Blueprint For Victory

[aj.lec]

Would any of you nice canadians consider purchasing some and sending to Australia ???
Re-embersed for them of course
pm if interested

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by aj.lec

Would any of you nice canadians consider purchasing some and sending to Australia ???
Re-embersed for them of course
pm if interested

"Nice Canadians"?? There's nobody like that here, you must be mistaken...

How many copies do you want, AJ?

[aj.lec]

one for me for starters
I am sure there would be a few more interested people in oz
postage is probably the killer though
Any idea roughly what it would be ?

Who says there isnt any nice canadians
You guys must be all right -came up with the blitz (amongst other things )-all be it your forefathers must have been short-arses with small feet especially in the 11 and 12 cab variants

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I would love to do a reprint/update, and have the resources to do so. However, I doubt it could be done now as the original plates would have been lost/destroyed, and is there a demand that would justify? I suppose a facsimile version could be done, though who knows what result there would be? Mrs Gregg would obviously have to agree.

In the meantime, does that mean that the RCA shop has the last new copies?

[chris vickery]

David, the RCA kitshop has the last of the last. When Greggs collection wnet to CFB Shilo all the books, parts etc all went with it.

As far as doing a reprint, I have looked into it. The plates are long gone, as is the publishing house. I contacted Mrs. Gregg on several occasions regarding an interest in re-doing the books, esp the Profiles one.

A lack of response from the Gregg family or their lawyer indicates to me that they do not wish to grant the rights to anyone else to re-do the books.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Shame that Chris. However, I have heard much the same about re-pubs/re-prints before. It's a shame, but there you are. The photos are all out of copyright, being pre-1949 of course. A large proprtion would appear (from the book acknowledgements) were leant to Dr Gregg. The ones of most interest to me were lent by the late Sid Swallow who was the Service Manager at Fords in Windsor at the time.

Sid also supplied the late Herb Ronson who was also with Fords then, and Herb lent me negative copies of photos that Sid had sent him. These relate to the Southampton CMD, and additionally I have some other shots taken at the same time that were retained by GM Ltd and show alternative views. I have built up quite a collection of the CMD from various sources over the years: one photo turned up in the 1944 GM Overseas Operations wartime book! I also acquired three from Archives of Canada, including one of Mr Swallow in conference at the CMD! This suggested to me that these photos were widely spread around (the world). Dr Gregg clearly visited the Archives, judging by data that he published, and I wonder if he also used a few Archives photos as well? up to three CMD photos he published I have been able to get better copies direct from the Archives.

If there was a demand in due course, perhaps a new book could be written? A collaborative effort would be possible, but I have to say that at present the publishign industry here is reeling from a lack of sales (credit crunch and all that), and some houses are not taking on any new books as shops/dealers can't sell them and therefore pay for them!

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by chris vickery

David, the RCA kitshop has the last of the last. When Greggs collection wnet to CFB Shilo all the books, parts etc all went with it.

As far as doing a reprint, I have looked into it. The plates are long gone, as is the publishing house. I contacted Mrs. Gregg on several occasions regarding an interest in re-doing the books, esp the Profiles one.

A lack of response from the Gregg family or their lawyer indicates to me that they do not wish to grant the rights to anyone else to re-do the books.

A facsimile reprint will meet new demand. Perhaps the family does not understand that reprinting an old book isn't any work for them, except to cash the royalty cheques. The margin for publishers is small, so who ever takes the job isn't doing it to get rich. However, this forum is proof that people buy and enjoy books. The Gregg family might think that allowing a reprint will somehow reduce the value of books already in circulation or they will lose control. That is why licencing contracts are written. I'd say try again, explaining yourself again. Fifty-two cents postage is insignificant compared to what you are trying to achieve.

I had a chance to buy a book on target shooting once, everything from plates to copywrite for a few thousand dollars. That was what the owner had invested. I realized the cost was in the paper and funding the entreprise. Finding readers pre-internet would be a second major challenge.

PS I've got my copies, hardly smudged, spines gently cracked, in a safe place.

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I shall ask my colleague whether his latest technology (and Clive will also have his 'take' on tech.) could offer a facsimile.

The other side of the sentiment coin is that regrettably Dr Gregg dies too young and the family may not wish to be reminded about the works, or there may well be perfectly understandable family reasons. If this is the case then their wishes are to be respected. I for one would not wish to make any approach as I think it clearly is up to others who have already done so.

However, it is of course just the text that is copyrighted in my humble opinion: my intellectual rights law is rusty but the Archives have confirmed that this is so with regard to Canadian photos and the Canadian Crown Copyright.