What to do with extra time

[Mike P]

Ive been making use of the colder weather to create spread sheets of books on various topics and have just finished Cacti and Succulents. Aside from discovering I had a few duplicates ( some where I have the hardback and a later paperback version some where I’ve simply bought a copy in better condition later. Three copies of Borg may seem excessive but the last one had a dust jacket in very good condition so why not for £3!)

Ive also moved all the Cactus & Succulent books into the same room for the first time in 25 years which reveals the terrible truth about how many i have. Having a List means I realised that the Lamb’s were far more prolific than I recalled and almost rival John Pilbeam for output.
Based on the inscriptions in them these were my first two Cactus books from 1969 and 1970 when I was 11 and 12. Xmas 1970 was probably spent reading the Cahill & Panting one.

[Chris L]

I was given the task of disposing of some books from a much missed member of our branch and they (IIRC) had half a dozen copies of Borg's book. They pretty much had a complete set of each printing edition. I was very tempted to "complete the set" just for the fun of it but to get the earlier editions was far too expensive.

[Stuart]

The Lamb's books were never much use, I'd put them out for recycling. If John Pilbeam's books were at one end of a scale, the Lambs books would be at the other. I think cactus books should be treated the same as ladies should treat clothes, if not used for a couple of years, they're not needed and can go in bin/branch raffle/charity shop.

Stuart

[Chris L]

The Lamb's books were never much use, I'd put them out for recycling. If John Pilbeam's books were at one end of a scale, the Lambs books would be at the other. I think cactus books should be treated the same as ladies should treat clothes, if not used for a couple of years, they're not needed and can go in bin/branch raffle/charity shop.

Stuart

An idea I had for the Mesemb Show this year was to leave some of the more "general" books that we'd been trying to dispose of on the "canteen tables" with a label attached to them "please give me to a keen youngster". Most of them had disappeared by the end of the day.

Charity Shop donations should have the branch details folded inside as a bookmark somewhere.

Practially everyone of us would have had a Lamb book as one of our first books, practically no one would have had one of the more specialised books as their first book.

[Stuart]

There's nothing wrong with beginners books, ironically, John's 'Happy Cactus' book was, he told me, his best selling book having been translated into various languages and it's the ideal 'entry' to our hobby. It's just that the Lamb's books had attractive dust-jackets but were a let down with poor content. Blurred photos of plants in no particular order over five volumes. Nothing to do with when I took an American friend to visit their 'exotic collection' in Worthing and they made me wait outside in the car.

Stuart

[Mike P]

My favourite of theirs is Edgar’s ‘Cactus-like succulents’. Black and white but worth it for the introduction alone which begins ‘I recently accepted a very pressing invitation…’ I’ve read thrillers with far less interesting starts!
Disagree about old books as I rather like them for their charm.

[Mike P]

My second edition Borg came with these as bookmarks;

[Stuart]

I remember visiting Sargants on the Isle of Wight, the nursery was by the side of a cliff and the greenhouses built on ridges that had to be reached by ladder. Plants had to be held in one hand whilst the other hand held on to the ladder.

Stuart

[Tony R]

I was given the task of disposing of some books from a much missed member of our branch and they (IIRC) had half a dozen copies of Borg's book. They pretty much had a complete set of each printing edition. I was very tempted to "complete the set" just for the fun of it but to get the earlier editions was far too expensive.

I too have lots of different copies of the 3rd and 4th editions from Blandford Press.
I don't have any of the 2nd edition but I do have the 1st edition from 1937 published by Macmillan.

I still refer to Borg on occasions, as it has very useful information on names from pre-1937, eg Opuntia ireiss, an old clone of Airampoa corrugata.

[Tony R]

The Lamb's books were never much use, I'd put them out for recycling. If John Pilbeam's books were at one end of a scale, the Lambs books would be at the other.
Stuart

My second edition Borg came with these as bookmarks;IMG_0401.jpeg

I have to disagree somewhat with Stuart's comment on Lamb's plates and books. They deserve a place in history as to what plants were being grown and were available at a given time.

More useful are the books on specific genera which Lamb later produced. The Stapeliads one for instance could be seen as a precursor to Pilbeam's much later edition.

Like Mike P, I always enjoy finding historical documents within 2nd hand books. For instance, my copy of the above book has a hand-written note from the original owner, a wants list of 36 stapeliads, which he sent to the Lambs was tucked inside the cover, together with this reply on a postcard (remember those) from Brian Lamb, Edgar's son.

36 cuttings for 130 shillings (£6.50) equating to 18p each!