A BOOK REVIEW

VANDOO · 24th October 2006, 06:28 PM

I RECENTLY BOUGHT A REFRENCE BOOK CALLED (ANTIQUE SWORDS & DAGGERS) IT WAS WRITTEN BY MIRCEA VELEANU AND PUBLISHED BY SCHIFFER BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS. THE QUALITY OF THE BOOK, PICTURES AND PAPER IS VERY GOOD, BUT IT SETS A NEW BENCHMARK FOR MISINFORMATION ON ITEMS AND PRICES. THERE MAY BE SOME INFORMATION IN THE BOOK THAT IS CORRECT BUT I HAVE FOUND SEVERAL GROSS INACURACYS SO FAR SO IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TRUST THE INFORMATION ON ITEMS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. THIS RENDERS THE BOOK FROM A SOURCE OF REFRENCE TO A PICTURE BOOK OR COMIC BOOK ONLY GOOD FOR LAUGHS.
FOR EXAMPLE ON PAGE 252 THERE IS A NICE PICTURE OF A COMMON SOUVINEER AX FROM TAIWAN ITS DESCRIPTION IS QUOTE ( POLYNESIA. ANTIQUE AXE WITH WIDE IRON BLADE. THE WOODEN HANDLE IS CARVED WITH A REPRESENTATION OF A CROWNED STANDING FIGURE, PROBABLY ROYALTY. ABOVE IS A CARVED HUMAN HEAD THAT I ATTRIBUTE TO A DIETY REPRESENTATION.ON THE LOWER END ARE TWO CARVED HUMAN HEADS THAT MIGHT BE HUMAN SACRIFICED HEADS. VERY RARE! AXE'S LEGNTH 7.5" (19 CM) LEGNTH INCLUDING HANDLE 23" (58.5 CM.) ESTIMATED VALUE $800.00 TO $1500.00 )
THAT IS MY FAVORITE OF QUITE A FEW VERY BADLY IDENTIFIED EXAMPLES I HAVE FOUND SO FAR. ITS KIND OF DIFFICULT TO LAUGH THOUGH AS THE BOOK COSTS $80.00

SO BE WARNED AND HANG ON TO YOUR CASH FOR SOMETHING GOOD.

THIS IS VERY UNFORTUNATE AS THE TIME AND EFFORT AND QUALITY PUT INTO THE BOOK HAD TO BE GREAT AND WE COULD USE A NEW COMPREHENSIVE REFRENCE BOOK. THE BOOK COULD HAVE BEEN A IMPORTANT REFRENCE IF THE INFORMATION HAD BEEN PROPERLY RESEARCHED AND THE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE BUT THE TIME TO CHECK THE ACCURACY OF THEIR INFORMATION WAS NOT TAKEN.

ariel · 25th October 2006, 05:30 AM

I agree.
Here is the e-bay listing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=008
A rusty Iranian Qaddara is described as Islamic sword 12-14th century with the suggested price for it being $8,000
A simple Tulwar is a 15th century Moorish shamshir ($10,000)
A Persian Qama is worth $6,000
Dr. Mircea Veleanu (the author) is welcome to my house; he can choose whatever he likes for similar prices. My retirement will be well-funded

Apparently, he wrote a book about Jade collection and now sells the pieces on e-bay with the description " Provenance: collection of Dr. Veleanu, the author of ... Suggested price $2,500 " etc.
I cannot mention any particular item because the auctions are active, but you can easily find them ..

Ah, the value of being a published author....
The book is useless, but... not worthless

M ELEY · 29th October 2006, 09:40 AM

It seems alot of these weapons books written by questionable scholars are popping up. I just got one called "Weaponry- An Illustrated History" by C Willis with wildly inaccurate information on pieces, modern pieces and tourist stuff listed as true weapons,etc. The scary thing is that this book's photos were all taken from the Berman Museum collection (Alibama). Still, I picked up the book for cheap and there were a few nice swords depicted (including a beautiful gem-studded Persian shimshar owned by Abbas I and given to Catherine the Great).

Ian · 29th October 2006, 01:24 PM

This trend seems to be part of a long and not-so-venerable pattern in the antiques markets: the publication of a "guide" that is a thinly disguised catalog of items that will soon be presented for sale.

The few examples on the eBay listing provided by Ariel clearly show that the book has serious errors of fact and values for many of the weapons. Just to add my observations: a 19th/20th C. Dutch klewang/US cutlass listed as a 16th C. falchion ($6,500)

; a 20th C. Visayan talibon listed as a Moro barong ($750)

.

Save your money guys, and I don't think you should revalue your collections based on the amounts included in this book.

Ian

24th October 2006, 06:28 PM	#1
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	A BOOK REVIEW I RECENTLY BOUGHT A REFRENCE BOOK CALLED (ANTIQUE SWORDS & DAGGERS) IT WAS WRITTEN BY MIRCEA VELEANU AND PUBLISHED BY SCHIFFER BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS. THE QUALITY OF THE BOOK, PICTURES AND PAPER IS VERY GOOD, BUT IT SETS A NEW BENCHMARK FOR MISINFORMATION ON ITEMS AND PRICES. THERE MAY BE SOME INFORMATION IN THE BOOK THAT IS CORRECT BUT I HAVE FOUND SEVERAL GROSS INACURACYS SO FAR SO IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO TRUST THE INFORMATION ON ITEMS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. THIS RENDERS THE BOOK FROM A SOURCE OF REFRENCE TO A PICTURE BOOK OR COMIC BOOK ONLY GOOD FOR LAUGHS. FOR EXAMPLE ON PAGE 252 THERE IS A NICE PICTURE OF A COMMON SOUVINEER AX FROM TAIWAN ITS DESCRIPTION IS QUOTE ( POLYNESIA. ANTIQUE AXE WITH WIDE IRON BLADE. THE WOODEN HANDLE IS CARVED WITH A REPRESENTATION OF A CROWNED STANDING FIGURE, PROBABLY ROYALTY. ABOVE IS A CARVED HUMAN HEAD THAT I ATTRIBUTE TO A DIETY REPRESENTATION.ON THE LOWER END ARE TWO CARVED HUMAN HEADS THAT MIGHT BE HUMAN SACRIFICED HEADS. VERY RARE! AXE'S LEGNTH 7.5" (19 CM) LEGNTH INCLUDING HANDLE 23" (58.5 CM.) ESTIMATED VALUE $800.00 TO $1500.00 ) THAT IS MY FAVORITE OF QUITE A FEW VERY BADLY IDENTIFIED EXAMPLES I HAVE FOUND SO FAR. ITS KIND OF DIFFICULT TO LAUGH THOUGH AS THE BOOK COSTS $80.00 SO BE WARNED AND HANG ON TO YOUR CASH FOR SOMETHING GOOD. THIS IS VERY UNFORTUNATE AS THE TIME AND EFFORT AND QUALITY PUT INTO THE BOOK HAD TO BE GREAT AND WE COULD USE A NEW COMPREHENSIVE REFRENCE BOOK. THE BOOK COULD HAVE BEEN A IMPORTANT REFRENCE IF THE INFORMATION HAD BEEN PROPERLY RESEARCHED AND THE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE BUT THE TIME TO CHECK THE ACCURACY OF THEIR INFORMATION WAS NOT TAKEN. Last edited by VANDOO; 24th October 2006 at 10:59 PM.

29th October 2006, 01:24 PM	#4
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,200	Very misleading ... This trend seems to be part of a long and not-so-venerable pattern in the antiques markets: the publication of a "guide" that is a thinly disguised catalog of items that will soon be presented for sale. The few examples on the eBay listing provided by Ariel clearly show that the book has serious errors of fact and values for many of the weapons. Just to add my observations: a 19th/20th C. Dutch klewang/US cutlass listed as a 16th C. falchion ($6,500) ; a 20th C. Visayan talibon listed as a Moro barong ($750) . Save your money guys, and I don't think you should revalue your collections based on the amounts included in this book. Ian

25th October 2006, 05:30 AM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I agree. Here is the e-bay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=008 A rusty Iranian Qaddara is described as Islamic sword 12-14th century with the suggested price for it being $8,000 A simple Tulwar is a 15th century Moorish shamshir ($10,000) A Persian Qama is worth $6,000 Dr. Mircea Veleanu (the author) is welcome to my house; he can choose whatever he likes for similar prices. My retirement will be well-funded Apparently, he wrote a book about Jade collection and now sells the pieces on e-bay with the description " Provenance: collection of Dr. Veleanu, the author of ... Suggested price $2,500 " etc. I cannot mention any particular item because the auctions are active, but you can easily find them .. Ah, the value of being a published author.... The book is useless, but... not worthless

29th October 2006, 09:40 AM	#3
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,097	It seems alot of these weapons books written by questionable scholars are popping up. I just got one called "Weaponry- An Illustrated History" by C Willis with wildly inaccurate information on pieces, modern pieces and tourist stuff listed as true weapons,etc. The scary thing is that this book's photos were all taken from the Berman Museum collection (Alibama). Still, I picked up the book for cheap and there were a few nice swords depicted (including a beautiful gem-studded Persian shimshar owned by Abbas I and given to Catherine the Great).