8mm Forum: A Good Used Book Recommendation

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Posted by Claus Harding (Member # 702) on November 07, 2007, 10:19 PM:

Hello All,

This comes with a caveat: if this book (and/or this author) are already well-known, and if I am in fact reviewing a 'Bible' among film collectors, please forgive me in advance, as I do not know if that is the case.

The book in question is "Film Collecting" by Gerald McKee; published in 1978 or so by the Tantivy Press in London (it lists an American publisher as well.)

Mr. McKee seems to have embraced most all the formats as a collector, in addition to being actively involved in industrial photography and film-making, according to the book sleeve.

The book takes on all the formats; both the ones still here and the ones that failed along the way. We get 8,S8, 9.5, 16, and all the oddballs in between, and, most importantly, a sense of why they came and went.
Beautiful frame blow-ups illustrate the stories.

One of the strong points of the book, perhaps ironically, is that it is not current.
It is placed in its time as a piece of well-written history and analysis of the market, without having to waste pages or energy on 'looking back' from the 2000s.
Thus the history reported has an immediacy that really works.

Ultimately, McKee's excellent writing, along with his historical knowledge, is really what sells the book.

For both beginners and more advanced film fans and collectors, he writes in an unfussy, informative fashion that neither talks down to, nor goes for the lowest denominator, and along the way, gives us a lot of the' key points' of the formats and the 'scene' around them in the different decades.

If you come across this one in a used bookstore or a flea-market, I think you will find that if you decide to pick it up, you will have an excellent time with it, perhaps much more than what the cover and title might suggest in and of itself.

Best,
Claus.

Posted by Stephen Spicer (Member # 950) on November 17, 2007, 01:49 AM:

Hiya,

Used to work on Film Making magazine with him. His knowledge was, indeed, encyclopedic.

SS

Posted by Mike Peckham (Member # 16) on November 17, 2007, 04:46 AM:

Hi Stephen

Welcome to the forum - always good to see new members joining!

Mike [Smile]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on November 17, 2007, 10:30 AM:

Hi Claus,
I totally agree with you regarding Gerald McKee's superb book 'Film Collecting'. I was lucky enough to aquire a copy at the Orlando Public Library book sale a few years ago. It is a great read, so much so, that I often find myself picking it up for a few minutes to enjoy some of the writing and photos.
Gerald followed up this book with another superb book called 'The Home Cinema'. This deals exclusively with home film projectors from the early 1900's to about 1950. It is loaded with photos and detailed decriptions and specifications of all the famous home movie projectors, including a very large section on Pathescope 9.5mm. This one is very hard to find, so if you come across one snap it up!

Posted by Claus Harding (Member # 702) on November 17, 2007, 11:43 AM:

Paul,
I'll definitely look for that one,

Claus.

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