Official book collectors thread

Thanks for the update Marcel.

 

If I may ask for some help please. I would like to buy my friend for his 50th B-day a nice coffee table Ferrari book for around $150 - $200. He is an owner of 3 more modern Ferraris. Which would you recommend?
Thank you

 

The Ferrari Book - Passion for Design
is nice on a coffetable!

Not that deep in details and all about well known pics
but the quality of the binding is nice and the size is big enough
to call it a real coffetable book and it fit the budget!

 

https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/3961710201/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&keywords=the+ferrari+book&qid=1575546191&sr=8-1

 

I have finally managed to get hold of a copy of Ferrari in Camera. Having let previous opportunities slip through my fingers I made sure I got this one!

I think I got it for a good price - £600 which is approx. USD790 or EUR710. I have no intention of selling but wondered what people’s opinions are on value and there is one particular reason why I ask.

It is stamped on the title page only with “Promotional Use Only Not For Re-Sale”. It is still an individually numbered copy out of the original 1000 and there are no other stamps or anything else to differentiate it from a regular retail copy.

Personally I don’t think the promotional status should have much of an impact on value, if anything at all. Perhaps it might have made a difference nearer to the time it was published but nearly 25 years down the line does one stamp really matter? If there were multiple copies available at the same time I’m sure that people would prefer a version without the stamp but given how rarely they come up for sale this again makes me think it will have a nominal impact?

Does anyone have any views? I’m basically of the opinion that I’ve got myself quite the bargain based on the values regular copies have attracted and I’m hoping some of you may validate that! Thanks

 

Actually it might enhance the value. I seek out proof copies, pre-publication review copies, promotional editions, etc., when I can find them.

 

In the end nothing is more important than condition.

 

If the condition is excellent, then I believe the value is enhanced a little with it being stamped on the title page “Promotional Use Only Not For Re-Sale”.

 

I doubt. Most times these promotional copies had a hard life, and are therefore not in top or even mint condition. What adds value is the autograph of a relevant VIP.

 

Yes of course many promotional copies have had a hard life, but not all. Often something like this stamp does have added value, not much, but a little, and BTW....I wrote "enhanced a little." An autograph is not the only thing that adds value on collector items (not just books).

 

Stamped or not, if the book is in excellent condition, the price is more than a bargain,
i would say half of the book is a gift...

 

You should have heard my howl when I realised somebody had circumvented the auction and contacted the seller directly. Fair play to you though, he who dares and all that.

 

S. Scott Callan (author of Metal Memory: the mystery of 0718) has announced a new Ferrari book to begin printing next month. http://velocitygroup.net/ObservationsOnFerrari/index.html

Not cheap, but if its like Metal Memory it should be a great keepsake.

I have no affiliation, just a happy owner.

 

Ha! That's how I actually bought my Ferrari back in 2004!

 

Excellent, thanks for this.

Marcel Massini

 

This is one of my pet peeves, where publishers advertise then delay the book availability for months. I realize book publishing is a fickle business and that stuff happens but McKlein seems to be a big time operation and should have better control over how and when they advertise their new books. I hate to compare them to our friends at Exoto but it seems justified in this case. I ordered the book at the end of September and they were quick indeed to charge my credit card.

Sorry for the screed but I am generally P O'd after battling UPS on several fronts - I ordered the Raupp calendar and received a battered and empty box from my friends at UPS. Octane Press were great about a replacement however. UPS also screwed up another shipment just this past week so McKlein gets lumped in the same boat.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming and thanks again Marcel.

 

All understood. I feel the pain. Have the same oftentimes.
312 P #0872 (the car) will be displayed at Retromobile Paris February 2020 and at the same time the new Gianni Agnesa authored McKlein book 312 P will be officially presented. Information directly from the owner of the car to me.

Generally: I think distributors announce new publications very early, then try to find out how much worldwide interest there really is, then start collecting money (by charging credit cards) and then start thinking about possibly producing a publication.

Marcel Massini

 

I think that's probably a little unfair, although really McKlein shouldn't have been charging your credit card until the book is available. But this particular book has only been listed tucked away on the odd website so not really advertised. Often it seems to be that the author misses their deadline but I can imagine there are various reasons for missing an intended publication date.

I notice that the Enzo Ferrari Pictorial Biography that I pre-ordered two years ago is now due in May next year (www.evropublishing.com/collections/all-books/products/enzo-ferrari-the-photographic-biography)!

Anyway, my copy of the McKlein Sharknose V6 book arrived today so at least that one was on schedule.

 

I see that both books are reviewed in the latest FML
Nathan

 

What’s your impression of the Sharknose book?

I’ve been waiting for Nye’s book, too, but then I waited something like 17 years for Inside Track.

 

It may have taken 17, but it was more than worth the wait!

 

Didn't we all! I still have an email from 2007(?) where I subscribed to be kept informed of progress on Inside Track - not that I ever did get informed and had to find out from Autosport/Atlas. Those interested in BRMs have been waiting a fair few years for Mr Nye to finish volume 4 as well. I think I detect a pattern - although with all fairness to Doug, his books are always worth the wait.

With the obvious caveat that I've only had the opportunity for a very brief flick through of the Sharknose book: Firstly, it weighs an absolute ton with a hefty slipcase. The book itself is 430 pages. Bilingual English and German. The English looks to be properly translated (I am assuming from the authors names that the German text is the original) and the text looks, at the briefest of glances, to be detailed and interesting. It covers all the races the Sharknose cars participated in and then covers the various drivers who raced them.

Visually it is superb as you would expect from McKlein.

So, first impressions are very positive and it looks well worth the price for anyone interested in the subject matter.

 

I just read the review of Callan’s Alfa Romeo book on www.velocetoday.com Given the substance of the review and Callan’s response to it, I think I’ll give his Ferrari book a pass.......I like my history straight, not so much history as art, especially at the price.

 

Thanks. I just purchased from Book Depository.....$50 less than cover price and free shipping to the US.

 

I understand your concern. I got 'Metal Memory', it's nicely done, but requires an acquired taste. Currently he sells most or all of his books for USD 500.- plus postage, which is just too much in my opinion.