What's in your Library?

Rod I will make all the sub forums that have been requested on my Saturday.
I have a day all to myself, going to lock myself in my study and stamp for the whole day
I have most of my exams done only one left on Wednesday then holidays till 2nd of January.

With the exception of catalogs and digital files, I only have two books in my philatelic library.

The Schmid book is a must read for U.S. collectors, providing a wealth of information on its subject. The Linn book is geared for a specialty that I have yet to undertake -- perhaps once I finish cataloging the worldwide collection...

I have a bit of a love affair going on with reference books. If I come across an old or outdated reference on a dealers table, whether I can use it or not at that time, I usually end up taking it home. I've made a point of trying to buy at least one new reference book each year. Sometimes that's just a case of updating something I already have with a newer edition but for the most part I try and make it something I don't already have. When it comes to buying stamps I'm a sucker for items that are oddball and not easily identified, whether that be the country that issued them or more often what their purpose was. I prefer to buy auction lots, collections and estates rather than a single or set of stamps and lots of times I find items within that fall into the hard to identify category as well. If I end up with enough similar items that I haven't been able to learn enough about online or through asking others then that usually helps to point me in the direction of my next purchase. Sometimes if I'm lucky enough, one of those oddball items that I've purchased even though it doesn't fit into my collections, will have enough value to cover my purchase cost and/or help to offset or pay for whatever reference book I bought. Even if it doesn't I get almost as much enjoyment out of books as the stamps.

I do have a decent amount of catalogs and reference books here, albeit an extremely mixed bag of countries/topics, that hopefully I'll be able to help with some identification/value questions down the road.

Rick

I had a spot of bother, seemed only good for android based machines.

What I did see, I liked, esp Rep. Maluku Selatan  and Lundy books.

The link is a dead one !!

I tried what Zuzu suggested and got to a labyrinth of download possibilities but when I typed in any search
 for books, they laughed at me !!

Who needs books anyway !

Londonbus1....back to the mags !!

I was going to actually buy a book but as luck would have it searching I found two Imperf.small queens. Guess which I spent my bucks on.I'll post scans when they arrive.

Lucky you,  (and I share your lack of expertise around Google Books)
However, I have a another route to pursue,
Our esteemed TSF member, Ryan, offered this for consideration some time ago,
I have ordered it, and will do a road test when it arrives here, in the middle Kingdom.

The vagaries of international copyright law!  I frequently come across links to Google Books which presumably bring up some content for American viewers, but which as a Canadian I can't see.  Drat & blast.

Ryan

Thanks L.L.S., I was trying to copy and past on my tablet from bed last night and it did not work. So I tried to put the info in by hand.
You all have the correct link now via L.L.S. ... At least in the US, they are free to download. I like the mexico books myself..

Absolutely Dave, CD's can be hit and miss.
A "stamp album pages" from NZ was a clanger.

My best two CD's ?   Scott 2009 catalogue, and Bill Steiner's Album Page CD.

Cinderellas on CD and Cricket stamps on CD are good, but used sparingly as a reference, same goes for the Forbin revenues CD

PDF's are the best for  reference material, and have had some great gifts of old books as  PDF's  from stamp Forum members.

Thanks for looking Rod.  Something to keep our eyes out for.  Perhaps LB1 can enlighten us.

Theron

I think you'll find most are pre-WW1!  Lots of ancient stuff there, but that's a given considering modern copyright law - in much of the world, copyright extends 70 years past the death of the author.  And by 2036, 70 years after the death of Walt Disney, copyright term will undoubtedly have been extended again.  Everytime anything to do with Mickey Mouse has come up for the potential of falling into the public domain, copyright law changes!  ha ha

Everything on the disc has reverted to the public domain, so it's all old stuff.  Still, for ~$10 it's worth it to have these old stamp books just as curiosities, considering the sheer quantity of material.

And how did you like the Alphonse Mucha disc?

Ryan

Hi Ryan,
not invested in the Mucha disc as yet,
I went way over budget last month.
I have hidden my wallet where I'll never find it again.