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October 24, 2006
The Mazar Festchrift Again, It's a Bargain
Back in August, I complained about the cost of a book that was on sale at Eisenbrauns, one that I would like to have in my library but I just couldn't bring myself to buy at about 24 cents a page. When I wrote about this, I didn't mean anything negative at all about Eisenbrauns. They were not the publisher and as I said, "It is to their ever-lasting credit that they carry this book." In addition, they need to make a living.
Now I want to talk about a set of books that I bought without hesitation. I mentioned them yesterday, the Amihai Mazar Festchrift, I Will Speak the Riddle of Ancient Times. This time published by Eisenbrauns. I bought this two-volume set of 926 total pages (including preface etc.) for $87.75. That's about 9.5 cents per page. And that is nearly a no brainer price for such a great set of essays.
Now, I don't buy books based on their price per page. For me to buy a book it needs to advance my knowledge of one of my abnormal interests (or just be fun) and it has to be in a language I can read without too much swearing. I may waive the last requirement if it is one of those few important reference works that are only in a language that challenges my normal good disposition. But I do look at other things to determine the value of a book. For me, value is benefit at a price. The complexity of the publication and the price are among the things I consider.
The Mazar Festchrift is very complex: many photographs, drawings and tables; Hebrew, Egyptian Hieroglyphics and special fonts for transliteration; footnotes at the bottom of the page (thank you); and all the apparatus of a fine scholarly publication. I haven't read enough of it to say much about typos and the like but what I have read so far looks very clean. And the two volumes are beautifully bound and the font is very readable. If there is any complaint it is that the material in the set is four years old. One more year and it could have been a sixty-fifth birthday present rather than a sixtieth. I would have also liked a general index and a list of essays by author but these are uncommon in this kind of a collection of essays so I have no real reason to complain.
And the price is about 5 cents per page under what I would have been willing to spend and still think it was a fair deal if not a great deal.
How can Eisenbrauns do this? Well, I'm not really sure but I'll bet its a combination of technology and business model that almost anyone with the will could emulate but all too few do. Many publishers are stuck with an out dated business model because of capital expenditures that may have once made good sense but today are not only a financial burden to them but more importantly to their potential customers. For this reason those publishers are condemned to selling only to a few research libraries and will endowed scholars. But publishers like Eisenbrauns make works like this one available to those of us who know a good deal when we see one.
Posted by Duane Smith at October 24, 2006 8:24 AM | Read more on Archaeology |
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Comments
Wow! I'm flattered. We work hard at keeping the price of books down. Part of the reason is because we love books ourselves and want everyone to be able to afford them. Another part of the reason is we love what we do.
Imagine it, I actually get paid to play with ancient languages and order books! What more could I ask for?
James
Posted by: James at October 24, 2006 11:56 AM
One factor that I take into account before deciding whether or not to buy an expensive book is the time I would spend in front of a hot photocopier copying the entire book.
I just bought a thick book about snails at almost 20 cents/page (including shipping from England).
Posted by: Aydin at October 25, 2006 2:30 PM
James,
No need to be flatterd, just keep up the good work. And what have you done for me this week? :-)
Aydin,
Yeah, benefits can come from lots of things and sometimes a work is just too important to access in the library. Or the total cost is below some threshold that makes the decision easy. I have purchased rather expensive books, even expensive of the price per page basis, because trips to the nearest library that had them were themselves too costly.
Posted by: Duane at October 25, 2006 3:43 PM
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.
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