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Brushes & Bayonets


Steven Broomfield

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Apologies if this has been done before (I couldn't find it on a search), but I lashed out £15.99 on this today in Winchester: Brushes & Bayonets link (normal price £20). I saw it in Waterstone's quite by chance (I was actually looking for Germinal by Zola), and bought it on the spot.

It's a bit of a coffee-table number, but filled with some wonderful sketches, paintings, cartoons, etc, from the GW. I obviously have had no opportunity for anything but a glance through, but the pictures are fascinating - a real set of illustrations typical and indicative of a time and place.

Matania's Goodbye Old Man is there (of course), plus lots of Bairnsfather, but also many I have - to my shame - to admit I have never heard of. I look forward to a real good sit down and browse.

And I didn't get the Zola, so I have an excuse to go back to rummage in more bookshops tomorrow.......

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another commercial venture almost certainly reproducing much that has been reproduced. Why don't publishers be bold and try to publish the little known, the unknown and the neglected (like central and eastern European aritsts of ww1)?

John

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  • 2 weeks later...
Another commercial venture almost certainly reproducing much that has been reproduced. Why don't publishers be bold and try to publish the little known, the unknown and the neglected (like central and eastern European aritsts of ww1)?

John

A good question but I have to say I'm thrilled with the book, having been given it recently. There's a nice introductory essay on the place of Illustration in the war between photography and war art.

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There are some more unusual ones in there. The Jolly Fisherman being shelled on Skegness Beach is one I know I have definitely not seen before!

Steve.

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Another commercial venture almost certainly reproducing much that has been reproduced. Why don't publishers be bold and try to publish the little known, the unknown and the neglected (like central and eastern European aritsts of ww1)?

John

Who would fund a non-commercial venture? Would you buy shares in a publishers which lost money by gambling on books with no proven market?

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John - sorry, didn't see your post earlier.

Personally, I find it better to critcise something I've seen.

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Sounds like a fascinating book Steven - I shall keep a lookout for it. Useful to have familiar and not so familiar illustrations from the period gathered in one book.

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Another commercial venture almost certainly reproducing much that has been reproduced. Why don't publishers be bold and try to publish the little known, the unknown and the neglected (like central and eastern European aritsts of ww1)?

John

Not having complete runs of The Illustrated London News; Bystander; Sphere; Sporting & Dramatic News; Tatler; Sketch and The Graphic, most of the contents were new to me; and we have splashed out on several Great war art books for our collection, including Dix's 'Der Kreig' and Richard Cork's 'A Bitter Truth', so I am reasonably well acquainted with the artwork of the time.

It is a handsome volume, which draws on the Illustrated London News Picture Library, accompanied by perceptive commentary by Lucinda Gosling. In addition to the expected subject areas, chapters include Allies; Love and Marriage; Drawing the Enemy, and Reporting & Censorship. Many of the images are as touching, sentimental and uproariously funny as when first published.

Perhaps French, Belgian, Italian, German, Austrian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Russian publishers (sorry about the omissions) can be persuaded to produce similar volumes. I for one would leap at the chance to learn more.

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Why don't publishers be bold and try to publish the little known, the unknown and the neglected (like central and eastern European aritsts of ww1)?

Why don't you start a poll to find out how many members of this forum would buy such a book? If aficionados like us wouldn't, who would?

I, for the record, would look at such a book in a bookshop and probably add it to my list of books to buy when they are eventually and inevitably remaindered at a fraction of the original price.

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Okay folks:

1) Many years ago I compiled lists of official military / war artists especially for the period 1914 to 1945. I was and still am fascinated by a cross-cultural comparison of how different artists in different cultures and countries portrayed differing elements of armed conflict and the conflict's consequences. As part of this research I did go through the Graphic, the ILN, the Sphere, etc.... Perhaps because of this intense exposure my views are somewhat atypical as far as most people in most places NOT having seen extensive comprehensive runs of these illustrated papers.

2) If something is not commercially viable does this mean that publishers who yes are in the business of making money will still not publish something? Usually YES they will NOT publish (common sense here). Think of all the unpublished authors or wannabe authors who are good or better but who will either never or only have one or two books published. Think of all the unpublished manuscripts (one should say computer folders / files these days!) left unread and /or unseen. I hope our world does not defer absolutely at least to publishers as the gatekeepers of what is fit to read and be seen. Good for self-published authors and yes even the unpublished. Diversity of mediums and outlets is GOOD.

3) I also like to criticize things that I have seen but my experience over the years in dealing with books that are heavily illustrated is that publishers to save money and maximize profits will cut back on the number and the quality of reproductions and rely on previously published illustrations (since their image files, [ remember photographic negatives? ! ] are already extant. This formed the basis of my original response in this thread.

John

Toronto

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just ordered a new copy of Brushes and Bayonets through AbeBooks for £11-55 plus the postage which comes to £14.99 in total.

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Book arrived to day and I am impressed. A good collection of pictures, prints and cartoons, well produced and presented with good explanatory notes. Certainly worth the money IMHO.

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