Original gauging book for sale

[Derek R.]

I could understand SHAD's BCN plates going up for auction, but less so this.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=151135628598

 

Something that tells of many individual boats histories going for auction seems just plain wrong. Such books are indeed rare, and through auction could well be lost to the historic boating movement altogether - perhaps if purchased by a foreign buyer. We all know the fates of items left with BW and possibly CRT, but surely this is simply another case of the family silver being hawked off for one persons profit.

 

Sorry Laurence, I do think this is out of order. It's a bit like you selling off your master copies of your DVD's etc. Would you do that? Such things need protecting. Not flogging off.

 

Derek Reynolds

[Speedwheel]

I suppose the questions is what does one, or what should one, do with such things?

 

As someone who already has a large number of similar documents (and, dare I say it, someone who is young enough to take these things into the next generation when all you old fogies have curled up your toes) I would seriously consider purchasing it; but there is no way I would pay the asking price.

 

How many of these books were there in a complete set? Are we talking the 60+ you get in a BCN set? What is the going rate for a BCN gauging book these days?

[carlt]

I disagree.

 

The information within the document should be in the public domain but why does it matter where the original resides?

 

It is surely the data that has significance and value to enthusiasts, historians and boat owners whereas the actual original document is of interest to the collector of ephemera.

[Pluto]

Has a digital copy been made? I have done so with a number of original documents and then produced pdfs, some of which are on my website where they can be downloaded for research by anyone. As Carl says, it is the information which is of most value, and it needs to be where it can be of most use. The original can then be kept anywhere, though it would always be useful to know exactly where that is.

[FadeToScarlet]

Whilst the data are Interesting and the most important thing, there's something to be said for working with original source documents- a far more direct link to the past. That exact book was in the toll office and was filled in by a long-dead clerk whilst the boat was actually there.....

 

Maybe I'm being overly sentimental, though.