Monday 17 December 2007

More Confused Ramblings From the Book Trade


The Christmas shopping rush is here again which is always pleasant in the bookshop as you feel most of the shoppers are buying people something that they actually want, or the person who will receive it as a present will want, this is especially so with the local history books. This is not particularly a money thing as from the customers point of view none of the books I produce are over £10 and from my point of view the profit margin is fairly small. However in terms of giving local people a bit of extra enjoyment over Christmas it is very satisfying.

I have just published some more old pictures of the harbour to the web with some interesting ones of the area west of the west pier where Moses’s shipyard was, I am hoping to get time soon to produce a book of pictures of the harbour, at the moment most of my time being spent either manufacturing enough copies of the books to keep up with the seasonal demand or helping people to work out which will be the best books for their friends and family.
Something that is also interesting this year is that I am finding many people are coming to the conclusion that a secondhand book makes an environmentally friendly Christmas present.

2 comments:

  1. Please excuse this heathen but what history titles do you have?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matt if you come to the shop don’t make it a Thursday as we close on that day. Below a list of the local history books that I publish and print myself (more detail on the michaelsbookshop.com website) I also stock quite a few new local books published by other people.

    I have a stock of out of print collectable and antiquarian books about east Kent that I don’t list on the internet as demand is greater than supply, prices for these range between about £10 and about £600


    The Ramsgate Tunnels Main Line Public AirRaid Shelter & Scenic Railway Nick Catford 9781905477005 £4.99
    Ramsgate in the 1900s some pictures & A Street Directory for 1900 9781905477012 £3.99
    Pictures of Ramsgate in the 1800s 9781905477029 £3.99
    Ramsgate During the Great War 9781905477036 £3.99
    An Assortment of the Two Discover Ramsgate Books published in 1989/90 Don Long & George Pidduck 9781905477043 £3.99
    A Selection of Historical Cartoons of Ramsgate Don Long & George Pidduck 9781905477050 £3.99
    Broadstairs in the Early 1900s Some Pictures and a Street Directory 9781905477067 £3.99
    The Picturesque Pocket Companion to Margate Ramsgate & Broadstairs 1831 William Kidd & G W Bonner 9781905477081 £6.99
    Ramsgate in the Mid 1900s a Street Directory for 1951 Some Pictures & a Map 9781905477098 £5.99
    A New & Complete History of the Isle of Thanet July 1828 W. H. Ireland 9781905477104 £6.99
    Delineations Historical and Topographical of the Isle of Thanet & Cinque Ports Vol 1 E. W. Brayley 9781905477111 £6.99
    Delineations Historical and Topographical of the Isle of Thanet & Cinque Ports Vol 2 E. W. Brayley 9781905477128 £6.99
    1882 Catalogue Ramsgate Gunsmith A. T. Fitchew 9781905477135 £3.99
    The History & Antiquities of the Isle of Tenet Vol. 1 John Lewis 9781905477142 £5.99
    The History & Antiquities of the Isle of Tenet Vol. 2 John Lewis 9781905477159 £5.99
    History of Birchington J. P. Barrett 9781905477166 £6.99
    The isle of Thanet Edward Hasted 9781905477173 £6.99
    The Kentish Traveller's Companion Thomas Fisher 9781905477180 £6.99
    The North Foreland Lookout Post in the Great War 1915 - 1917 Edwin Scoby Oak-Rhind 9781905477197 £3.99
    Picture of Margate and its Vicinity W. C. Oulton 9781905477203 £4.99
    Margate in the Early 1900s 9781905477210 £4.99
    The History & Antiquities of the Isle of Tenet Vol. 3 John Lewis 9781905477227 £5.99
    The Ramsgate Story John Huddlestone 9781905477234 £4.99
    Thanet from the Air Simon Moores 9781905477241 £5.99
    An Isle of Thanet Directory 1849 J Williams 9781905477258 £5.99
    Birchington & Westgate Directory 1900 9781905477265 £3.99
    Ramsgate Street Directory 1914-15 9781905477272 £5.99
    Petrified Haystack of Broadstairs Bob Simmonds 9781905477289 £4.99
    Margate and Ramsgate all About and Around Them a Gossiping Guide to Some Pleasant Places in the Isle of Thanet 1882 Chas. H Ross 9781905477296 £5.99
    Picturesque Views of Ramsgate Henry Moses 9781905477302 £3.99
    Ramsgate Raids Records 1915-18 Chas. A. F. Austen 9781905477319 £2.99
    ZZG or the Zig Zag Guide Round and About the Beautiful Kentish Coast 1897 Sir Francis Burnand with pictures by Phil May 9781905477326 £6.99
    The New Ramsgate Guide 1867 J. Bear 9781905477333 £5.99
    Forty Views of Victorian Ramsgate A5 9781905477340 £3.99
    Forty Views of Victorian Ramsgate A4 9781905477357 £6.99
    Mockett's Journal John Mockett 9781905477364 £8.99
    Historical Notes on St. Peter in Thanet 1904 Alfred Sangster 9781905477371 £3.99
    Breezy Broadstairs James Simson 9781905477388 £2.99
    Happy Family of Broadstairs Bob Simmonds 9781905477395 £4.99
    Ramsgate and St Laurence Street Directory 1938-39 9781905477401 £6.99
    The War Zone In England 9781905477418 £3.99
    Isle of Wight 9781905477425 £2.99
    Midst Bands and Bombs Kempe 9781905477432 £5.99
    Greenwich Directory 9781905477449 £4.99
    Views of Late Victorian Ramsgate A5 9781905477456 £3.99
    Ramsgates Answer Bob Simmonds 9781905477463 £4.99
    Ramsgate From The Ground Bob Simmonds 9781905477470 £4.99
    Pictureque Excursion to Southampton 9781905477487 £2.99
    Historic Thanet James Simson 9781905477494 £5.99
    Photographs of old Ramsgate A5 9781905477500 £5.99
    Photographs of old Ramsgate A4 9781905477517 £9.99
    Views of Late Victorian Ramsgate A4 9781905477524 £6.99
    Picturesque Views of Ramsgate A4 Henry Moses 9781905477531 £6.99
    Broadstairs Street Directory 1971 9781905477548 £3.99
    Ramsgate Private residents 1887 9781905477555 £4.99
    Ramsgate Street Directory 1887 9781905477562 £3.99
    The Antiquities of Richborough Charles Roach Smith 9781905477579 £6.99
    Ramsgate & Broadstairs By camera & pen 1904-5 J Bavington Jones 9781905477586 £6.99
    Ramsgate & Broadstairs in 1890 9781905477593 £5.99
    Broadstairs Street Directory 1950 9781905477609 £3.99
    Ramsgate Saturday August 24th 1940 D T Richards 9781905477616 £3.99
    Cockburn's Diary Ramsgate Life in the First World War Ernest Cockburn 9781905477623 £5.99
    Weather Here Wish You were Lovely A History of Holidaying in Ramsgate Bob Simmonds 9781905477630 £4.99
    A Corner of Kent Ash Next Sandwich J R Planche 9781905477647 £9.99
    A Fateful Finger of Iron (Ramsgate Pier) Martin Eastdown 9781905477654 £3.99
    Adventures In Shrimpville (Pegwell) Martin Eastdown 9781905477661 £4.99
    Broadstairs and St Peters During the Great War A4 Tony Euden 9781905477678 £9.99
    Broadstairs Harbour Bob Simmonds 9781905477685 £5.99
    A Collection of Old Pictures of Ramsgate 9781905477692 £6.99
    The New Margate Ramsgate, and Broadstairs Guide 1809 9781905477708 £5.99
    Keble's Penny Guide to Margate and the Isle of Thanet 1885 9781905477715 £5.99
    A Walk in and About the City of Canterbury William Gostling 9781905477722 £9.99
    Footpaths of Thanet Bob Simmonds 9781905477739 £4.99
    400 Facts and Curiosities of Ramsgate John Huddlestone 9781905477746 £2.99
    The Romance of Richborough 1921 Lewis Shandel 9781905477753 £2.99
    Thanets Raid History 9781905477760 £2.99
    Isle of Thanet Visitors Guide, 1901 9781905477777 £5.99
    Ramsgate Directory and court guide, 1878 9781905477784 £6.99
    Snippets of Broadstairs & St Peters Tony Euden 9781905477791 £2.99
    Broadstairs and St Peters During the Great War A5 Tony Euden 9781905477807 £5.99
    3 Victorian Directories for Broadstairs and St Peters 9781905477814 £3.99
    Memorials of the Goodwin Sands and Their Surroundings George Byng Gattie 9781905477821 £8.99
    The Log of a Sky Pilot Thomas Stanley Treanor 9781905477838 £7.99
    An Historical Report on Ramsgate Harbour 1791 John Smeaton 9781905477845 £8.99
    Storm Warriors or Lifeboat Work on The Goodwin Sands John Gilmore 9781905477852 £8.99
    A Most Strange and Curious Guide To Broadstairs Arthur Helliar 9781905477869 £3.99
    The Cry From The Sea and the Answer From The Shore Thomas Stanley Treanor 9781905477876 £6.99
    Heart of Southwood Steve Moore 9781905477883 £7.99
    A Beginner's Guide to Bathing at Broadstairs Bob Simmonds 9781905477890 £1.99
    From Wind To Power L.G.Gray 9781905477906 £8.99
    Ramsgate Illustrated 1895 9781905477913 £9.99
    Come to Sunny Broadstairs Official Guide 1937 9781905477920 £9.99
    Twilight of the Pistons - Air Ferry - A Manston Airline Malcolm Finnis 9781905477937 £9.99
    A Boatman's Tale 9781905477944 £7.99
    Childrens Convalescent Homes Of Broadstairs Tony Euden 9781905477968 £6.99
    The Mansion of Mirth - Sandgate as seen through the eyes of the Alhambra Music Hall and Rex Cinema Martin Easdown, Eamonn Rooney, & Linda Sage 9781905477975 £5.99
    Alpha' and Better - A Modern History of St Nicholas at Wade 9781905477982 £6.99
    Moaning Minnie - Thanet's Civil Defence Sirens Steve Moore and Alan Moore 9781905477999 £5.99
    All About Margate and Herne Bay £6.99
    All About Ramsgate and Broadstairs 1864 £6.99
    Herne Bay Official Guide 1936 & Herne Bay Views Circa 1880 £7.99
    Ramsgate for 1934 £8.99
    Ramsgate - A Complete Holiday Resort £6.99
    Birchington Great War patriotic Record £5.99
    Occasional Ramsgate Writings Don Long £4.99
    Ramsgate New Holiday Receipe Book £8.99

    ReplyDelete

Comments, since I started writing this blog in 2007 the way the internet works has changed a lot, comments and dialogue here were once viable in an open and anonymous sense. Now if you comment here I will only allow the comment if it seems to make sense and be related to what the post is about. I link the majority of my posts to the main local Facebook groups and to my Facebook account, “Michael Child” I guess the main Ramsgate Facebook group is We Love Ramsgate. For the most part the comments and dialogue related to the posts here goes on there. As for the rest of it, well this blog handles images better than Facebook, which is why I don’t post directly to my Facebook account, although if I take a lot of photos I am so lazy that I paste them directly from my camera card to my bookshop website and put a link on this blog.