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Well, my next thought was "what about Shire Press?" then I realised they had been assimilated by Osprey, so I guess you have a good point. (In fact, your short 1989 work of the same title has therefore been absorbed into the collective retrospectively!)
I have the softback of B&C2, and it is absolutely fine as softbacks go - I think I must have been unaware of a hardback edition back in 2006 so apologies if I have unjustly dissed Oxbow!
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Quote:Well, my next thought was "what about Shire Press?" then I realised they had been assimilated by Osprey, so I guess you have a good point. (In fact, your short 1989 work of the same title has therefore been absorbed into the collective retrospectively!)
And very pointedly not reprinted by them. Still, we're working on a new edition of that too ;-)
Quote:I have the softback of B&C2, and it is absolutely fine as softbacks go - I think I must have been unaware of a hardback edition back in 2006 so apologies if I have unjustly dissed Oxbow!
That's okay then! But I agree, a hardback is a must for such a book (just not at stupid OUP/CUP prices).
Mike Bishop
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Would it be awkward to say I *Sqwee'd* When I read that a new B&C would be in the works?
Happy and Excited.
Andy Volpe
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Quote:Would it be awkward to say I *Sqwee'd* When I read that a new B&C would be in the works?
We might use that on the cover! Infinitely better than a sleb endorsement ;-)
Mike Bishop
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Mike Wrote: I wouldn't touch Osprey with a high-voltage phase-shifting barge pole,
When I joined RAT the impending arrival of an Osprey book on the Romans was waited with eager anticipation. The mere sight of the cover would result in pages of debate and when the book finally appeared it seemed the thread would go on for ages.
However recently there have been several Osprey Roman titles which have not even been mentioned on RAT, let alone debated. Does this mean RATers do not bother reading them anymore, posting reviews anymore or reading anymore in general?
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
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Quote:Does this mean RATers do not bother reading them anymore, posting reviews anymore or reading anymore in general?
Might be as much a reflection on the changing nature of the constitution of RAT as upon the Ospreys themselves ;-)
Mike Bishop
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Hello Dr. Bishop,
I would say to add more colored photos and drawings. Usually books only have black/white drawings and photos. I think it would be great to show acutal color photos of artifacts that are available instead of only drawings. If color for a particular item is not possible, then black/white is great in good resolution.
Also, if possible, full page photos (color or black/white) of the best preserved and most beautiful objects be they helmets, swords, armor etc.
I would also like to see more metallurgical analysis of the various metals and when possible actual dimensions of pieces.....for example.....belt plates. It would also be nice to know on average the thickness of the metal used to stamp out a belt plate, sword scabbard etc.
One last item....pugios! They are always falling away. It would be great to have good resolution photos of some of the best pugios such as the Velsen. Moreover, drawings that could better exemplify a particular pugio because the scabbard might not be in the greatest condition.
Thanks
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Paolo
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Personally, I would really like to see some thoughts in print on the 'ridge helmet paradox'. If ridge helmets were easier and cheaper to mass-produce, why did the Romans spoil this effect by sheathing most of them in costly silver or gilt-silver? Or were they produced because they were superior in some functional way to preceding helmet types?
Martin
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Or simply is it that we have a biased picture of ridge helmets because gold and silver are statistically more likely to survive than iron, and the reality is that gold and silver sheathes weren't as common as we may think?
Nevertheless, I am definitely looking forward to this new volume by MC Bishop.
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Sorry Mike, I haven't been on RAT much recently and missed this. I will have to go off to a cave somewhere to have a good think about what else you might want to consider putting in a good general book like B&C. However, as an immediate thought, would it be possible to correct that bit about some pugio sheaths being embossed? Unless there are examples I don't know of (which is of course entirely possible), the only 'embossed' sheath anyone every refers to is the Leeuven sheath, which is not embossed at all, but has its decoration soldered on.
On the front of binding, I got my copy of B&C1 in 1995 (in a small independent bookshop in Christchurch which is still standing, unlike most of the large buildings in the city centre) and my copy of B&C2 in 2007. Both are paperback and I didn't even know B&C1 had been in hardback until I saw a copy in 1997. I haven't spent much time crying about it but I agree though - hardback is definitely preferable if possible.
Crispvs
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More on Footware may be appropriate.....
Ivor
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Quote:Or simply is it that we have a biased picture of ridge helmets because gold and silver are statistically more likely to survive than iron, and the reality is that gold and silver sheathes weren't as common as we may think?
Nevertheless, I am definitely looking forward to this new volume by MC Bishop.
Even if this were the case, why would the people who could afford silver sheathing buy cheap and nasty ridge helmets, when they could have purchased helmets with solid skulls? After all earlier generations of Roman officers appear to have worn Hellenistic and Attic helmets long after the rank and file had abandoned them. This suggests that the ridge helmet had a functional edge over the earlier single-piece skull types
Martin
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Quote:Personally, I would really like to see some thoughts in print on the 'ridge helmet paradox'. If ridge helmets were easier and cheaper to mass-produce, why did the Romans spoil this effect by sheathing most of them in costly silver or gilt-silver? Or were they produced because they were superior in some functional way to preceding helmet types?
This could be a new thread?
I'd say that if you rivet part together you'd better make sure that these are protected against rust, as you cast claer your rivets once they're fitted. Tinning is an option but apparentlyly a very (very!) thin sheet of gilded silver works too. Or perhaps better, since they had a special class of workers (barbaricarii) at their fabricae who were under the strictest of orders to add a very limited amout of precious metal to each helmet.
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Quote:I would say to add more colored photos and drawings. Usually books only have black/white drawings and photos. I think it would be great to show acutal color photos of artifacts that are available instead of only drawings. If color for a particular item is not possible, then black/white is great in good resolution.
Colour is expensive and more of it will push the price up, inevitably. Are people willing to pay a lot more for the book just for a few more colour piccies? I'm not sure. Lots of photos also cost us serious money and sales of the book will never make back that cost (a sad fact of non-fiction publication). My personal view is that other specialist texts can cover items in detail and our job is a detailed, referenced, overview and that means text ;-)
Quote:Also, if possible, full page photos (color or black/white) of the best preserved and most beautiful objects be they helmets, swords, armor etc.
Again, full-page photos are perhaps difficult to justify in a general account like this where I went out of my way to try to put as many drawings as possible on one page!
Quote:I would also like to see more metallurgical analysis of the various metals and when possible actual dimensions of pieces.....for example.....belt plates. It would also be nice to know on average the thickness of the metal used to stamp out a belt plate, sword scabbard etc.
We can probably add a few more analytical details, in the light of Pablo Fernandez's (and others') work but details like thickness (and weight) are seldom published I'm afraid (and difficult to do for many objects).
Quote:One last item....pugios! They are always falling away. It would be great to have good resolution photos of some of the best pugios such as the Velsen. Moreover, drawings that could better exemplify a particular pugio because the scabbard might not be in the greatest condition.
Again, we have to maintain balance and can't really concentrate on one item at the expense of others, but we'll certainly review whether we have enough on daggers.
Mike Bishop
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Quote:More on Footware may be appropriate.....
Duly noted.
Mike Bishop
You know my method. It is founded upon the observance of trifles
Blogging, tweeting, and mapping Hadrian\'s Wall... because it\'s there
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