Welcome to Books at Star Dot Star
This page was most recently updated on 9 May, 2008
And now for something different
Copyright © 2008 Bruce Tober - All Rights Reserved
Starting today (9 May, 2008) when you refer us to friends and family, for each one who purchases any items (books, ephemera, antiquarian photographs, LP recordings, etc) and who mentions your name, you will receive a £5.00 credit toward your next purchase from our website, valid for up to two years.
So do get on the phone or e-mail and tell your friends and family about our great inventory and superior customer service. It's worth £5.00 and the satisfaction of providing your friends and family with a worthwhile recommendation.
And now for a word from our sponsors (our customers)
Copyright © 2008 Bruce Tober - All Rights Reserved
The following are some of the unsolicited comments we've received from our customers. We call them our sponsors, because without their patronage, of course, we'd be out of business.
"Dear Bruce, This was my first order to you - and will definitely be the first of many. Thank you for your superb service."
Customer in London who bought a cookery book
"Hi Bruce, Just to say the book arrived safely, thank you, and we are enjoying looking at the plates. I must say I have never seen a book so securely wrapped up."
Customer in Cheshire who bought an antiquarian book.
"Bruce, It arrived today. Beautiful and in great condition as described. It's in good hands...just finished matting, framing and hanging it with my other graphic design collectables. Please keep me posted for any graphic pop icon magazine works. Early communcation arts magazines would be terrific."
Collector in Connecticut who purchased "AVANT GARDE Magazine #2", the one with the 12-page portfolio of serigraphic prints of Marilyn Monroe by Bert Stern.
"Thank you Bruce for the prompt service. It is a pleasure doing business."
Customer in Texas who purchased "Modern Printing, a Handbook of the Principles and Practice of Typography and the Auxiliary Arts"
"Many thanks for the book; it arrived this morning with excellent packaging!"
customer at Residential Apartment, Hampton Court Palace, who bought "George III Collector & Patron: An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Furniture, Clocks, Porcelain, Silver, Scientific Instruments, Books, Miniatures, Gems: The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, 1974-75 "
"Thank you for the three-volume set received today in perfect condition and exactly as described by you. It is amazing that these books, over 50 years old, are in such mint condition with not even a slightest sign of foxing... The set that I have now purchased from you are really fine fulfilling my requirement admirably. I shall give them to my daughter as a birthday present in early June."
A customer in Essex, England, who bought Hammerton's "Outline of Nature in the British Isles - 3-Volume Set"
"I would categorically give Books at Star Dot Star the highest of marks for quality of merchanidise, price, packaging and prompt shipment. Having dealt with literally hundreds of online booksellers as a buyer, I know (and appreciate) quality when I find it. Some others ..... don't get me started."
A bookseller in New York who bought from us.
"How super-efficient - better come and run this business too!"
A bookseller in the UK.
Some reflections on antiquarian and out-of-print books
Copyright © 2004 Kathy Stockwin - All Rights Reserved Books are very special to many people - despite the threats from e-books of the demise of the printed word, I think books will always be around. And long may that be! The numbers of new titles coming out each year around the world is amazing - in the UK alone, the numbers must be in the hundreds of thousands.
However, there is something especially satisfying in turning the pages of a book from another time; it instantly takes you there. If it’s a particularly good book, all your senses are stimulated by the evocation of the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of another era. You can find out what caught people’s interest then, and also what did not concern them. You share their worries, their dreams. And what often emerges are the universals of the human condition.
In many ways, people in the past were not all that different from us today.
I used to be a journalist - so I have a professional respect for the information in books. ‘Background’ books were invaluable when I was looking into a topic before interviewing someone.
Read more of Kathy's article here.
Daniel J Boorstin, Librarian of Congress once likened reading to "the sex act — done privately, and often in bed."
Well, if my experience is anything to go by, he got at least one part correct, it is often done in bed.
But, it's not always best when "done privately". My late wife and I used to read to each other in bed late into the night. And, of course we used to read to our children at their bedtimes.
Well, be that as it may, whether together with someone you love or by yourself, I can think of no better way to prepare for a good night's sleep than reading in bed at bedtime. It relaxes, it can provide a bit of humour, or romance or learning or...
And, of course, Star Dot Star Books presents a wonderful array of great bedside table fare. Disraeli advised us to "Read no history: nothing but biography," but why?
"Read no history: nothing but biography," Disraeli said, and then explained, "for that is life without theory."
Brilliant advice with an equally brilliant reason. For those of us who suffered through all too many history classes taught by boring old pedants who knew little else about teaching history than to make us memorise dates and events related to those dates, the advice (and more importantly, the reason for it) is spot on.
And so my friends, Star Dot Star Books presents a wonderful array of great biographies here. "A book full of brilliance imparts some of it even to its opponents." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, classical scholar, critic of culture wrote, "A book full of brilliance imparts some of it even to its opponents."
And that to my mind means a great book is a controversial one in the message it sends. Some of my favourite pieces of literature are the controversial ones, the ones that send a message, whether I agree with that message or not.
So now's the time to browse through our literature and other catalogues as shown in the column to the left. Enjoy.
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