Topic: The Curious History of the Bulb Vase, by Patricia Coccoris

[David E]

The Curious History of the Bulb Vase
by Patricia Coccoris

Publisher: Cortex Design
Published date: March 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0-956809612

Forewords by the RHS historian, Dr Brent Elliott and our very own Mark Hill
Botanical advice from Dr Martyn Rix
This book is the definitive study of the 300 year history of the bulb vase.

The Curious History of the Bulb Vase looks at the extensive range of bulb vases that appeared in Great Britain from the mid-18th century to date. Not only did they capture the imagination of Victorians, the sheer numbers produced are staggering.

Much of the credit for the success of bulb vases can be placed at the feet of George Piercy Tye, a Birmingham industrialist who designed and produced the most innovative of glass bulb vases.

Although interest in bulb vases trailed off in the early part of the 20th century, it is now showing something of a revival. Modern vases, such as those designed by Dartington Crystal and Margaret Howdle, demonstrate that the art and the interest in this area are as high as ever.

Book Mechanics
▶ Page size 210 x 270mm: large format, full colour
▶ 295 pages
▶ Heavily illustrated: over 750 images, illustrations and photos

Photos of original vases

Vintage photos

Illustrations of original patents

Scans from original Victorian pattern books: Richardson, Stuart, Stevens & Williams, Thomas Webb, plus others

▶ Quality silk-art paper
▶ Binding: hardback
▶ Silk laminated cover, with spot-UV varnish
▶ Price: £38 (€45)

LAUNCHES & EVENTS
The book is to be launched at two major venues, where Patricia will be signing her book:
RHS Wisley, 27th and 28th March 2012, in co-operation with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
National Glass Fair, Birmingham, 6th May 2012, in co-operation with the organisers

Additionally, there is a members-only event at the Bloembollenglazen club [Bulb Vase Club] in Holland. For more information on joining this club, please e-mail Patricia who can pass on details to the organiser.

Two other events are also planned (also in co-operation with the RHS):
RHS Cardiff, 20-22nd March 2012
BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC, Birmingham, 13-17th June 2012

More information from Patricia's new website www.hyacinthbulbvases.com, which will add any updates to the research.
For more information on purchasing the book: www.cortex-design.co.uk

[David E]

Book cover. Because of the background gradient, it has not been easy to compress it, hence the small size - please go to Patricia's website for the larger images.

[David E]

A quick update:

The book is expected to be received from the printers on Tuesday 20th March.

[David E]

I note that since the forum was updated, several of the characters in the original posting have become corrupted. To clear this up:

▶ Page size 270 x 210 mm: large format, full colour
▶ Price:38 pounds (45 Euros)

[Anne]

Fixed in original post

[Lustrousstone]

Well my copy has arrived and it looks beautiful. Much nicer in the flesh than "digitally". Glass, social history, "gardening" and plenty of pictures (and a bit of pottery), what more could you want from a good non-fiction read.

[Bernard C]

David — I saw your eBay discussion and thought some ideas might be useful.

I've always received a better and more focused response on the eBay dot com discussion boards

You need to consult HTML Codes - Characters and symbols for how to express currency symbols, trade mark & copyright symbols and other special characters in HTML.

Many don't use the full screen for anything, so putting those extracts in horizontal pairs could be irritating to some.

Now, down to nuts and bolts.

Your objective is initially just the first two of AIDA — Attention and Interest.   Once they know about your book they will happily follow your links or search or whatever.

Have you considered selling your information leaflet rather than the book?   You could sell one leaflet, auction style so it stays mainstream, start price one cent or penny.   You could sell one on .de, two categories pottery and glass in German aimed at that sector, another on .de in German in suitable categories aimed at the gardening and horticulture sectors, and so on around Europe.  And, amazingly, you could include a link to a .nl listing of your book in English and euros.   ... and you might actually sell one or two leaflets!

Don't forget that you have to include everything you need to attract attention in the title and thumbnail.   So, for the German listings, you should include new book, bulb vase, and hyacinth vase in German in the title, together with a full ISBN in the text for anyone who would prefer to buy elsewhere (but don't say that), and enough memorable keywords to make a Google search easy.   No plurals — most people don't search on plurals.   Don't mention Amazon.

Finally as with everything try out your ebay listings on friendly GMBers before you go live.

Bernard C. 

[David E]

Hmm, an interesting idea to list the leaflet! It would certainly gain a lot of exposure through keywords, although the eBay listing has already achieved a good result (many direct sales through the link to Patricia's website, which we much prefer!)

The discussion on eBay, to be honest, I found rather irritating, but I suppose I did get the answer (eventually!) So we are going to list directly on ebay.de and ebay.fr direct even if it means a lot more work and faffing about translating the text, etc.

I am quite familiar with the required HTML codes and the symbols, but am not sure what you are referring to with regard to currency (€ £ $ is all I need - and Alt-0169 produces © etc) - so can you expand.

[Bernard C]

...   I am quite familiar with the required HTML codes and the symbols, but am not sure what you are referring to with regard to currency (€ £ $ is all I need - and Alt-0169 produces © etc) - so can you expand.

David — When I looked this morning both the pound signs and the copyright symbol had been corrupted in your description part of the listing.

Alt-0169 is how you obtain the copyright symbol on your keyboard, it also worked on the previous version of SMS, and it works most of the time on SMS2.   It is not how you invoke the symbol in HTML, where you have to code it in using one of the strings "& # 1 6 9 ;" or "& c o p y ;" unless you are using an HTML editor that translates into one of these two strings for you.   Same applies to the other characters in my signature block below, along with hard space "& # 1 6 0 ;" or "& n b s p ;".

See my WEBB RUBY SWAN ON BARLEYTWIST PILLAR NOVELTY ASHTRAY gallery, view source, and then scroll down to nearly the end, on the line just before the boxed software comment.   Do you see how I coded the copyright symbol in my HTML?

... and also see the acknowledgements section near the start of my source.   It looks very dated today.

Bernard C. 

[David E]

David — When I looked this morning both the pound signs and the copyright symbol had been corrupted in your description part of the listing.
Bernard C. 

Looks fine here. But the HTML is composed in Dreamweaver, which I believe does transpose the symbols correctly. Checking the source code it definitely has, e.g:

Code: [Select]

<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">    <span class="style6">UK: &pound;5.00<br>
Holland: &pound;6.50 (posted from the Netherlands)<br>
Europe: &pound;8.00
airmail (posted from the Netherlands)<br>
World: &pound;17.50 airmail</span> or &pound;11.00 surface mail</font></p>
<h3 align="center">Eight sample pages (from a total of 295) from <em>The Curious History of the Bulb Vase</em><br>
                                  All page image are &copy; copyright

All page image are &copy; copyright
Perhaps it's the browser you're using?