My copy of Jim Dick's Tilley, The Versatile Vapour Lamp arrived today, and now all I can do is look at the pictures. Sure, I'll read the articles, but look at those pictures! Great book, and now I know what REAL pressure lanterns and lamps looks like! I'm sick, I know it....
That is one of the better books on lamps. I know Jim spent years tweaking it and I think we found two very minor mistakes and one model missing which was an obscure wall bracket from the early 1920s. ::Neil::
I'm on my 3rd copy of this book (I call it my Bible!) as I have passed on two copies to people I had bought some lamps from but who were still very interested in seeing the information and illustrations in the book.
So is this bracket so obscure that there is no illustration of it? If anyone has it you will I'm sure Neil. Any chance of seeing it, how else will we know what we're looking for?
Here you go, with all the associated information. Title: Tilley: The Versatile Vapour Lamp Author: Jim Dick ISBN: 0 646 39330 8 Apparently it's available EXCLUSIVELY through Tilley since a check of amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, and abebooks.com came up with nothing. Here's the cover for you to lust after:
The missing model was one found in an early 1920s catalogue by Mick Emm. I can't remember the model number right now and it is not really important 'cos if I remember right it was just a variation on a bracket lamp that is listed in Jim's book. Not Jim's fault because the catalogue came to light after the book was printed. The info in that book was a full exchange of catalogue info with Mick, Myself and Jim. Quite a bit came from another source in Aus but I do remember a lot of info exchanges between the three of us at the time. In fact this book is a tour de force. I know only too well how hard it is to publish anything that is perfect. Jim came very close and this has to be the definitive work on Tilley. I know he does not list all the variations but for all practical purposes there is nothing important missing. ::Neil::
Hi ! JeanJ asked if there was an illustration of the early wall lamp / bracket lamp ? The answer is " Yes " if you turn to page 63 of your bible its there in black and white listed as SL60 ! If you don't see the photocopy of SL60 then your looking at the wrong book ! The first print run of 400 books sold out surprisingly quickly so a second print run was ordered still showing the same date on inside cover but with two alterations ! Firstly there was just enough room to add SL60 to page 63 without major upheavel to the books layout.Other WL25's were found in same catalogue but just no room in the book. Second alteration was the removal of one word from page 65 " floor ". So now not only are the lamps collectable but how many collectors have both versions of the Tilley book ? I think I'm right in saying we are now into print run number three thats putting the number of books sold well up to approaching a thousand ,no wonder theres hardly any lamps left to find with so many collectors out there ! ...Mick
It's interesting that a search of the ISBN number shows nada (nothing, zip). A library search indicates that the closest publicly-available copy (to me) is in New Zealand! That can't be right. Is it possible that no library copies were produced? Is anyone willing to offer some discounted copies to get at least some copies into Canada and the U.S.? I know that putting a copy in the U.S. university system would make it available nationally. I don't know about State or Provincial systems...
In fact I do have the illustration of the SL61 on p.63 of my book but stupidly gave the words 'wall' and 'bracket' different meanings. You may be interested to know that I have the ML93 in the swivel bracket illustrated at the bottom of the same page.
Hi ! The tilley book is available world wide from the Tilley company. If you or anyone else wants a copy then simply buy a copy. When the book was first published 400 books were instantly brought by the Tilley lamp company and any collector in the northern Hemisphere could buy a copy. The other 100 books went to Bernie Holmes in Melbourne for distribution down under . The costs involved in producing the book at Jim's personel expense and Tilley buying the book direct from Jim Dick mean't no one is going to get rich quick ! its a low cost , very proffessionaly presented book , by lamp collectors for lamp collectors. Any suggestions of a cheap book or two ,to be sent to the USA or Canada and suggestions of the book being accessable for all to down load in any form I dissagree with as this rather under mines the efforts involved by alot of collectors years ago to give you the pleasure of eagerly awaiting your copy to arrive through the post and give you hours of pleasure reading and understanding " Tilley the Versatile Vapour Lamp " . Mick
Mick, I regret that I didn't clearly express my intent. I never (EVER) would advocate violating an author's copyright protection, and I also would not expect the author to subvert their opportunity to recap their investment (with at least an appropriate level of compensation on top of it)! Having a copy in available in a library is as much a marketing effort as it is an education effort. I might donate my copy to the Reference section of our local library since that means it will not leave the building. If that seems counterproductive, I should tell you that I personally own several expensive books that I first perused in the Reference section before making the personal investment to own. I would never advocate or support someone scanning the text of the book for distribution. So, have no fear of that ever happening on my watch. I may suggest on the North American forums that someone stock the book to make it easier to get. Single copy shipping from the U.K. adds expense and time, but having several copies in the U.S. would lower the cost and delivery time per copy. We'll see... Many thanks to all that put in the time and knowledge for such a stellar book. I am enjoying it immensely!
