The Constant Search: Collecting Motoring & Motorcycling Books

At one time or another, virtually every aspct of motoring and motorcycling has been chronicled in writing, yet surprisingly it has never been any overall survey of what is available, let alone any attempt to assess the scarcity of individual titles. In consequence, this is the first book of its kind. The Author, a collector of motoring literature for more than 50 years, and a book dealer since WWII, first envisaged a book of this nature in the early fifties. With a work such as this in mind, he commenced the task of collecting and collating data, and arranging its subdivision into some 40 different categories of books, magazines, Club journals and the like, covering motoring and motorcycling titles.

The contents are far-ranging, with 24 chapters on the recognised “periods” of the older motor vehicles, the technique of book and catalogue collecting, lists of specialist dealers, a guide to this book itself, and then those on technical, road, motor-racing, individual cars, autobiographies and biographies, etc., marque and other histories, rally and kindred books, non-technical titles, including children’s motor books, those on taxies, buses, models, mascots and badges, and so on, not forgetting travel, each of these chapters being divided into sections where necessary.

Even cycling is included and the lists are interesting and useful, and Club and other organisational addresses are also provided. There are illustrations, some in colour, of the covers of typical books and magazines.