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Sharlit
Registered User
(2/27/01 11:45:00 am)
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Finding Out-of-Print Resource Materials...?
Hey everybody,
I apologise thoroughly if this gets posted twice. I am not overwhelmingly
familiar with web-based msg boards. Oh, but for to relive the days
early days of usenet and newsreaders.
In any case. I have a dilema that I'm sure everyone has had at least
once in their research careers...
It started a few years ago, when I began searching for a copy of
the Child Ballads. A complete dissection of the publishing world
taught me only that the volumes were last printed in the fifties,
and, apparently, that anyone lucky enough to have a copy of any
printing was keeping it close enough that copies never surfaced
in used book stores, libraries or on ebay.
Which was fine, really, since I had a print-out of the particular
ballad that I was drawing from. A complete volume could wait until
I was finished with the current project.
But recently (and finally!) I got my sweaty little paws on one of
Andrew Lang's _The [insert colour here] Fairy Book_. (The collection
has recently been re-released in trade paperback- yay!) The collection
is a great overview of stories from a variety of cultures, but I
have found them to be vague, simplified, and out of the context
of the cultures they are from.
Which was also fine, I told myself, since every story ends with
a little blurb about where they came from. I would simply look up,
find and read thoroughly the original sources.
I haven't been able to find a single one. Part of the problem, I
imagine, is the language barrier. I don't know what _Ungarische
Mahrchen_ means, so I'm a little ill-equipped to find an english
translation. But even when I can find references to a text, I can't
seem to find a copy.
I suppose what I would love to find out is if any of you know of
any dealers, or particularily prolific used book stores that might
be able to find me books, and maybe even help me hunt down foreign
texts. Obviously, some kind of online database would also be ideal,
but I haven't for the life of me been able to find one.
I suppose in the end I will end up holing myself away in the University
library, harrassing the rare books clerk and developing a dust allergy.
But it *would* certainly be nice to be able to find my own copies
that I can take home and refer to at my leasure...
Thanks, even if nothing turns up.
-charlotte
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Terri
Registered User
(2/27/01 12:03:30 pm)
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Re: Finding Out-of-Print Resource Materials...?
Dover Books published the 5 volumes of the Child ballads in trade paperback. My set came from the Dover Books catalogue in the 1980s. I don't know whether the Dover editions are still in print, but it's worth checking with them.
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Sharlit
Registered User
(2/27/01 12:21:39 pm)
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Dover?
Thanks Terri,
Dover's last piblication is in fact out of print and sold out, but
on a brighter side, apparently they have recently put out a "Thrift
Edition". This edition a fraction of the number of ballads
the original does... but it *is* available, and ninety cents at
amazon to boot.
-charlotte (who's Getting There)
| Jeff
Unregistered User
(2/27/01 4:20:56 pm)
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Name?
Hiya.
Is "Child Ballads" the actual name of the book(s)? Is there an author/editor? ISBN number of an edition you particularly want? I'm willing to give the treasure hunt a go. (Will someone please give me a job doing this?)
By the way, Charlotte, I liked your site a lot. Is it still active? I noticed that it hasn't been updated in a while. I hope that you're still working on it. With all the garbage online, a site like yours is always welcome.
Jeff (who has a lot of whimsy. He keeps it in his soapbox.)
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Sharlit
Registered User
(2/27/01 5:01:28 pm)
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My site, and the book...
Hey Jeff,
The book is actually called "English and Scottish Popular Ballads" by Francis Child. It's a fairly comprehensive overview of the ballads that were floating around at the time Child wrote the book, which I believe was lat 1890-ish.
As for my website, I'm afraid it died a horrible death not to long
after I first put it up, for a number of reasons. First of all,
xoom (it was xoom, at the time. was absolutely the least reliable
web host known to man. Secondly, dispite my best attempts, most
people who joined the mailing list weren't interested in much beyond
idle chatter. Which, guess, is to be expected, but at the time it
dropped my spirits. I really needed a place to brainstorm, find
contributors and be a little more *productive*.
Lastly, I think I was unclear on the direction I wanted to take. I believe in supporting magic, myth and folklore, but I don't believe *in* magic, if I may make a differentiation. I believe in telling stories, dreaming and music. I don't believe I am actually a faerie, nor that Earthsea is a real place.
I am hoping to start an e-zine instead, for amateur publication
of the mythic arts (to steal a term. , and mostly as a resource
for people who want to break into any of the artistic fields. A
little more for *doing*, a little less for fandom.
Anyway.
-charlotte
| Jeff
Unregistered User
(2/27/01 7:36:49 pm)
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Child's play
I will look for the books. Nothing
yet, a preliminary search only provided a site, which I'm sure you've
already seen. www.childballads.com/
Yes, Xoom was dreadful, and almost as bad as Yahoo! when it comes to pushing their services exclusively. Some snobby types hate free sites altogether, but not me. I go with Tripod. I'm sure not going to pay for hosting, and I don't trust people enough to allow myself to be hosted on another's site.
It's too bad, though, about your site. You don't believe in faeries? Oh my, that's terrible.
Jeff (has faeries in his garden. They fight the cats for the milk.)
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Sharlit
Registered User
(2/28/01 6:09:51 am)
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Fairies in the garden...
Jeff,
Odd though this may seem, it seems to me to take a lot of the fun
out of a thing if it turns out to be real. I mean, in the end, what's
the point of an imagination if all that's conceivable is actually
there?
There's something sort of tingly about reading of something that you could never have thought of yourself, or pretending you're something that isn't. It's the creativity of make believe and wonder what-if that I love...
I like my fairies in a seperate world than this one... it seems
to make them more *special*.
etc,
-charlotte
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Helen
Registered User
(2/28/01 7:32:25 am)
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Ah, someone who shares my pain ...
Dear Charlotte:
I know exactly what you mean ... I just spent what feels like an eterity searching for the collected works of Lynn Thorndike, who was published at least slightly more recently than Childs (1963 was the last reprint, I think)... and I *still* felt like a worldwide conspiracy was operating against me to keep me from hunting down the last volume I wanted. My saviors were the dealers of abebooks.com (the Advanced Book Exchange). I don't know if the server will accept titles in other scripts, but if it conforms to basic Roman type, you should be able to find it in there.
Good Luck,
Helen
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Laura
Registered User
(2/28/01 9:58:11 am)
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newer translations?
As a connected thought, I've also had a deal of trouble laying hands on my source materials -- primarily since they are either solely in Japanese or the only translations were done in 1912! As one would expect, these tales have that bowdlerized aftertaste to them, but I can't seem to locate any newer translations. Is there a particular venue for recent (1970s at the earliest) translations of so-called "ethnic" folktales, particularly Asian ones, such as a journal that specializes in publishing single-tale translations? I can't seem to locate anything of the kind, and I hate to base a modern feminist interpretation on inauthentic Edwardian works.
Laura
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Laura
Registered User
(2/28/01 9:59:55 am)
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out of print
ABE is a great place to check. Personally, I do almost all my book shopping through www.addall.com, which also has a used section. As a comparison site, you're sure to get the best price, and it's so easy!
Laura
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JenStClair
Registered User
(3/2/01 6:19:31 pm)
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Re: out of print
Try www.addall.com
It will search many used bookstores at once, so that's a nice thing,
and I've gotten quite a few books using their webpage.
I've also used Carriage House Books (I can't remember the webpage) to find copies of the Borderland books.
Jen
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