Lindsay Technical Books calls it quits.

[MidMich]

I know many of you have bought reprints and publications from Lindsay Technical Books. I just got a new catalog and he says this will be his last. No more orders taken after Feb 28 2013.

I know that this is a old post. but the warehouse that had all of Lindsay books is shutting down and is selling off the last of the Lindsay's books and at a huge discount.

Store Temporarily Closed for Maintenance

Jeff

 

[IceCzar]

You should thank whatever God you believe in for the expiration of copyrights. Right now a great swath of knowledge from the mid 20th century remains locked away on seldom visited library shelves; books that are still in copyright but which are out of print and will never be reprinted, and copyright owners who either no longer exist or who refuse to allow reprinting. Thanks to Google Books our knowlege of pre 1923 history is great, but where do you go to learn about post 1923 history?

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[adammil1]

If Ye Old Time books owns the copyrights to those books and has the electronic versions, reincarnating this one maybe easier than ever before.

It's my understanding that most books currently sold on amazon.com do not actually exist on the shelves at Amazon bookstore. Rather they actually print them to order at a local fulfillment center near you. Thus one could in theory have an entire catalog of books that exists through an Amazon store without carrying any inventory. If one title only has a yearly demand for 20 copies so be it.

I think the harder thing that Lindsay used to run up against was that most book publishers used to carry minimum orders. So you would have to guess and make a run of 500 or more books and then sit on the inventory until it eventually sold out. With Amazon's print on demand I would think one could just sit back and collect royalties even if Amazon took a bigger cut than one would like.

Now I think the other big complication for Lindsay's business model came from when Google books started offering so many of these great old-time books online for free. Call me old fashioned but I still like a paper copy book I find them a lot easier to read anyhow.

Nonetheless the old Lindsay catalog was always a real hoot to read and I still have quite a few books that I bought from them over the years.

 

[SteveM]

Call me old fashioned but I still like a paper copy book I find them a lot easier to read anyhow.

Yea, hard to read the electronic copy when you are on the can.

 

[MidMich]

From the "Your Old Time Bookstore" web sight,

Discover the secrets of old-time technology!"

Lindsay Publications, Inc. sold an extensive
variety of books worldwide for over 30 years.

They were best known for

catalog and it's "unique" content.
After almost 20 years of employment with his company,
we started taking over inventory distribution in August 2011.
Sadly, Mr. Lindsay officially retired in April 2013.

After 10 years in business,
we are preparing to close YOTB, as well.


Huge savings site-wide! Order today for the best selection!
Titles are selling out quickly - get em' before they're gone!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We've done our best to keep Lindsay "alive"
by including his original catalog descriptions.
Due to the large image size, they are featured on the individual product page.
(If viewing a list, simply click the title link or "more info" link for full details...)

Whether you're a former Lindsay customer or new to these rare publications,
Your Old Time Bookstore
promises fascinating and educational material for your enjoyment!

**Please find our Product List (featuring cover images, titles, and prices)
and our *NEW* Description List (featuring Lindsay's Technical Books explanations)
at the top of our All Lindsay/YOTB category page!
NOW FEATURING latest marketing email/video links!**​

Prices have drop on what is left and time is running out.
Jeff​

 

[MidMich]

This is their one of every book that they have left bundle, for $48.39.

Our Price: $353.55 Sale Price: $48.39 Savings: $305.16 Product Code: L4L5

Qty:

The following items are included with this product: 1 of Handbook for Drillers 1 of Lathe Notes Volume 1 1 of Projects from Early Issues of Industrial Arts Magazine 1 of Machinery Reference Series - No. 25 Deep Hole Drilling 1 of Pottery for Artists, Craftsmen, & Teachers 1 of Echoes from the Oil Country Vol. 3 1 of The Impoverished Radio Experimenter Vol. 4 1 of The Impoverished Radio Experimenter Vol. 5 1 of Echoes from the Oil Country Vol. 5 1 of Telephones and Microphones 1 of Recent Developments in Large Gas-Engine Design 1 of Two Great Railroad Exhibits at Chicago 1 of Lathe Notes Volume 5 1 of The Practice and Theory of Aviation/Recent Progress in Aviation 1 of Hasluck's Photographic Notes 1 of Photography in the Studio and Field 1 of The Art and Practice of Silver Printing 1 of Lathe Notes Volume 6 1 of Wireless Telephony 1 of The Photographic Negative 1 of The Radio Handbook 1936 Chapters Covering Shortwave Receiver Construction 1 of How to Build and Fly a Glider 1 of The Ferrotype and How to Make It 1 of Terra Cotta Work 1 of Wonders of Machinery Hall 1 of Wilson's Quarter Century in Photography - Chapter 8 Darkroom Contrivances and Chapter 9 Negative Making - "Wet" 1 of Model Engine-Making 1 of The Tricks and Secrets of Old-Time Machinists Volume 2 1 of Wilson's Quarter Century in Photography - Chapter 15 Negative Making - "Dry" 1 of Electric Vehicles 1 of Barnes' Metal Working Machinery 1 of Locomotive Management 1 of Phonograph Notes 1 of Building Ship Models 1 of Seven Centuries of Brass Making 1 of Pipe Dreams & Reminiscences of Old-Time Machinists 1 of Power Magazine 1 of My Lathes & How I Made Them/Zinc Chucks for the Lathe 1 of The Tricks and Secrets of Old-Time Machinists Volume 5 1 of The Impoverished Radio Experimenter Vol. 6

 

[Joe in NH]

I just went to "Your Old Time Bookstore" web sight, and ordered one each of the three "Impoverished Radio Experimenter" books (4, 5, 6) shown on the list above.

I've decided to collect the complete series of six.

I have No. 1. No. 2 seems to be unobtanium. Others on the Internet have commented similarly. The others are available variously on the usual used book sites.

I see Scribd has No. 2 as a PDF - but you have to sign onto a "trial." Don't like trials or the $11 a month if you forget to cancel.

Too bad we lost Lindsay. He was a go-to for me for MANY YEARS.

Joe in NH

 

[Milland]

Thanks for the "heads up" on the one of everything sale, just placed my order. Bathroom reading library completed...

 

[99Panhard]

If Ye Old Time books owns the copyrights to those books and has the electronic versions, reincarnating this one maybe easier than ever before.

It's my understanding that most books currently sold on amazon.com do not actually exist on the shelves at Amazon bookstore. Rather they actually print them to order at a local fulfillment center near you. Thus one could in theory have an entire catalog of books that exists through an Amazon store without carrying any inventory. If one title only has a yearly demand for 20 copies so be it.

That certainly isn't true...I work with a publisher that often sells through Amazon. Ours aren't "print on demand" books...including three of my own. Amazon offers a lot of "print on demand" books but I doubt they are more than 10% of their total. That said, all of the Lindsey books were long out of copyright when he published them. This is why Lindsey was able to reprint them, there aren't any active copyrights to own. That said, there may be a grey area where it may be a copyright infringement to reproduce a book from Lindsey's reprint if it includes an introduction Lindsey added. If you reproduced it from an original copy there is no definitely no problem. I've done this. The book is copyrighted but the copyright only covers the introductory matter.

Lindsey's reprints were relatively well done though not as good as an original (reprints never are if they are done by photograping or scanning the original). The worst reprints are "print on demand". This technology is adequate for text but not very good for line illustrations and worthless for photos. I own a lot of books (as in thousands of them) on a number of relatively obscure subjects and when I can I always look for an original edition which, much more often than not, is less expensive than the cheap reprint. I have, on rare occasions, bought a print on demand book because I needed to read something and they are always disappointing.