden's, but getting a bit dense in the weeds, is Cigarettes - Liverpool 5 the story of the Liverpool branch of British American Tobacco Company Ltd by Jack Jones...
...some great tidbits in there, like this passage from chapter 18 talking about cutter top tins, and the traditional extra processing time again indicates why, amongst many reasons, the British tobacco of yore will never be beaten in my opinion:

This might be a convenient moment to describe the heater tester used for all cigarettes and tobacco tins not put through the Thermokept or Tingey cold vacuumising machines.*
These testers were large cylinders 7' long x 3' diameter, fitted with 23 tubes each 3½" diameter which were surrounded with steam heater coils. The cylinder rotated slowly on its axis, making one revolution every 40 seconds. Steam was applied to the coils at 30-35 lbs in² which produced a temperature inside the tubes of about 280°F.
Tins were placed into the tubes as the cylinder rotated pushing preceding tins through the tubes until they fell out down a chute at the other end. At the exit end, the thin tagger plate which had become distended by the heat in the tester was "pricked" with a gramophone needle held in a stick of solder. The heated air inside the tin pushed out and the puncture was immediately soldered. The application of the hot iron burned up most of the air remaining in the tin, leaving a partial vacuum of around 4½ inches.
The time taken for a tin of cigarettes to pass through the heater was about 6½ minutes.
For tobaccos, however, the heating feature of the testers was in effect used to extend the processing of the tobacco.
The number of tins fed into each tube and the number of tubes used was varied according to a very carefully calculated formula for each and every brand and packing so that some passed through the heater in 9 minutes whereas others took 22½ minutes.
Some brands, especially the darker flakes or navy cuts were put through a second time after a 48 hour interval so that the total time in the heater was often as much as 50 minutes.
This treatment of tobaccos had been practised since the earliest days and was considered to be an essential part of the processing.It was only abandoned when tobacco packings changed to snap vac or skruseal packings some time after World War 2.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
*note: the 2 machines mentioned above made slightly cheaper to produce tins and were less labor intensive, but resulted in a lower vacuum of 2-3", while the conventional heat processed cutter-top usually had 4-5", but all tins still had to be checked after the sealed fact for "leakers".

Also,

this book is pretty damn great too:

 

[misterlowercase]

And,

if you're interested in the history of the Lakeland tobacco industry,

this is the definitive book on the subject,

Kendal Brown : The History of Kendal's Tobacco and Snuff Industry by J.W. Dunderdale
::

 

[daveinlax]

If you like Dunhill,

One Hundred Years And More by Michael Balfour

is great...

In addition to Balfour which is a must have, Mary Dunhill's Our Family Business and John Loring's Dunhill The Patent Years and After belong in a tobcciana library.

Rick Hacker's books are must have, before the internet his The Ultimate Pipe Book introduced me to the hobby and where I read about The Pipe Smokers Ephemeris, Books I and II and the loose issues are a goldmine of pipe information and the history of the hobby. 8O

 

[ssjones]

I have "Rare Smoke". It contains some inaccuracies, but it is the one I turn to the most for information.

 

[settersbrace]

"The Perfect Smoke" by Dr. Fred Hanna
"In Search of Pipe Dreams" by Rick Newcomb

 

[maxx]

I've bookmarked this thread. You know what the Doormouse said: "Feed your head."

 

[michail]

Also if you like old style traditional shapes the BBB Catalogue No. XX, 1912 is a THE book.