Hand Made Books Unique or Not?

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Hand Made Books Unique or Not?

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1misericordia
dec 29, 2009, 12:33 pm

What if you make a one of a kind scrapbook or other handmade book or zine? I am not talking about a vanity print pressing. I mean an honest to gosh one and only one hand made book? Cataloged and marked ULTB. Is that fair? What if you make 20 one of a kind books. (20 different one of a kind books.) It that fair or twisting the rules.

2vpfluke
dec 29, 2009, 2:24 pm

I would count something with a manuscript quality to it as suitable for ULTB. Most people don't have them, but they would be nice to see in LT -- particularly if the cover is scanned.

3misericordia
dec 29, 2009, 3:06 pm

Please define "manuscript quality".

4vpfluke
dec 29, 2009, 3:28 pm

I am not sure I have a definition for manuscript quality. But, it would be something that you created that you would like to keep and perhaps share. Something you took care in producing. As I think about it, talking about manuscripts is a tricky business. The recent "The Red Book" Carl Jung comes to mind as something that obviously has quality as to the people who have seen it, but the author is very reticent about. I think I was thinking that manuscripts are well worth being copyrighted and are.

5misericordia
dec 30, 2009, 11:21 am

So "Aunt Betty's 20 Years of Winning Recipes", which happens to be 50 5x7 index cards in a binder clip would not be "manuscript quality".

But would be valuable and well worth cataloging and marking ULTB.

6vpfluke
dec 31, 2009, 4:45 pm

If I had an Aunt Betty whose recipes were that nicely organized, I would consider them copyrightable.

7muumi
dec 31, 2009, 9:36 pm

My opinion: It's twisting the rules. A handmade book in that sense is a work of art. I question listing an original work of art under the tag ULTB. This is LibraryThing not ArtworkThing after all.

I am speaking as someone who has handbound unique books composed of original artwork. I still own several and you won't find them tagged ULTB.

I thought the group rules implied that the work in question had to be published, ie. released to the public. (If they don't, it would be a good rule.) What you're describing here is private.

If the work is available through a publisher (online publisher included) so that you or your friend or a random stranger stalking me on LibraryThing and jealous of my ULTB collection could order a copy -- I'll tag it ULTB. This includes Grandma's photo album or Aunt Betty's recipe cards if digitized and uploaded to Blurb or Lulu -- but not if they reside only in my drawer.

Even if it is purely original artwork from beginning to end, if it exists in multiple copies and/or is offered for sale to the public, I would tag it ULTB. Example: Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite by Walter Bachinski: all the text is handprinted on an antique press, all the artwork is pochoir stencilling, so it is very handmade, and each copy is signed. Anyone who likes can buy a copy and nullify my ULTB tag. ;) Something like a souvenir book handed out to a group would be an example of a work published ("multiple copies" sent out into the world) without being offered for sale.

I have handmade a least two different books in two copies -- but since they were not offered for sale, I think that they cannot be considered published. If I bought a one-of-a-kind art book, it was offered for sale, published; I would put it on LibraryThing and tag it ULTB.

8misericordia
jan 1, 2010, 3:42 pm

6> But would you catalog and mark ULTB.

7> So if I buy a one of a kind book that is offered for public sale, a single and only "copy". Isn't that the ultimate ULTB?

9guido47
jan 9, 2010, 6:37 pm

Dear Group,

I have 10 volumes of a cartoonists (Arthur Horners) work.

They are JUST newspaper clipping carefully cutout (one a day) and pasted into what looks like a music - staves etc - book. Someone has hand coloured the covers and this collection is Unique and was probably loved.

I know, it is hard enough finding any of Horners cuttings. They were expnsive are invaluable to me, I hope they will form the basis of a (one day) republished set of his works.

Are they unique in the sense of this group. I doubt it.
Will I post then to LT. NO.

Yours, Guido.

10misericordia
jan 11, 2010, 11:54 am

Why won't you post them to LT? They strike me as the ultimate in unique books.

Just curious, since it sounds like you didn't create these volumes, how did you get them?

11guido47
jan 15, 2010, 1:29 am

Dear misericordia et. al.

To me, that collection of newspaper strips is just that, a scrapbook. Not a book nor even a manuscript. I am a bit of a completist, thus since Horner drew 53 adventures (of 80 or so strips each) over a period of 18 years, and my scrapbooks have 20 adventures (I do have another 15 in loose form as well)
I would feel unhappy in posting an incomplete collection.

If we ever do republish (a complete set I hope) of Arthur Horner's "Colonel Pewter" , with ISBN's. (Hint hint anyone interested) I would of course post our printed books and perhaps post the "scrapbook" since it would have become a source for the published work.

Just another spanner...should I also post my "loose" strips as a set. In my mind they are just as important (and more usefull since scanning them is easier!) than just a scrapbook, no matter how lovingly put together.

Sorry, we fans can become a little "tunnel visioned" when discussing our pet topic.

Yours Guido.

PS. I bought that set of adventures from a 2nd. hand book/comic shop.
I was a bit disgruntled with the price and I wonder if the collection was sold to them for peanuts.

PPS. Two of the copyright holders belong to our "Colonel Pewter Fan Group".
See Yahoo Groups if you are interested, but currently we are almost moribund.

12dtw42
jan 17, 2010, 5:10 am

>11 guido47: "Sold to them for peanuts": sort of Horner-for-Schulz swapsies?
Sorry.

13guido47
jan 17, 2010, 5:24 pm

Ha, have you seen the price they charge for 1 year of peanuts?
And they are too small anyway.
Anyway, ALL punsters should be... :-)