Acquisitions this month came from a proper bookshop (with many floors, nooks and crannies) in Burntisland on the Fife coast north of Edinburgh, and from a local auction.

Photographic Annuals

We have many of these annuals in the archive, but we always buy them when we can because they have a delightful mix of advertisements and top-quality professional photography. The first is The British Journal Photographic Almanac from 1956 and the second is the BJ photographic annual from 1962 – the same publication but with a name change.

The Architectural Review December 1941

To quote this magazine’s current website: “Since 1896, the AR has scoured the globe for architecture that challenges and inspires. Become a subscriber for fearless storytelling, independent critical voices and thought-provoking projects from around the world.”

The copy we found is no exception, and contains a mix of architectural articles and ‘trade’ advertisements.

The Modern Building Record 1912 and 1914

Here are two volumes, numbers 2 and 4, from a series of five published from 1911 to 1915. They describe the latest buildings constructed in the past year, under headings from commercial to domestic. They are also full of advertisements by suppliers. We are now looking for volumes 1,4 and 5.

Jane’s Fighting Ships 1919

Jane's Information Group was founded in 1898 by Fred T. Jane, who had begun sketching ships as an enthusiast naval artist while living in Portsmouth. This culminated in the publishing of All the World's Fighting Ships (1898). The company then gradually branched out into other areas of military expertise. The books and trade magazines published by the company are often considered the de facto public source of information on warfare and transportation systems.

Based in Greater London for most of its existence, the group was owned by the Thomson Corporation and several others until it was acquired by Montagu Private Equity in 2019.

The annual publications are Jane's All the World's Aircraft, Jane's Fighting Ships, Jane's Military Communications, Jane's World Air Forces, Jane's World Navies, and Jane's World Railways. Periodicals include Jane's Defence Weekly, Jane's Intelligence Review, Jane's International Defence Review, and Jane's Navy International.

This 1919 copy gives a fascinating insight into the many countries that possessed significant navies at the end of World War I. The advertisements are, unsurprisingly, for shipbuilders and makers of ship equipment from boilers to armaments.

William Whitley & Sons, Machine Makers of Lockwood, Huddersfield, 1886

This is almost certainly a representative’s display catalogue. It is far larger and sturdier than a conventional catalogue that may have been sent through the post. It contains no details of pricing or terms & conditions – just magnificent photographs that show examples of Whiteley’s products, intended to impress potential customers. We have included a few of the images to give an idea of the scope of the company’s work and the quality of presentation.

Thanks for joining me, see you at the next open evening!