HISTORY:
Yet another "boys book' from my personal collection, many many years ago!
Here is the setting ....
It's New Zealand in the mid 1960's, I was a young lad at the this time and play was all about using your own imagination. There were no "spoon fed" videos via computers or smartphones, in fact television was a rarity as well, and if your family could afford a television "set" which were initially Black & White, or you could make it "colour" by sticking a strip of coloured cellophane across the front of the screen! Television programming wasn't the greatest then either, I seem to recall that stations went "off air" around 6pm and after this all you would see on your television screen was a station "test card" - hardly exciting for a young lad! We needed to create our own entertainment and use our own imaginations in those days and books such as this one 'fed' the imagination.
Imagine my excitment when receiving books such as this Monster Book ... these Book's transport the reader into another world, a world of excitement, adventures and wonders!
So, this isn't "just" an old book! It is a window into the past, allowing the reader to use their imagination and travel into a world of adventure and excitment (and sometimes a bit scary too!)
I had a number of these and other similar publications but some didn't make it through the years, this one only "just" made it - see my condition report below
I am not sure when this particular Monster Book was released. I was reading this type of book in the mid-1960's ~ 1970's and this probably was given to me as a birthday present in that time period although the book was most likely printed much earlier. We were not a wealthy family and a book costing 15 cents (you can still see the pencil marking on the inside front cover) was BIG money to a struggling Dad.
NOTE: These following description is from a 'layman's' point of view, I do not collect or trade in books - I am describing this book as I see it now
MONSTER BOOK SERIES - Monster Book For Boys
Circa 1950's
There were a number of the Monster Book's released in this period, Monster Book For Girls and Monster Book For Children and others ...
British through and through
Published by Dean & Son Ltd, London
Hard Cover
Cloth bound
188 pages with additional (un-numbered) "plate" pages
Primarily monochrome print with some coloured "plates", the coloured plates are "old style" print technology but still remain vibrant.
This book is all about reading, there are no comic strips or cartoons at all. There are 16 stories, each being approximately 16 pages in length. Only a few of the stories have associated coloured plates. The author of each story is credited and naturally enough many of the stories told deal with "boys things", with a fair amount of content being associated with the British military.
First thing that hits the eyes when opening the book is the 'foxing' - it is not good! Obviously I didn't store this book too well and after all, NZ is a damp place! More about this foxing in the condition report below ...
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
Clean
NO musty smells!
Fair (in my opinion) overall
I say Fair because this book has serious foxing issues. This is where the paper reacts with the environment and gets Brown spots which eventually get larger and darker. The paper "feels" very olde world but I must have kept this book in a place that was a bit damp too - that's what I feel anyway.
This foxing is not consistent, meaning that at each end of the book (front and rear) the effect is very noticeable but as you turn the pages, the effect becomes less and less until around 20 pages from the front or rear, there are no signs of the foxing.
The cloth spine DOES have a tear, pretty obvious in the photograph - this tear or split runs about half the length of the spine from the top. However, when the book is opened, it all feels secure (no floppy pages or looseness) What is less obvious is that the cloth spine has what appear to be 'snail bites' in the cloth! While the spine remains intact and secure, it doesn't look nice.
The pages look to have been stitched and all pages are held secure. I did notice that page 83 ONLY had a small, short top tear - this is the only page with a tear.
I went through all the pages and counted them (this is when I discovered that the plates are not in the "page count") - all present and accounted for Sir! (Woops, I have been reading these books too much lately!)
If I was asked to grade this Monster Book out of 10, 1 being "in shocking condition with pages falling out or missing" and 10 being pristine, never been read ... I would give this book a 5/10
Obvious, normal handling wear n' tear signs such as rubbing to the edges of the front and rear covers and some slight page folds but nothing too dramatic.
I hope the above helps explain just what this Monster Book is all about and what a special meaning these books held for young lads back in those days.
Now that I have carefully looked through the book, spent a few hours reading the stories and taken a few photographs, this book has now been placed in a sealed clear plastic package awaiting a new owner who appreciates stepping back in time (now and again) If you step back in time and STAY THERE, that is not a good thing!
