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Books about IPBs / Suo Zhenhai

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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« on: June 15, 2012, 09:41:09 pm »

Hi All

I  did a  silly thing the  other  day  on the   Forum  :   trumpeting  how  I  bought   the   Suo Zhenhai book ( as  reviewed   recently  in the  ICSBS  Journal )    for  US$20    via the  internet  in  China  and  my  long-suffering  Beijing   secretary,  whereas  the   price  in USA  is  about  US$100 .

Since then  I have  received  more than a  few  personal   requests   from   Forum  members  ( some  of  whom  I suspect  are   closet  ICSBS  members  / or  vice  versa...)   to  help them  get the  book  at the  same  price

I now  realize  my mistake, because    I was  only  able  to  get the  book  courtesy  of  my  long-suffering   Beijing   secretary     who did  me a  personal  favour  to buy the  book  on-line  via a   local Chinese  web-site  / something  impossible  for  anyone  outside   China

Then  I had  to get the  book  hand -carried  to  me  in Shanghai  by another    long-suffering   staff member  and  then  I had to  hand-carry  it  back to  HK myself

I  am NOT  in the  book  business.  But  I AM  in the  business  of    getting every possible  book  on  VMIPBs    into  soft  format  and   thus  into my data  base,   which I  distribute   free  of  charge  on  USB sticks   to any / all    seriously  interested  collectors    (and  with regular  updates ) 

I have   access  to  an AAA  class  scanner  in my HK office , and  it  costs   the  company  nothing    if  I  scan books  in my  spare   time  . 

I  came  back   from   Shanghai   this  last week   with    2    art   books  on loan from  Zhang Lei /  nephew  of   Wang Guanyu  :  one  on Liu Shouben  and  one  on Li  Ke Chang  , both of  which I will  scan  into    my data  base  in the    fulness  of  time

Watch this  space.....

Cheers   Peter

PS  No Joke.  art books  are   darn  heavy 



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Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司
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« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2012, 04:12:09 am »

Yup, Peter, Art Books are heavy! My own are close to a kg. each (the 1998 "Worlds" and the 2007 "Dragons", at any rate. The 1987 Israel Museum catalogue, my first, was a reasonable size, but held 3 or 4 bottles on a page; with the text in Hebrew and English, you can understand there was not a lot of text; the really special ones got a whole page. The whole catalogue was about 40 A4 pages, with a laminated soft cover. Hardcover books are so much heavier; large books (and WHY are books like the V & A snuff bottle book, and the Chester Beatty Library snuff bottle book. 15 X 11 inches and almost 2 inches thick!?).
 Shabbat Shalom, Joey
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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2012, 02:33:01 pm »

HOT  INPUT  FROM DAVID  OSBORNE

His email  is   d.jill@shaw.ca
______________________________

Here is some exciting news for anyone who has one or more bottles of the late Suo Zhen Hai in their collection.
 
A book about him and his work has just been published in China and it is in English. It is called ‘Magic in Hand’ and has 270 pages. As you can see by my pictures it comes boxed and is full of illustrations.
 
There is a forward by Suo Zhen Hai’s wife and another article by Wang Xisan along with another five articles by prominent Chinese artists. There are chapters of his bottles full of pictures for example, Landscapes, Birds and Flowers, People, Animals, etc.
 
The base price is about $40.00 but to have them shipped to me and then to you, taking into consideration the weight of the book, this could easily go to around $70 to $80.
 
Never the less even at this price it is just a fraction of the price of one of his better bottles now selling for $150.00 to $500.00.
 
The process of getting them to you will be some weeks, even some months, and I estimate the end of the Summer.
 
But to get started if you are interested on one or more copies then please let me know as soon as possible so I can place my order.
 
Best regards, David.

___________________________

You will  not  get a better  offer   in the  West , so     I advise  to  go  for  it

The  book was  reviewed  in the  latest  ICSBS  Journal   and the  price  as  listed  @ US$95 (  not  sure   through   what channel)
 
« Last Edit: June 16, 2012, 02:35:19 pm by Peter Bentley 彭达理 » Report Spam   Logged

Wattana
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« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2012, 11:20:48 pm »

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this Forum, but have been following the discussions for a couple of weeks.
I tried to get hold of a copy of the book on Suo Zhenhai from Paragon Books, but their online ordering system says the book hasn't been launched yet. Does anyone know how to go about contacting the publisher to find out who is stocking it?

Cheers,
Wattana
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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2012, 12:12:10 am »

Hi Wattana

It's  possible to  by the  book  at   several    Chinese   Amazon-type    sites,  but   that's  very   inconvenient  if you  live  abroad

My advice is therefore to   go through  David  Osborne

I  have the    book  already and   it's  superb !

Cheers  Peter
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« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2012, 02:01:38 pm »

I just ordered a few copies of the book from David Osborne. I wanted a copy for my Jerusalem home (where my Suo Zhenhai bottles are), a copy for a friend there, 1 copy (plus a spare) for my Irish library, and one for a friend in UK.
Joey
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Joey Silver (Si Zhouyi 義周司), collecting snuff bottles since Feb.1970

Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2012, 02:26:50 pm »

Hi Joey

GREAT  !

I hope  you  can   re-distribute   within  Europe  by one   way  or another.  It's a   truly  superb book, and    a  collector's    item  in its  own  right .

In the   future, after  I retire,  I  can  maybe  (  maybe )  use  my  second  home  in China  ( which  has  huge  spare  space)  to     buy /  store / re-sell  this new  generation  of   MIPB  art  books   which  can be  bought  very  cheaply  via  local  Chinese  Amazon-type  web-sites .     

Actually, the    time/ cost to    buy locally  /  re-pack/ ship  internationally  is  much more  than the  actual   cost  of the  book , which is  why   this  Suo Zhenhai  book   price  in the  ICSBS   journal  was mentioned  as  US$95  whereas  in China  it's  only  US$ 20 . 

In the  meantime. for  all  of  you  others  out  there  in the  USA  -  go  to David  Osborne   for your  copy !

Also, I hear  that there   will  soon be  a  "CIPMA 2"    and that David  will  organize a  bulk order   for  USA/ Canada

Cheers   Peter
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« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2012, 12:52:21 am »

Hi guys,

Thanks for your advice. I have emailed David Osborne, and await his reply.

Tom (Wattana)
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Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司
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« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2012, 07:45:02 am »

Peter,
   I'm purchasing for myself, and for gifts to friends.
Joey
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Peter Bentley 彭达理
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« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2012, 08:50:29 am »

Hi Joey

I advise to  go through  David  Osborne  and  place a bulk  order  in one  shipment  via  David.  That  will  get the  best price  / book

Probably , if  your  order is big  enough, you  can arrange   with David  to  have   your  order shipped  in one   separate  box  from China    direct  to  Ireland  or  Israel , rather  than  via  Canada  where  David  has to  unpack / re-pack/ re-send

He told me   he already   has  20  orders ( including Tom's  order)

The  book is  very  heavy  (5   lb  =  2.5  kg) ,  so  you can  imagine the  work  for  David  to  carry  a box  containing   10  or more books to the  post  office ( if  he   can   even   find  a   box    strong  enough to  hold   25  kg  parcel post) 

Cheers Peter

Peter
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« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2012, 08:54:26 am »

Oh, Peter. I wasn't aware the book was so heavy. Thanks for the 'heads-up'. I'll see if he can arrange 3 to Israel and three to Ireland directly from China.
 Again, Thank you. Joey
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« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2012, 11:59:22 am »

I didn't realize the book was so heavy either. David may be starting to regret his offer! I hope this isn't going to be too much of an imposition on him.

Tom
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« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2012, 03:06:58 pm »

Hi All

David  has  been  selling   snuff  bottles  for  almost  10 years  and so  I'm 100%   certain he  has  a  regular  system  in place  at  home  for   accepting  shipments  from   China /  un-packing / re-packing / re-shipping  ( and the  space to do so,  and packing  materials )

Otherwise  he  would  not have  made this offer to   the members  of  his  Snuff Bottle  Club (  about  100  collectors  WW, but I think mostly  in  USA/ Canada)   as well  as  to  the   Forum  members, via  me

And I am  sure  he   also makes a  fair  charge  for his  work  of   packing /  shipping, which is  more than  fair.

There   will soon  be a   "CIPMA  2"   from Hengshui  and  David   told me   he  will try to  get a  bulk  order  of  this  book when it is  available.

I can  order the    Suo Zhenhai  book    for  as  little  as US$20    via   one of  several  Chinese  - "Amazon" - type  sites  who  will  deliver  "next day" to any address  in China  if they are paid  on-line   with a   Chinese  bank  credit  card . So it's  very  simple  for  me  to  ask  my  BJ  secretary  to  order  a   1  -2   books  for delivery  to  our  BJ office  just as a  personal  favor

But  then   the   real work begins  because:

a) I have to  send    her the  money in cash  via  someone  travelling from  HK  to BJ   (unless  I happen to  be  going to  BJ  myself  in the next few weeks)

b) I  have to  ask  someone  from HK   to  hand-carry the  books  from BJ  to their  home,  and then  from home  to  my HK office  ( unless  I happen to  be  going to  BJ myself  in the next few weeks)  

@  2.5  kg  / book  that's a lot  of   weight

So I guess    that  when  this  book is  listed  at  "US$95"  in the  ICSBS   review,  vs  "US$20"  on  a Chinese  Amazon   website,  that  means  someone  in USA  has  ordered the  book in bulk ,  had the   crate  shipped to  a   warehouse  in USA,   unpacked, entered  into   stock, and  ready to  re- despatch.    That   work alone  probably   adds  US$30  to the   cost .  And    then  there's    the  local   USA  order  admin    and   profit  margin  on top, plus  local  shipping

In these  days  of  email,  one  forgets that  sending   actual   things    by   parcel  post  is  actually  a lot of  work.  

Once  one calculates the   actual cost  to  do things  like this  , one  begins to  appreciate     why it's  worthwhile to  pay  a  premium price to   deal    with Amazon,  Paypal  etc   just for the  convenience  of  doing  an entire  transaction  within  10 minutes  at  home  on-line

That's  how  Wells  Fargo  was  established  in the  California  gold  rush

Cheers   Peter



« Last Edit: July 11, 2012, 03:09:22 pm by Peter Bentley 彭达理 » Report Spam   Logged

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