Rudhall Book on BOB film… $$$$$ pricey !

Really, some of the prices on abebooks and used dealers via Amazon are silly.

Indeed they are. I have seen my “Gold-Plated Porsche” book offered for $1,000 used. (I have 40 in a closet upstairs if anybody would like to send me the value of a small Mercedes…) Also for one penny plus $3.99 shipping.

I don’t know what’s going on, but it has nothing to do with reality.

Found it at last!
On that basis it seems to me that his books are best not reproduced – and left as a memorial to his love of and research into the film that so inspired our generation.

To all due respect to Mr. Dilip Sarkar, I’d politely suggest that an even better memorial would be to have future generations benefit from and enjoy Mr. Rudhall’s work, and not limit access to the wealthy.

Found it at last!
Here is what Dilip Sarkar had to say previously on this subject:

“The Actual Situation regarding Robert Rudhall’s published work…

——————————————————————————–

As the late Robert Rudhall’s former publisher I have read this thread with interest and will now explain how these books came about and what the current status is.

Having been (astonishingly) turned down by Key Publishing, which was Robert’s employer at the time, on the grounds that a book on the Battle of Britain film was a non-starter (too little interest, apparently!), Robert came to me in 1999. I immediately agreed to publish without even viewing the material, as it was patently obvious, to me at least, that there was a great demand for a book on the 1969 film – especially given that I knew Robert’s work was of the highest standard. So, in 2000 my original company, Ramrod Publications, produced 2,000 casebound copies of ‘Battle of Britain: The Movie’, rapidly increasing the run, if memory serves me rightly, by another 1,500. That first edition soon sold out, that title being followed a year later by Robert’s ‘Battle of Britain Film: The Photo Album’. This was produced, I think, in a quantity of 1,000, casebound, sold out but was not re-printed. Tragically Robert died suddenly soon afterwards, and in 2002 I decided to wind up Ramrod, which successfully traded for 10 years, to pursue other projects.

In 2005, however, I decided to re-visit publishing on a full-time basis and founded Victory Books. In addition to producing new material, Victory Books, which was a bigger concern with infinitely greater resources than the former Ramrod, also published softback second editions of a number of my own books and, of course, ‘Battle of Britain: The Movie’. I think that the original casebound first edition retailed at £25, the subsequent softback being £14.95. Unfortunately due to an acrimonious divorce, in 2007 I had no option but to regrettably wind up Victory Books – all remaining stock was given to Steve Cooper, my business partner in the venture, to sell off and therefore recoup some of his investment. To whom the books were sold I know not, but as has already been stated in previous threads, copies are obtainable, although often at a price, via second hand book sellers.

Although I am pleased to report that my personal life is now once more stable and happier than ever before, and indeed that I am writing (but not publishing) again, there are no plans to re-publish Robert’s work in the foreseeable future (see www.dilipsarkarmbe.co.uk). I say this because a previous poster stated ‘Watch this space’ or similar regarding re-prints. The layout of Robert’s books remains my personal copyright, the text and photographs his, or more correctly given his sad passing, that of his widow, Joyce Rudhall – a close and dear friend of many years standing. So, the original books cannot be re-printed without my permission, and another publisher could not produce another edition to a new design without Joyce’s consent. Whilst I would have no objection to Joyce deciding to work with another publisher (not that she has any plans to), the situation is slightly complicated due to production technicalities. The original editions of both books in question were printed from film – a now obsolete process with the take over of digital printing, and those films have long since been destroyed. The second edition of ‘Movie’ was printed from a digital file, but the printer who produced this has since gone out of business, and with him disappeared the digital file of the book. So the only way to produce the book again would be either to scan in the original (not recommended), meaning that my consent would be required, or locate and use Robert’s original material and re-package. Unfortunately, as I understand it, Robert’s collection has been dispersed by Joyce since his death, so it would be impossible to collate all of those pictures again. So, as things stand and for all of those reasons, re-prints are not an option, certainly not in the foreseeable future but not, perhaps, impossible one day.

The thing with specialist publishing, of course, is that because print runs are limited, production costs are very high – as was the case with ‘Movie’ because of the amount of colour used therein, although I was unprepared to compromise on that, so good was the material – and such a contrast to the black and white photography of the actual Battle of Britain. This is why the books fetch such a high price today: because they were produced in a comparatively small run, demand is high and henceforth why book dealers can name their price. However, to be fair, without my foresight and support of Robert back in 1999, ‘Battle of Britain: The Movie’ would never have happened. I am proud of that, and miss Robert’s friendship enormously – he was an absolute joy to work with and one of life’s great and true gentleman. On that basis it seems to me that his books are best not reproduced – and left as a memorial to his love of and research into the film that so inspired our generation.

The prices applied to old books leaves me wondering if ther prices actually reflect their value or if they’re set high in the hope that a “sucker” comes along.

Really, some of the prices on abebooks and used dealers via Amazon are silly.

Is a 45 year old copy of the old Putnam Book “Miles Aircraft” really worth $300. It can’t be “supply and demand” since I’m probably the only person in North America who wants one.:D
I’d be willing to pay $100 for it, but not $290 or $345 (actual recent asking prices or 345 and 476 on AbeBooks). Too bad you can’t contact them and make a serious offer.

There’s some soft backs here: http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a2_t1_2&qi=cYgy2gALpIg4Dn0Bem7WDUXqTUk_9516905271_1:3775:18942&bq=author%3Drobert%2520rudhall%26title%3Dbattle%2520of%2520britain%2520the%2520movie

and hardbacks here: http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=cYgy2gALpIg4Dn0Bem7WDUXqTUk_4934269934_2:3774:18943&bq=author%3Drobert%2520john%2520rudhall%26title%3Dbattle%2520of%2520britain%2520the%2520movie

other book search facilities are available…;)

I bought my original copy direct from Robert at Biggin Hill many years ago, and then the photo book when it came out. Sometime ago Dilip posted on here and made a very comprehensive account of what happened to the original material from Robert’s books and why there were (at that point) no plans on a reprint. I’ve tried the search facility but can’t come up with it myself, no doubt someone else will in micro-seconds after I post this! The softback reprint version was half the price of the original but was a disappointment. The quality of repro on the pictures wasn’t as good as the original and some were printed reversed and duplicated. Maybe I got one from a duff batch, but as I handed my money directly to the publisher on an “art” vending stand at DX at its launch, I’d like to think he was unaware of the problem. They were knocking them out “reduced” at the IWM shop some months later and one of the “reduced” stalls at the shows used to regularly have the photo album for about £8! There has been a multi signed copy of the first book (hardback) at one of the DX second hand traders for £85 for at least all of last season. Almost seems a bargain:eek: Mind you I got a copy from the same stall in mint condition last year for £10 so they do come up:)

Why not contact the original publisher who was actually Mr. Dilip Sarkar and ask your questions directly?

It would be very nice to see Mr. Rudhall’s books reproduced as
e-books as these would sell to a much wider market and generate
further interest in this period in Warbird history.

In fact e-books of many rarer aviation titles would be great – Alan Blue’s
B-24 book and Frank Tallman’s ‘Flyig the Old Planes’ are two that come
to mind.

I take it those are first-edition copies? It was reprinted once, a while back.

Cheaper copy here:

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7589253591&searchurl=tn%3Dbattle%2Bof%2Bbritain%2Bmovie%26x%3D56%26y%3D8

Still out of your price range?

My bad Pete !

Hey its early here…my bad …correction made I hope…………wish I still had mine.

Thanks

It’s Robert Rudhall

Pete