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Apparently the lace world at large is not interested in perpetuating this type of lacemaking. I checked online for a copy of a book I borrowed at the library. I don't think it's one I'd even use much. I'm not overly fond of Bruges but it had some simple pieces I thought I'd put in my file to try. A well rounded lacemaker should try everything, IMO.
I put the ISBN in google and got lots of hits. I picked the first one that I thought was a decent price for a used book. It was "out of stock". Every source I tried listed it at a price well over $100. Now if this were an exceptionally good book, one of a kind, I could see it, but I find this same scenario with every single bobbinlace book I check and there are hundreds of books on the market.
What IS the deal?
Tatters have seen this happen with Mary Konior's books, including the one in print and currently being sold at the regular price. People try to sell them for hundreds of dollars, sometimes over $1,000. It's very quickly turning me off of bobbinlace.
Maybe book publishers need to pay attention and start publishing more lace books that are affordable. I'm not a Nook or Kindle fan to begin with but this is definitely one art I would not want electronically. I have to have it printed out.
I have one "rare" bookseller who sends me an email every time she lists a tatting book. I didn't ask for this notification, she just does it. I have just about every tatting book there is and if I don't have it, I'm fine with that. There's probably a reason I didn't get it. Not because it's bad - just because I have more than enough already. But sometimes I check to see what she listed and I'll admit I'm appalled by her prices. The books are not exactly "rare" and in fact, most are available readily. A lot of tatting publications these days are self-published and limited in number. This is not true of the bobbinlace books I'm talking about.
Okay...rant over. I have FUN things to do today and better get to it!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
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3 comments:
I have wondered the same thing. Some of the pricing is absolutely ridiculous.
you will encounter this problem with lace books when they are out of print. i have found many of the books i'm looking for on ebay or on bookfinder.com. some of the lacemaking sites also have good lace books. don't think publishers would make much money on lace books. there are some of us around but not enough to be a moneymaker. which book are you looking for? maybe it's one i have that i would be willing to let go of.
I bought the new Gillian & Thunder Beginner's book at a good price online and all the other books I've got I found at a used book store for about half the price of a new copy over the past few years. But now that I'm actually looking for certain books, the prices are astronomical. My BL buddy has been checking online too and we're both flabbergasted at the costs. I can usually find just about anything I want at a reasonable or even lower than normal price online.
Deanna - thank you but I think I'll just copy the few pages I'm really interested in. It's The Technique of Bruges Flower Lace. I also have access to the I.O.L.I. library so I can see books that aren't available. I know the audience isn't that high and the books are almost very good quality hardbacks but considering the very high prices...that tells me there IS a demand and surely the cheaper papaerback versions are an affordable option. There's like a zillion books on quilting and knitting. I do both but don't need nearly as many books as they keep churning out. Back when I started it would have been nice to have that many to pick from though.
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