Serbian book on JTR from 1920s on Ebay

[Phil Carter]

Thank you Chris...I should have looked in the A to Z.

I had found a Detective Davis ( City ) in 1892..

Hello Howard,

Try looking around for a "Davies" too... the seller has now changed the description of the article, listed the faults with each volume, and even changed the price.

I reckon, given it's present price ($140), I can get this knocked down to a much better price if there are no bids. I have sent the seller a private offer in an email on the subject.

best wishes
Phil

[Paul Kearney A.K.A. NEMO]

Seems to be a lot of damage to the pages

I was wondering about that "binding" as it looks home-made

The damage to numerous title pages implies to me that the binding has fallen off or been removed in the past

I wonder if the seller put them together to sell

[Chris Scott]

Hi Phil
Good luck with your bid - keep us posted how things go
Fingers crossed:-)
You say "the seller has now changed the description of the article" - is that as regards condition or content?
The Ebay listing and sellers's comments says this book is not listed in any state or private Serb library, and as the seller's location is given as Belgrade, it is possible it has never left the country, so may be previously unknown.
Chris S

[Monty]

William Dominic Davis

Just to point out, Davis is not in the current edition of the A-Z.

He has been ommitted.

Monty

[Chris Scott]

Just to point out, Davis is not in the current edition of the A-Z.

He has been ommitted.

Monty

Hi Monty
The William Dominic Davis I mentioned is in the new A to Z, page 132
regards
Chris

[Monty]

Hi Monty
The William Dominic Davis I mentioned is in the new A to Z, page 132
regards
Chris

Chris,

Youre correct, apologies.

Monty

[Phil Carter]

Hi Phil
Good luck with your bid - keep us posted how things go
Fingers crossed:-)
You say "the seller has now changed the description of the article" - is that as regards condition or content?
The Ebay listing and sellers's comments says this book is not listed in any state or private Serb library, and as the seller's location is given as Belgrade, it is possible it has never left the country, so may be previously unknown.
Chris S

Hello Chris,

The changes refer to the damage to the article, now listed as it wasn't previously. In it's present state, the value of the article is seriously impaired.
I have mentioned this in my email. Strangely, although Serbian in origin, the person selling this is in Italy. So I am being extremely careful about this one. I want to know all the details before I even put in a final offer.

Thanks for the support.. I have spoken to a colleague here and although he understands my interest, was fair enough to warn me over such internet sales, as the words "kosher" and "con-merchants" may come into play here.

best wishes

Phil

[Chris Scott]

Thanks Phil
here is the info currently given on the Ebay listing:

[Jack The Ripper: mysterious killer of women in London.
The most interesting crime novel from the life of London
Upon the notes of famous London detective Davies and the diary of Jack himself].
Džek Trbosek, tajanstveni ubilac ženskinja u Londonu
Najinteresantniji krivicni roman iz londonskog života
Po beleškama slavnog londonskog detektiva Devisa i dnevniku samoga Džeka
(transcription of cirillyc text)
Gvido Fels (Guido Fels).

This is extremely rare first Serbian edition, second printing in 1920s.
There are no copies recorded in any Serbian public or private library.
This is only known copy of this title.
Translated into Serbian language by Nikola Jov. Protic and published by Rajkovic i Djukovic, Beograd, Terazije.
Later cloth binding.
In fair condition.
In almost every volume several pages more or less damaged. Small dump stains in several volumes.
Misplaced numbers on spine cover on volumes 7 and 9.
Printed in Belgrade, Serbia in 1920s.

Vol. 1: pp. 298.
Vol. 2: pp. 326. The end is missing, probably couple of pages.
Vol. 3: pp. 314.
Vol. 4: pp. 334
Vol. 5: pp. 327 with 8 illustrations. Pp. 207/208 seriously damaged, affecting the text.
Vol. 6: pp. 331 with 7 illustrations.
Vol. 7: pp. 5 - 328 with 7 illustrations. Title and following leaf missing (pp. 1-4). Pp. 5-12 torn.
Vol. 8: pp. 5 - 331 with 4 pictures. Title and following leaf missing (pp. 1-4). Pp. 307-310 seriously damaged, affecting the text.
Vol. 9: pp. 5 - 324 with 8 illustrations. Title and following leaf missing (pp. 1-4). Pp. 5-10, 13-16, 209-304, 329-332 seriously damaged, affecting the text. A few pages on the end missing.
Vol. 10: pp. 422 with 5 pictures illustrations. Title and following leaf detached (pp. 1-4).
We could not compare completeness of our copy with any other copies, because this title appear as unrecorded in Serbian catalogs and bibliographies.
Size: 12,1 x 17,6 cm.

[Chris Scott]

In the notes now attached to the listing it says:
Translated into Serbian language by Nikola Jov. Protic

The question springs to mind - translated from which language? What nationality was Guido von Fels / Paul Walker?
Supposedly the original of the book existed in the language of the author...

[Christian Jd]

Guido v. Fels alias Paul Walter was German. At the end of the 19. century he was a highly productive author of cheap novelettes. One source (book about literature) mentions 200,000 printed pages.
He wrote cheap fiction, no history. It was almost an industry producing those penny dreadfuls andf the authors only got a minimum share of the earnings.

[Chris Scott]

Hi Christian
Many thanks for that info
Much appreciated
Chris

[Mike Covell]

A book about a diary that might have missing pages.

[Phil Carter]

Conclusion

A book about a diary that might have missing pages.

Hello Mike, all,

Well, someone bid on it, at $140. From what I could find out though, it seems to be a novel based on a fictional detective, and of course, a fictional JTR diary.
Given it's overall condition, and with so much missing, and the above, I didn't deem it worth the bother of immense translation, over a long period of time.
Obviously, the winning bidder thought otherwise, a ripper fan, of course.

No doubt in 10 years time the translated version will appear.

best wishes

Phil

[Howard Brown]

I hope the bidder gets something for the money he or she spent because I sincerely doubt that that book is what its cracked up to be.

There's no way that that book is a few thousand pages on the WM.

[Chris G.]

Hi all

Our Serbian friend is also selling a copy of a first edition book of poetry titled Avebury by British poet Richard Burns, published in 1972, and signed to the late Serbian poet Ivan V. Lalić (1931–1996) for $46.99. I was curious about the book and about Burns. I have discovered that the poet's real name is Richard Berengarten and he has had an accomplished career. I found a free pdf copy of Avebury available for download on line so I guess I will not be sending my money to Serbia! The book-long poem, about the prehistoric megalithic monument near Stonehenge and not as touristy... worth seeing if you are in the UK -- the large stone circle encircles the village of Avebury -- makes for a provocative read.

Chris