Anyone else have a set of these?
- Thread starter kennymo
- Start date
My mother had rescued these books years ago from a school library that was tossing them out. I used to rattle through them as a kid, but thought them long since gone. The subject came up a while back and it turns out all twenty some volumes of the Times History of the War were still hiding in a dark corner of the basement at the farm. Reasonable condition considering they spent many many years in a high school library. Seems they may have been written and published either during the course of WWI or very soon after. Since we're mere weeks away from the 100th anniversary of the opening volleys of the Great War I thought it would be a good time to start actually reading them instead of all the picture looking I did twentyish years ago. Volume two so far, it's interesting though sometimes dry. Full of great quotes, photos and British propaganda, I was wondering if anyone else had ever gone through the whole thing, or at least could tell me when they might have originally printed.
Ha ha, ok I scoured volume one and couldn't come up with anything. Didn't bother looking in volume 2 and it's stamped 1915 in inch high letters right after all the folded maps on the inside of the cover. 
So wartime publication then. Cool.
So wartime publication then. Cool.
Tsing-tao or Tsingtao (both spellings are period, both correct) had been taken by the Germans as compensation following the Boxer rebellion. They rebuilt the town, and especially the harbour installations, on the latest European model and it became a coaling-station for German merchant shipping and the occasional warship operating in the Pacific. Of the many ships which used the facility, the best-remembered is SMS Emden, which coaled there on its final glorious voyage as a raider.
But Navies are different beasts and follow national traditions. The US Navy runs on coffee, the Royal Navy ran on grog..... and the Kaiserliche Marine ran on beer. To this end, one very important German installation at Tsingtao had to be a proper German BREWERY. This was constructed and came on-line in 1904, using the latest German-built brewing equipment and a traditional German recipe which followed the ancient Brewing Law to perfection. When the Japanese took Tsingtao, they captured the whole thing..... including the brewery. Following the Second World War, China again held this important Chinese seaport.
Suffice to say, however, that that century-old German brewery is still in operation, still using its equipment from the Imperial days of the Zweite Reich.... and still using the same ancient German recipe.
Tsingtao Beer is imported into Canada and is available in most Provinces. The ones which do not have it can order it from a Province which does stock it.
Although I am almost a total non-drinker myself, I do have bottle of genuine Tsingtao Beer up in the cupboard. It is awaiting the Kaiser's Birthday to be opened and sampled: a tiny bit of the old Reich which has survived, unaltered, into a new Millennium.
But Navies are different beasts and follow national traditions. The US Navy runs on coffee, the Royal Navy ran on grog..... and the Kaiserliche Marine ran on beer. To this end, one very important German installation at Tsingtao had to be a proper German BREWERY. This was constructed and came on-line in 1904, using the latest German-built brewing equipment and a traditional German recipe which followed the ancient Brewing Law to perfection. When the Japanese took Tsingtao, they captured the whole thing..... including the brewery. Following the Second World War, China again held this important Chinese seaport.
Suffice to say, however, that that century-old German brewery is still in operation, still using its equipment from the Imperial days of the Zweite Reich.... and still using the same ancient German recipe.
Tsingtao Beer is imported into Canada and is available in most Provinces. The ones which do not have it can order it from a Province which does stock it.
Although I am almost a total non-drinker myself, I do have bottle of genuine Tsingtao Beer up in the cupboard. It is awaiting the Kaiser's Birthday to be opened and sampled: a tiny bit of the old Reich which has survived, unaltered, into a new Millennium.
I think these books are post war as I doubt these pictures would have been available during the war. Regardless, they look to be very nice books, thanks for sharing some shots of the pages. I am glad these were saved from destruction.
Edit: I just noticed one of your images shows the printing house name and possibly the book set name "the times" which sounds like it is part of series of history books on a range of subjects. I'm not sure what "1785" represents, either the first coverage of the series or the first book to be published under "the times" series.
Edit: I just noticed one of your images shows the printing house name and possibly the book set name "the times" which sounds like it is part of series of history books on a range of subjects. I'm not sure what "1785" represents, either the first coverage of the series or the first book to be published under "the times" series.
They've been rather uncared for for many years. The paper itself is in pretty good shape, a few of them have some issues with the binding or covers but others seem almost like they've hardly been opened. Volume one in particular has had a rough life. A local donated them to Lundar Collegiate in 1964. Being in a high school library, of course someone has scribbled out the donor's name and replaced it with 'grandma pig', but fortunately I haven't come across any defaced photos or much for pen marks inside the books.
That set is a real prize, kennymo.
There were various illustrated weeklies and so forth during the war and several published quarterlies reprinting weekly-paper articles during the war.
Your set, though, runs from beginning to end. I believe it was published in 1919, as soon after the war as they could put it together in a coherent form.
Yes, The Times has been around for a long time. The popular typeface ("font" in computerese, although quite incorrect) called "Times" was originally cut for that paper and since has become a world standard, being remarkably clear and easy to read. The serifs of the letters are prominent enough actually to lead the eye along a word without you even being aware of it. MANY much more modern typefaces are far more strain on the eyes to read over a period of time. The old-timers DID get it right.... far more often than we would like to admit.
There were various illustrated weeklies and so forth during the war and several published quarterlies reprinting weekly-paper articles during the war.
Your set, though, runs from beginning to end. I believe it was published in 1919, as soon after the war as they could put it together in a coherent form.
Yes, The Times has been around for a long time. The popular typeface ("font" in computerese, although quite incorrect) called "Times" was originally cut for that paper and since has become a world standard, being remarkably clear and easy to read. The serifs of the letters are prominent enough actually to lead the eye along a word without you even being aware of it. MANY much more modern typefaces are far more strain on the eyes to read over a period of time. The old-timers DID get it right.... far more often than we would like to admit.
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Up until December of last year, after I "retired", the Rural Municipality offered me a part time job. It lasted over 12 years. There were five garbage landfills in the Municipality, and I got paid to sit at them on different days, for about eight hours each. This involved taking and recording names of users, directing them to the proper location, keeping records, and a recycling program. There were three people on the landfills, and the other two guys had instructions from me to SAVE ALL Historical books, documents, pictures and "museum" items. Not the most appealing job for some people but I loved it. You never knew what would show up, and I got paid basically to sit on my butt and read books.
It is amazing the amount of books, old tools and items, and other good "stuff" that comes into the local landfills. The first day I was working, I ended up with a Coleman Ram-X canoe in good shape except the wood gunnels had been broken when it was backed into. Three months later, I had obtained enough Oak and was paddling the canoe on a local lake.
The closure of several schools in our area resulted in a LOT of books coming into the landfills. I had boxes of books to go through, and I salvaged the Historical ones, and other interesting ones. The local Museum along with others such as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, and the Fort Dauphin Museum in Dauphin, Manitoba received items, and the Fort Garry Horse Museum in Winnipeg ended up with some Manuals. All this stuff would have been buried or recycled and lost forever if we had not recognized the value of it. Even SMELLIE has been the recipient of a lot of interesting Historical books, and was happy with some of the "Care" packages that showed up at his house.
One of the points I am getting at is that our present Society is a "Throw-away Society." The same regard for our past is not really being held in respect, and much of our Heritage is slowly disappearing because people do not realize the value of an "old book" or tool or trunk or photograph or letter or uniform or piece of furniture. It does seem that the MILSURP section GunNutz here are more aware of the Historic worth of an item, and that is a good thing. Most of the items we see in this Forum are limited, and will never be manufactured again, so while we seem to be getting more people who are interested in the Historic firearms and related items, there simply is no more available.
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Up until December of last year, after I "retired", the Rural Municipality offered me a part time job. It lasted over 12 years. There were five garbage landfills in the Municipality, and I got paid to sit at them on different days, for about eight hours each. This involved taking and recording names of users, directing them to the proper location, keeping records, and a recycling program. There were three people on the landfills, and the other two guys had instructions from me to SAVE ALL Historical books, documents, pictures and "museum" items. Not the most appealing job for some people but I loved it. You never knew what would show up, and I got paid basically to sit on my butt and read books.
It is amazing the amount of books, old tools and items, and other good "stuff" that comes into the local landfills. The first day I was working, I ended up with a Coleman Ram-X canoe in good shape except the wood gunnels had been broken when it was backed into. Three months later, I had obtained enough Oak and was paddling the canoe on a local lake.
The closure of several schools in our area resulted in a LOT of books coming into the landfills. I had boxes of books to go through, and I salvaged the Historical ones, and other interesting ones. The local Museum along with others such as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, and the Fort Dauphin Museum in Dauphin, Manitoba received items, and the Fort Garry Horse Museum in Winnipeg ended up with some Manuals. All this stuff would have been buried or recycled and lost forever if we had not recognized the value of it. Even SMELLIE has been the recipient of a lot of interesting Historical books, and was happy with some of the "Care" packages that showed up at his house.
One of the points I am getting at is that our present Society is a "Throw-away Society." The same regard for our past is not really being held in respect, and much of our Heritage is slowly disappearing because people do not realize the value of an "old book" or tool or trunk or photograph or letter or uniform or piece of furniture. It does seem that the MILSURP section GunNutz here are more aware of the Historic worth of an item, and that is a good thing. Most of the items we see in this Forum are limited, and will never be manufactured again, so while we seem to be getting more people who are interested in the Historic firearms and related items, there simply is no more available.
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Good find! I am of the same cut of cloth as smellie and Buffdog when it comes to "old stuff", especially books. A way too much gets heaved out, especially nice old books.
For all you Ross crackpots.... I mean crack shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(It's a Ross rifle booklet)
https://archive.org/stream/riflemusketryexe00canauoft#page/n0/mode/2up
For all you Ross crackpots.... I mean crack shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(It's a Ross rifle booklet)https://archive.org/stream/riflemusketryexe00canauoft#page/n0/mode/2up
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