Old college books, do you keep them?

[ericmark]

Newtons complete engineer gives detailed instructions on how to fit gas bags and run vehicles from coal gas, other maybe not quite so old, but are the worth keeping?

 

[Mottie]

Didn’t keep any of your collage dictionary’s then?

 

[RandomGrinch]

I would love to be able to have a library of old technical books like that.
Unfortunately time, space and money are limiting factors.
Although, I have recently acquired 'Electical Installations' c1902 by Rankin Kennedy - a nice collection in five volumes.
When I was little, my parents had a 1940's? edition of 'The Children's Encyclopedia' by Arthur Mee.
I was captivated by that set of books - especially volume six, with the cut-away of a King Class.
I was absolutely devastated when I learnt my parents had got rid of them when I left home

 

[Diver Fred]

Yes.

 

[Exedon]

One of my great grandfather's was a borough surveyor didn't realise until my dad passed all of the old boys paperwork still existed.
Late Victorian technical manuals onward to about 1940 covering all construction trades and design.
Suddenly found out he had designed over 900 houses roads public buildings you name it.
Has been a fascinating read and of course some of Information on traditional methods is still useful.

 

[conny]

I love old books. Got a couple of armature winding books dating from the late 50's early 60's but the principles still apply.
A copy of The Kings English Dictionary 1928 (King George V )
Origin of the species - Charles Darwin. Belonged to a W. Weightman and dated 1931
The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens (Kate Bardon April 1893)
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens 1959
Practical Engineer Book, (pocket size), 1915
Midget English Dictionary - soft leather bound, estimated to be around 1920's/30's
And our latest acquisition, Warners Pleasure Book for Children. Inscribed on the flyleaf is the following, (To Bertie on his 7th birthday March 30th 1927) It's a little dog-eared but was originally covered in brown paper. (The back cover still has it attached).

We tend to pick them up from car boot sales, where people just see them as a bit of old tat and ask for silly money like 50p each or 3 for £1, as opposed to book fairs where people try asking high prices for relatively recent editions, (1960's/70's etc).

I also inherited my familys 'The War in Pictures' complete set, (6 volumes), and the complete set of The Book of Knowledge, (8 volumes).
Both sets are in perfect condition as we were never allowed to read/use them unless we sat at the dining table, had scrubbed our hands and used bookmarks, (with our individual names on them), to mark our pages. Both sets were bought in the late 40's early 50's on 'tick'.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I have a small but growing library of construction technical books, many concerning my own trade (carpentry/joinery), with the oldest being a Victorian copy of Tredgold (from the 1870s). These are invaluable references to traditional techniques when it comes to installing or repairing joinery work on older buildings, especially the listed ones. Having my own library has meant that on a number of occasions I have been able to copy diagrams and drawings to explain construction methods which have been long out of favour and no longer taught. These days even vertical sliding sashes come into that category, having seemingly fallen off the curriculum some time in the 1980s. If you don't understand how stuff is made (and why) then repairing it properly can be very difficult

I too, love old books, so I also have a few interesting non-woodworking titles, albeit all non-fiction

 

[Diver Fred]

Was going to say the same as J&K, have all my dad's woodworking books, supplemented by some additional ones I've aquired. The one book I can't find is his 'apprentice ' book - only saw it once over the years. Don't think he gave it away. It has notes from his years as an apprentice, if I could find it I'd see if I could get it published.

also have some pre-WW2 handyman books - again I useful reference sources.

 

[Deleted member 267285]

My grandad passed me two books, can’t remember what I did with them now, but to do with domestic buildings iirc.

 

[ETAF]

unfortunately following a divorce , i just did not have the room any longer , and so got rid of all my College and apprentice books, Electronics, mechanics, Physics, Maths , etc
and a load of electronic magazines and reference books from the 70's - Chips Transistors etc

 

[RandomGrinch]

There are of course the modern (soon to be) 'classics' - I can't be the only one to have saved a last edition Argos catalogue, or Maplin catalogues from when they still printed circuit diagram examples alongside the IC's. and it wasn't just a gadget pamphlet!

 

[ericmark]

I work in a Heritage Railway, so still use a lot of old stuff, main problem is heath and safety, as many items designed well before we worried about such things.

But also instructions like get your spokeshave, nothing about using a muti-tool. And today you can't get town gas, (coal gas) and not sure what the rules and regulations are about gas bags on the roof.

Clearly ohm's law has not changed, but even modern books get it wrong, I was looking at the wiring diagram for a fluorescent lamp in a modern 'A' level Physics book, and the ballast was missing.

So the diagram for a regulator.

It states

When the above regulators are overhauled in BREL the battery charge contactor (CTR) and the associated cut-in relay (CIR) and regulator relay (REL) are being replaced by a battery charge diode (BCD). This alteration is detailed in Engineering Instruction MD 328 issued to BREL.

but the instructions are not really good enough to repair and set it up. It has been long a question on how to fit lights in a heritage railway carriage, at the moment we use batteries and remove batteries for charging.

Today maximum speed permitted is 15 MPH, and it seems unlikely the old dynamos would work at such a slow speed, likely best option is solar panels on roof, but that is hardly heritage.

So what good are the old books? Even some thing as simple as an RB108 regulator used with so many cars, although I do have the Lucas workshop manual with all the settings, there are no spare parts, so a cut out is replaced with a diode, can't see what has been done once cover replaced, but it means the books are not much good.

 

[conny]

@ericmark but the beauty of old books, even when they appear of no use in todays modern world, is that they show us how things have progressed and should modern methods fail, for whatever reason, we may have a chance of using the old ways to get us out of a tricky situation.

I am often fascinated by how we got from basics, such as old cotton covered wire with re-wireable fuses, to the modern pvc and MCB/RCD's etc
I love the simplicity of some of the old ways but also how they overcame the complexity of multi-drives with belts and wooden gearing etc.

 

[ericmark]

I know 1966 the rule changed on earths on light fittings, that would be 14th edition, but looking at the 16 and 17th editions the section seems a little vague.

A circuit protective conductor shall be run to and terminated at each point in wiring and at each accessory except a lampholder having no exposed-conductive-parts and suspended from such a point.

I would love to see the original wording.

471-08-08 In every installation which provides for protection against indirect contact by automatic disconnection of supply, a circuit protective conductor shall be run to and terminated at each point in wiring and at each accessory except a lampholder having no exposed-conductive-parts and suspended from such a point.

 

[flameport]

I would love to see the original wording.

It's surprisingly dull.

13th edition, 1962 where certain items did not require earthing:.

The 14th edition was a complete rewrite and all of the previous numbering was scrapped.
In the 1966 edition, this appeared for the first time: