This book is an enjoyable read and I wouldn't think has pretensions to become a definitive text or reference on either the life of Tullio Campagnolo or his products.
For all I can see it's a form of panegyric for Don Tullio and a richly deserved encomium for the products of the Campagnolo Company.
At best it will be an introduction to the neophyte reader on the most admired and sought after vintage cycle components and a pleasant table top book for the home of the more dedicated collector.
No potential writer of a more serious or detailed book on the subject has anything to fear from its publication-the field remains open.
It may interest a few to know that Boswell's "The Life of Johnson" (considered by some the greatest biography in English) was the fifth biography published after Johnson's death. The four previous biographies are today only known to a few scholars.
Neither Campagnolo or his products has found their Boswell as yet.
George
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA
> I never write reviews without having read a book, nor do I
> usually wade into
> areas in which I am not an expert, so this is an exception.
>
> As I am sure Jan would concur from his experience with BQ and
> with his two
> superb tomes, there is difference between the publication of
> matters which
> are still up for debate (and are, thus, a cause for differing
> opinion) and
> those which are a matter of record I am sure there are those
> whose opinions
> differ from those which Jan presents in his publications - we
> have had
> evidence of such disagreements on this list from time to time.
> That is part
> of healthy research and debate.
>
> On the other hand, the misrepresentation of facts in the book in
> question is
> what seems to be most troubling. Regardless of its apparent
> usefulness in
> providing pictorial and historical details of 75 years of
> Campagnolo history
> in one place, this book has the potential of becoming THE
> definitive history
> of Campagnolo; the standard reference book, for some at least,
> on this
> matter for years to come. It is, after all, in print! Moreover,
> the reality
> is that few if any of us has the energy or time to produce an
> alternative.
> Nevertheless, with so many resources at the fingertips of the
> authors
> (including the collective widsom on this forum), it is difficult
> to accept
> that such a book could make it to the printing stage without
> getting all of
> its facts straight. In the academic world, with which I am most
> familiar,
> this would be considered as very shoddy research. Having said
> that, I have
> to believe that partial fault must lie with its publishers/
> editors.
> Academic publications are vetted, refereed, reviewed and edited
> at a number
> of different stages (now it would be naive of me to insist that
> all such
> publications are error free, but the reality is that there is a
> whole
> process in place which is intended to minimise errata). While
> this
> publication is not an academic book as such, I believe that the
> role of its
> publishers/ editors should have been to make sure that all facts
> (and
> material borrowed from other sources) were properly researched,
> supported
> and presented!!
>
> The end result, therefore, would have been a piece which would
> have been
> beyond reproach and, potentially, a much stronger, invaluable
> resource on
> one of the most important contributions to cycling history.
>
>
> Paul B. Williams, BAH, MPhil, PhD
> Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
> castell5@sympatico.ca
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jan Heine"
> To: "Harry Travis" ; "classicrendezvous"
>
> Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 4:40 PM
> Subject: Re: Fwd: [CR] Re: Using images; Was: Whining about
> Campagnolo:75Years of Cycling Passion
>
>
> > At 1:54 PM -0400 10/27/08, Harry Travis wrote:
> >>I don't mean to encourage sales of a poor book. But, perhaps
> knowledgeable>>affficionados here could compile a list of
> errors, and politely submit
> >>them, perhaps over Dale's letterhead, not as criticism, but as
> errata,>>urging the publisher to include them as errata such
> with all new copies,
> >>and
> >>in any subsequent editions.
> >
> > That would be a good idea if this was a serious, good-faith
> effort at
> > producing a carefully researched book, with just a few
> unfortunate
> > oversights. Bicycle Quarterly publishes corrections and
> additions. Most
> > changes are additions, when new information comes to light,
> and I am
> > encouraging anybody to submit comments/corrections/additions.
> >
> > However, I see a few problems with compiling an errors list
> for the new
> > Campagnolo book:
> >
> > 1. The number of errors is just overwhelming. I only picked
> three in my
> > post, but I easily could add many more. It would make the
> publisher look
> > bad if the list of errata was many pages long. So I doubt they
> would want
> > to include it.
> >
> > 2. What about the rare glimpses of new information in the
> book? Are we
> > willing to accept those "facts" because we cannot (yet?)
> disprove them? I
> > would argue that we should throw them out until we can
> corroborate the
> > information independently.
> >
> > 3. What is the point of the book if we use that approach? If
> we correct
> > what is wrong, confirm what we know is right, and disregard
> anything that
> > we cannot confirm, then the book does not offer anything new.
> Even the
> > photos are all taken from other sources. (For $ 25, Jitensha
> sells the
> > Bicycle Club Special issue "All About Campagnolo," from which
> the new book
> > took almost all photos of Campagnolo derailleurs.)
> >
> > 4. This effort would validate the book and would set a
> precedent. If the
> > authors had come to the CR list before publishing the book,
> and asked for
> > input, that would have been different. I once worked on a
> collectors guide
> > for model railroads where the authors solicited comments
> before they
> > published it. I think that is the better way to go. (Bicycle
> Quarterly
> > usually sends historic articles for review before publishing them.)
> >
> > Jan Heine
> > Editor
> > Bicycle Quarterly
> > 140 Lakeside Ave #C
> > Seattle WA 98122
> > http://www.bikequarterly.com
> > _______________________________________________
>
> _______________________________________________
>
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA