Hull Down is it a good book

[Tarn Stephanos]

Is there much coverage of Olympic's life in the book Hull Down?

thanks

Tarn Stephanos

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Tarn,

Yours is a very unusual request, seeing how my copy of Hull Down, which I bought a while back, has your name handwritten on the inside cover. I assumed that you read the book while you had it.

Parks

 

[Dave Hudson]

Tarn,

It is a very good book. There is much Olympic material, but none very technical. It's a man's memoirs, so it's mainly just funny stories. The focus, however, is NOT Olympic it spans many White Star liners over many decades. There are many good stories about Pirrie, Ismay, Sanderson, etc.

But never once is the "T" word mentioned or even referred to. This is for good reason. The subject was still very touchy. However, I also own Ship Ahoy!, by Capt. Bissett (of the Cunard Line). He mentions Titanic only once when discussing ice bergs. But even then, he doesn't state the name of the ship.

David

 

[Tarn Stephanos]

Hi Parks!
Wow, small world! It must have one of my old bookplates with an old world map on it. Like a fool, i once downsized my liner collection, selling everything off but Titanic books, and a few other shipwreck books. I never had a chance to read Hull Down, but i might be snagging another copy....

One thing that fascinates me about old books are all the hands they passed through. Think of the 1912 Titanic books in your collection- how many owners did they have over the years? What adventures have the books seen!

There was a film called the Red Violin, about the stories of the various owners of an old violin- that made me think what adventures befell the owners of our old Titanic books..

And who will own them 100 years from now?

regards

Tarn Stephanos

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Good question...now you've good me wondering about previous owners, especially when I chance across the occasional physical evidence pressed between pages (amazing what people will eat while reading; also, don't people use handkerchiefs?).

I like "Hull Down," so I intend to keep a copy in my library. If, however, you find another in good condition, I will trade you so that you can be reunited with your original purchase.

I am on my second copy of "Maiden Voyage" nowadays. I wonder who has my original copy?

>And who will own them 100 years from now?

Well, if they're mine now, I'm taking them with me into the grave. That's the only place I'll have the peace I need to seriously get my research done. Either that, or I'll sell them on eBay.

Parks

 

[Tracy Smith]

I've been looking to get another copy of Padfield's "Titanic and Californian". I've had my copy since 1968 when I was ten years old and it's gotten very battered over years, going with me on my several moves over the years. It is such that I don't really want to open it and use it anymore so as not to have it deteriorate any further.

I'm still on my original paperback copy of "Maiden Voyage", which I got in the mid 70s

Not familiar with "Hull Down" When was it published? It sounds very interesting.

Not too long ago, I took an old book (1946) out of my local library called "In the First Watch" by William McFee. McFee was a Chief Engineer on a cargo ship during the Edwardian era and this book is a collection of his memories at sea. Anyone read this one?

 

[Dave Gittins]

David H, Bissett's account of Titanic is in the the second volume of his memoirs, called Tramps and Ladies. He gives a fairly full account but I fear there is a good deal of 'wise after the event' about it, notably his list of ice warnings received on Carpathia, which Captain Rostron denied getting in 1912. It was written I think in the late 1950s, when White Star was history.

 

[Dave Hudson]

Dave G,

That's the next book on my list!

David