A Mini Review of a "Book of Horrors"...is this thing for real???

CharlesS · 9th November 2006, 01:55 PM

I am just now recovering from one of the greatest mistakes of my collecting career, the purchase of a book that balances itself somewhere between laughable and absurd.

Captivated by the cover art of the book ANTIQUE SWORDS AND DAGGERS, whose cover photo was seemingly dedicated largely to legit ethnographic pieces, I made the plunge, paid the cost of an all-too-expensive book...and lived to regret it.

The book is authored/edited by Mircea Veleanu, who either has very little knowledge of blades, thinks 'research' is only a noun and never a verb, or has no idea of the value of a US dollar....or perhaps a combination of the three.

As I opened the book for a quick browse, the first page I came to was full of pics of TOURIST Dayak mandaus, described as original and 19th Cent., priced in the upper 100s and 1000s!!! Once I got my jaw to reattach after it had dropped to the floor, I realised that there was, indeed, page after page of such photos of tourist quality swords from various cultures appraised at ridiculous values.

Sadly, mixed in are some legitimately good pieces, those appraised at largely even more absurd prices, not even remotely close to what they would actually fetch on any knowledgable market. In some cases legit pieces are valued below those that we might call 'toys'.

The only good thing to be said of this book is the quality of some of the photos, especially of the legit pieces. Since I am no expert/collector of several types of swords visited in the book, I will not dare to say what percentage of the items photoed are of tourist quality or just out right fakes, but among ethnograghic pieces I would say that at least 50% or more are post 1900(that's being kind!) or are tourist pieces, mislabled, or just out right fakes.

I am amazed that this book was put together as a serious project and even more amazed that a publisher published it with apparently no content research, and/or knowledge, or care, of the correctness of the content.

Now, why does all of the concern me? Why do I sound even more pissy than usual so early in the morning? Well fellas, if this books comes into wide circulation as a sellers' price guide or, Allah-forbid, some collector's manual, then the field we all love so much will be horribly polluted, both in quality of goods offered by well intentioned(and maybe the not-so-well-intentioned) vendors selling tourist quality pieces as legit...and claiming he/she has a book to back them up, AND in perceived values of pieces whether good or bad! Even more sadly, imagine the beginning collector using this book as a 'starter's guide', getting all excited about his new hobby, and then bidding $1000 on a painted and shell-laden tourist toy Dayak mandau on Ebay!!

In the hands of even the best intentioned dealer or collector this book is dangerous and misleading beyond belief, especially if perceived as even remotely accurate. Let's hope we don't all pay the price for a poorly thought out and even more poorly researched "book of horrors".

VVV · 9th November 2006, 02:23 PM

Thanks for the warning Charles.
Maybe the mandau part of the book is sponsored by the eBay Sellers Association in "Cat-town"?
I assume that all the genuine mandau in the book had lots of dog teeth attached to the scabbard?

Michael

CharlesS · 9th November 2006, 02:25 PM

...ahhhh, you must have already seen the book!

Ian · 9th November 2006, 02:45 PM

Hi Chuck:

Vandoo had similar comments a few weeks ago.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3423

Ian.

CharlesS · 9th November 2006, 02:57 PM

Thanks Ian. Somehow I missed that thread....sure do regret missing it!!

That miss cost me about $80!!!

Ian · 9th November 2006, 03:05 PM

Commiserations. Could have been worse, Charles. When I think of a couple of the terrible mistakes I've made in the past whenh buying swords, $80 doesn't seem too bad for a lesson learned.

Every now and again I have to visit my "drawer of shame" to realise how dumb I can be sometimes. Very humbling

Ian.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Thanks Ian. Somehow I missed that thread....sure do regret missing it!!

That miss cost me about $80!!!

9th November 2006, 01:55 PM	#1
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,857	A Mini Review of a "Book of Horrors"...is this thing for real??? I am just now recovering from one of the greatest mistakes of my collecting career, the purchase of a book that balances itself somewhere between laughable and absurd. Captivated by the cover art of the book ANTIQUE SWORDS AND DAGGERS, whose cover photo was seemingly dedicated largely to legit ethnographic pieces, I made the plunge, paid the cost of an all-too-expensive book...and lived to regret it. The book is authored/edited by Mircea Veleanu, who either has very little knowledge of blades, thinks 'research' is only a noun and never a verb, or has no idea of the value of a US dollar....or perhaps a combination of the three. As I opened the book for a quick browse, the first page I came to was full of pics of TOURIST Dayak mandaus, described as original and 19th Cent., priced in the upper 100s and 1000s!!! Once I got my jaw to reattach after it had dropped to the floor, I realised that there was, indeed, page after page of such photos of tourist quality swords from various cultures appraised at ridiculous values. Sadly, mixed in are some legitimately good pieces, those appraised at largely even more absurd prices, not even remotely close to what they would actually fetch on any knowledgable market. In some cases legit pieces are valued below those that we might call 'toys'. The only good thing to be said of this book is the quality of some of the photos, especially of the legit pieces. Since I am no expert/collector of several types of swords visited in the book, I will not dare to say what percentage of the items photoed are of tourist quality or just out right fakes, but among ethnograghic pieces I would say that at least 50% or more are post 1900(that's being kind!) or are tourist pieces, mislabled, or just out right fakes. I am amazed that this book was put together as a serious project and even more amazed that a publisher published it with apparently no content research, and/or knowledge, or care, of the correctness of the content. Now, why does all of the concern me? Why do I sound even more pissy than usual so early in the morning? Well fellas, if this books comes into wide circulation as a sellers' price guide or, Allah-forbid, some collector's manual, then the field we all love so much will be horribly polluted, both in quality of goods offered by well intentioned(and maybe the not-so-well-intentioned) vendors selling tourist quality pieces as legit...and claiming he/she has a book to back them up, AND in perceived values of pieces whether good or bad! Even more sadly, imagine the beginning collector using this book as a 'starter's guide', getting all excited about his new hobby, and then bidding $1000 on a painted and shell-laden tourist toy Dayak mandau on Ebay!! In the hands of even the best intentioned dealer or collector this book is dangerous and misleading beyond belief, especially if perceived as even remotely accurate. Let's hope we don't all pay the price for a poorly thought out and even more poorly researched "book of horrors". Last edited by CharlesS; 9th November 2006 at 09:17 PM.

9th November 2006, 02:45 PM	#4
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,203	Definitely misleading ... Hi Chuck: Vandoo had similar comments a few weeks ago. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3423 Ian.

9th November 2006, 02:23 PM	#2
VVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,637	Thanks for the warning Charles. Maybe the mandau part of the book is sponsored by the eBay Sellers Association in "Cat-town"? I assume that all the genuine mandau in the book had lots of dog teeth attached to the scabbard? Michael

9th November 2006, 02:25 PM	#3
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,857	...ahhhh, you must have already seen the book!

9th November 2006, 02:57 PM	#5
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,857	Thanks Ian. Somehow I missed that thread....sure do regret missing it!! That miss cost me about $80!!!