New Life for Old Tomes: Pipe and Tobacco Book Reprints: Difference between revisions

Here’s my take on blogging. In more than 50 years of writing about tobacco and pipe history for various publications, I have explored many esoteric and off-beat topics that have never gotten any traction, not an attaboy, not any feedback. I had hoped that some of my online articles on pipedia.org since 2022 would generate dialogue from pipe smokers and pipe collectors alike … but none so far. To me, the online world of pipes and tobacco consists of casual commentators and rapporteurs who offer opinions, observations, reflections, remarks, and views, but contribute little of substance. I have found that a spirited exchange is also relatively absent on these popular collaborative forums: pipesmagazine.com, briarreport.com, rebornpipes.com, and brothersofbriar.com. Could It reader nonchalance or reader indifference?

The best way I know to grow as a writer is to get peer feedback but, for some strange reason, the community of online readers lacks the inclination or interest to engage, participate, comment, or compliment the writers who contribute to our knowledge and understanding of pipe lore. I’m not a Rodney Dangerfield “I don’t get no respect” person, but maybe it’s what the screen writer Quintin Tarantino says: “As writers, if no one will give us respect, we have to take it.” When I read Stephen Marche’s “The Better You Write, the More You Will Fail” (''The New York Times'', February 26, 2023), it became clear to me that writers rarely experience moments of triumph. Marche argues that writers are peculiar beings, and asserts “Failure is the body of a writer’s life, and success only ever a temporary attire.” Don’t know how other online writers feel about the absence of any positive (or negative) commentary to their contributions, but, irrespective of the absence of any online exchange with fellow pipers, I’ll keep on keeping on, doing what I’ve done for a half century.  

''Pipesmoking: A 21st Century Guide'' by Richard Carlton Hacker. He has written several books. All very good. The Pipe Book by Alfred Dunhill, Clay Pipes by Eric G. Ayto, and ''In Search of Pipe Dreams'' by Rick Newcombe are a few examples. Not to mention specific books on Castello Pipes, Sherlock Holmes As A Pipe Smoker and countless books on tobacco.” But under the subheading “The Best Books,” he wrote: “Then there are books that are just enjoyable to read. They may or may not feature pipes. They might have been written by a pipe smoker but it doesn’t matter. These are the books that you can plop down in a chair, light up a pipe and dig in. The book is better because you have the pipe going, and the pipe is better because you are deep in a good book. What can possibly go better together?  

Books printed before 1925 are public domain and can be reprinted, but that should not be the reason to reprint the ones I have identified herein in the 21st century. Why the titles on this list were chosen, and why so many different reprinters is, to me, a mystery. It is not a judicious, reasoned selection of material. There’s no rhyme or reason, considering that there’s been no hue and cry from pipe smokers for more tobacco and books, and smoking and tobacco have been under attack for a number of years. I don’t buy the concept that republishing public-domain books offers an opportunity to recycle or repurpose existing—even classic—works. Way too many trees have been felled and too much ink has been expended to produce several different reprints of mostly obscure and rarified titles that have been released during the last few years. I am reminded of a question in a book of fiction by Robert Pobi, ''Do No Harm'': “Did the world really need a million copies of On the Origin of the Species, or was one digital copy, available to everyone, the smart route?”

My illustrated article, “World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893: Columbus Pipe Redux,” appeared in CIGAR Magazine, Fall 2008. The book, of course, is more significant, because it is a very detailed history of a heretofore-unknown meerschaum pipe—more specifically, a second Columbus-themed pipe—to the collector world. ''Die Berühmte Columbus-Pfeife'' is the most influential, fact-filled, illustrated book in any language on this very narrow topic and timeframe.  I would think that every antique pipe collector would want a copy, even if it is not translated into English, because the several images in it are worth thousands of words.  

Now to the promised list of reprint books about pipes, tobacco, smoking, poetry, and accessories. These were, until recently, out of print, but now have a new life. Call ‘em “old stacks … new leaves”! I’ll assume (perhaps, wrongly) that the prospective reader of this narrative is not into first editions, revised editions, premier editions, or limited (i.e., numbered) editions, and prefers to spend his money on pipes—the “shiny” object—rather than on literature. This is a low-cost way to obtain these specialized books, if you want the content and care not a whit about the cover. You’ll save money and, depending on the seller, you might sacrifice reading quality.  

Every time I searched the Web, I found yet more reprint titles, some of which did not include the reprinter and/or the reissue date, so I excluded those, but I had not anticipated that the list would continue to grow like Topsy. After many time-consuming hours searching online, I concluded that this endeavor would be a never-ending Herculean undertaking. Eventually, I gave up. The list, therefore, is somewhat incomplete, because it does not include ''every pipe'' and tobacco book that has probably been reprinted nor ''all the reprints'' of every book on this list. It is organized, alphabetically, by author, date of first printing and later reprints. I’ve made every effort to exclude anti-tobacco tracts and treatises, agricultural studies, books on smoking cessation, etc. I make no distinction between later versions (e.g., revised editions, softcover editions, etc.) from known publishers and POD providers. As to the exactness of the information, all I’ll say is that it’s the sum and substance of what I found on the not-always-accurate Web. Did I access another source to corroborate this information? Unfortunately, these reprints are not in the WorldCat database.  

|Poem on the Use of Tobacco (Boston, 1852)

|Nabu Press and BiblioBazaar, 2011   Nabu Press and BiblioBazaar, 2011; Clear Prints, 2022

|BiblioBazaar, 2012; Sagwan Press, 2018

|Pipe Thoughts and Passing Puffs (1870

|The Smokers’, Chewer’s, Snuff Taker’s Companion, and Tobacconists Own Book (1841

|Catalogue of the Collection of Tobacco Pipes Deposited by Edwin A. Barber (1882

|Nicotiana Rustica, 1953

|Browne, I. H.  

|True World of Books, 2021; S N Books World, 2022

|Turkish Tobacco Culture, Curing, and Marketing (1923

|Briar Book Press, 2012; Gyan Books Pvt, 2018

|Singing Tree Press, 1968; Palala Press, 2016; Forgotten Books, 2017; Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2018 and Franklin Classics Trade Press, 2018

|Kessinger Publishing, 2008; Watchmaker Publishing, 2009; Forgotten Books, 2017; Wentworth Press, 2019

|Kessinger Publishing, 2009; Literary Licensing, LLC, 2014; Creative Media Partners, 2015;

|Ye Smokiana, Historical, Ethnographical 1890

|Confessions of a Pipeman. An Irreverent Guide for Today’s Pipe-Smoking Man (2008); second edition, 2010

|Wentworth Press, 2019