John C. Loring: Difference between revisions

'''The Dunhill Briar Pipe''' - 'the patent years and after' by John C. Loring is the first published book devoted to the Dunhill pipe. It is alternatively a dating guide, a history of the Dunhill pipe and a study of the Dunhill pipe generally.

The book however, is far more then simply a dating guide. Rather with special emphasis on the first half of the century in this initial edition, it addresses the Dunhill briar pipe generally, how it has developed and integrates that history with the pipe's changing nomenclature. As such it may be said to be a 'work in process' intended in time to become a complete, expanded and pictorial study of the Dunhill pipe, but released now in it's present all text form because so much of the information is otherwise unavailable. While authored with a deep affection and regard for the Dunhill pipe, it has been written independent of Dunhill and is candid in it's treatment of 'sensitive' subjects such as errors, 'seconds', and reproductions. Initially printed in June 1998, the book is 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" in size, 88 pages long, paper bound and priced at US$20 including worldwide shipping.

This book is both an end and a beginning. It began as a dating guide for Dunhill pipes and in that sense it is very nearly an end. While further definition in the pre 1918 era may be possible, for the first time pipe collectors, pipe smokers, and those just going through those old attic trunks will be able to comfortably date Dunhill pipes from their inception in 1905 through today. Additional tools are provided to allow dating or easier dating of heretofore 'undatable' or 'difficult' pipes having weak nomenclature and question mark years such as 1951 are addressed and I believe, resolved.

In working on this book I have come to learn first hand how valuable old source materials, such as catalogues, factory logs, advertisements and the like truly are, especially when they can be compared and analyzed. Unlike the situation with some other collecting interests, far too few of these materials are available today to pipe collectors. To that end it is my intention to develop a public archive of Dunhill and other pipe brand material, with copies of the same, to the extent possible, being available to collectors. Profits from this book will be devoted to this end and to further Dunhill research, and with the intent that once established and working the archive will be turned over to a pipe club or coalition of clubs for continued operation.

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|Volume IV 'Addendum”

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File:Cover1.jpg|© John C. Loring.

File:Cover2.jpg|© John C. Loring.

File:Cover3.jpg|© John C. Loring.

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The compilation represents a very substantial improvement over the earlier, now out of print, compilation published by the late Barry Levin.  The Levin Xerox compilation (which originally sold for $50 and has sold on eBay for over $100) reproduced 135 catalog pages from  Xerox copies of a half dozen or so catalogs with no attempt to date the compiled catalogs or index the same.  This new compilation reproduces well over ten times the catalog pages, approximately 1,500 pages as compared to 135, working in many cases with original catalogs, using 150 dpi scanning and laser printing on high quality paper to avoid the serious image degradation inherent in the Xerox process, and with each of the 33 catalogs dated and indexed.  Indeed with respect to pipe shapes the resulting indices effectively serve as the first fairly complete 'shape chart' for Dunhill pipes prior to the mid 1970's.  In addition papers for twenty nine pipe related Dunhill English patents from 1904 -1940 are provided.

Because laser printing is significantly more expensive then  Xerox reproduction two original catalog pages have been reproduced in grayscale on each compilation page, however, because catalog pages are significantly smaller then the compilation pages the reduction is on average only 25% - 35%.   

<center>'''A SELECTION OF PAGES FROM THE DUNHILL CATALOG COMPILATION</center>

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This is the fourth and final volume of a compilation of Dunhill catalogs initially published three years ago in as many volumes.  It is an addendum of important catalogs acquired since that publication together with my working set of twenty nine Dunhill pipe related English patents granted between 1904 and 1940.  As with the preceding volumes  the material has been scanned at high resolution, reduced to two catalog pages per addendum page and laser printed on high quality paper.

This compilation project began when I initially sought to write about the Dunhill ‘patent years’, i.e. 1910 – 1954, and found a dearth of readily available source material.  It reflects both my efforts to develop those resources for myself and to effect an internet like, wide spread repository of the same for others in the future, not dependent upon any one individual or company.  With this addendum I believe that project is complete. '''John C. Loring, March 2002.'''