Weekly Meeting

As after dinner speaker, Roddy Greig informed the Club that people collect the strangest things. The actor Tom Hanks apparently collects old mechanical typewriters. Roddy collects “Observer” books. 

Those of a certain age will remember these pocket-sized books published between 1937 (the first one was “The Observer’s Book of Birds”) and 2003 (when the Internet took over). No longer in print, these books have become much sought after collectors’ items. 

Roddy's interest was first sparked whilst clearing his deceased sister-in-law’s house, the books being common enough to be available, especially after bereavements, but not so common as to have little value. The books are also obtainable world-wide, the Australian editions being the most valuable. Typical prices today are of the order of £300 per book, with some being worth more than others. For example depending on whether it was a one-off publication (e.g. Tanks) or one that was updated every year (e.g. Transport or Aircraft). The author’s signature can also add value (around £25), but a gift dedication written inside greatly reduces it. Obviously the better the condition, the greater the value, with pristine paperbacks being worth far more than hardback editions. 

Over the years 100 different subjects in 16 different categories were covered by the Observer series. Diverse topics included ‘Country Houses’ and ‘Opera’, and number ninety-nine in the series was even entitled “The Observer Book of Observer Books”. During the Second World War they were a major aid to aircraft recognition and frequently updated. 

Observer books are regularly traded on E-Bay and a magazine is even published for collectors (a possible slot for “Have I Got News for You”). Roddy cautioned prospective buyers to make sure that the cover matched the contents when buying on line. He can now spend hours in obscure second hand bookshops, much to his wife’s annoyance, searching for books in the Observer series, both by subject and by year of publication. 

As Roddy said, it is amazing what ‘anoraks’ will get obsessed by!