Gustave Young Book?????????

BKJ · Jan 10, 2015

Hello,

I have looked but haven't found a book on Gustave Youngs smoke prints like Nimsche's book.

Did they ever print a book like?

Thanks

Roger Bleile · Jan 10, 2015

There is no such book. We are lucky to have the Nimschke book. It was saved from destruction in the nick of time. Young, who was born Jung in Germany, Is pretty well covered in the Wilson Colt engraving books. He is also covered in the recent book Colt Factory Engravers of the Nineteenth Century by Herbert G, Houze. There is no book of Young smoke prints.

BKJ · Jan 10, 2015

Roger Bleile said:
There is no such book. We are lucky to have the Nimschke book. It was saved from destruction in the nick of time. Young, who was born Jung in Germany, Is pretty well covered in the Wilson Colt engraving books. He is also covered in the recent book Colt Factory Engravers of the Nineteenth Century by Herbert G, Houze. There is no book of Young smoke prints.

Thank you Roger! I pretty much thought that was what I would find out!

Jay Close · Jan 11, 2015

In reality, there is such a book.

When I worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, one of my fellow museum interpreters was a direct lineal descendant of Gustav Young and had his pattern book. Needless to say, he guarded it jealously and one one evening invited me to his house to have a look.

It was a jaw dropping! Very much in the ilk of the Nimschke book. I know Lynton MacKenzie was aware of the book as he mentioned it once in conversation when he was instructing at the NMLRA gunbuilding workshops in Bowling Green, KY. I have lost touch with the Young descendant as I left Virginia in 1999. I respect his reluctance to let go of his family treasure, but if I were still in contact with him I'd certainly make an argument that the book needs reprinting.

dlilazteca · Jan 11, 2015

wooooooow! Mysteries unfold what was his name with the advent of social media he might be found!

Perhaps check the museum records of employment for a name and possible current address.

Saludos,
Carlos

Jay Close · Jan 11, 2015

I will see what I can do in a very low pressure way. I think that he still lives in the area and that one or more of his children do as well. I think this needs to be handled delicately and sensitively.

atexascowboy2011 · Jan 11, 2015

Go for it !
I will take a reprint.

Roger Bleile · Jan 11, 2015

Jay,

It is good to hear that Young's record book still exists. I fear that as time goes by, the one and only will fall into the hands of someone who does not know its historic value and when the owner passes away the book will end up in the construction dumpster or will be lost in a flood or house fire, etc. Every day that passes without Young's record being properly documented brings it one step closer to oblivion.

This is a case of where the owner can have his cake and eat it too. It is not necessary to destroy the original to make a publication of it and the present owner could reap some financial reward from having it copied. There are many collectors who would be willing to pay for the opportunity to document their guns as Young engraved by such a book. Also, in Houze's book, he claims that many guns are misattributed to Young and were done by another engraver. The record book could clear up some of that controversy. Of course, like the LDN book, engravers would like to study Young's work and would be happy to pay for a copy. I believe that a run of 2,000 such books could easily be sold for about $200. each. I know that I would think nothing of paying that much for one.

The owner does not need to make a book of the original all by himself. I know people in the publishing field that can do it and would treat the original like the holy grail.

BKJ · Jan 11, 2015

It would be great to see it saved and made available for those of us who would love to have it as a reference.

I wish someone could get a hold of the owner.

Please keep us posted if any contact or new information becomes available!

Sam · Jan 11, 2015

If it exists it absolutely needs to be recorded.

Toad · Jan 11, 2015

That would be a dream come true to own a copy of the original book.
Todd

Big-Un · Jan 11, 2015

If possible, it needs to be found and resurrected. The family could benefit financially and the engraving community would have another valuable resource for study. I would certainly pay to have one.

Bill

Weldon47 · Jan 11, 2015

Listen to what Roger Bleile says.....
I'd definitely buy one!!

Weldon

BKJ · Jan 15, 2015

We should as a community try and find a way to preserve this work if at all possible!

Perhaps if someone like Roger Bleile or someone who has published books before could contact them and stress the importance of keeping their relatives work alive for generations to enjoy while also receiving a monetary compensation for doing so.

Anyone have any ideas on how to proceed? I just hate to think of these records being lost forever...!!!!

Roger Bleile · Jan 16, 2015

Only one person on his forum (Jay Close) knows who the owner is and they have been out of contact for some time. It is entirely in Jay's hands and there is nothing the rest of us can do unless Jay is successful in convincing the owner to proceed. If that happens, I would be happy to assist if asked. Until then it is a moot point.

BKJ · Jan 16, 2015

Roger Bleile said:
OUntil then it is a moot point.

Yes, I guess it is!

Jay Close · May 17, 2015

This is a follow up to an earlier discussion about the existence, or otherwise, of a pattern book of "pulls" from Gustave Young.

I tracked down my former colleague, Harley Stone, who is the great grandson of Gustave Young. It was he who showed me an album of prints or pulls of Young's work many years ago. In the ensuing time, he had moved from Virginia, where I knew him, to his old family area of western Massachusetts.

It turns out Harley is in the finishing stages of writing a family history focused on the memorabilia that passed to his mother from her father Oscar Young and grandfather, Gustave ( I think have that genealogy right). Harley hopes to have the manuscript finished in the very near future and that it will come out in book form shortly after.

Now, according to Harley, the pattern book was not quite as I recalled it. It is large format and it does contain about 600 prints from the work of Gustave. However, it is now my understanding that the pulls were not made or collected by Gustave himself, or, at least, most of them were not.

As Harley described it, the pulls were made by Roy Jinks, an expert on Smith and Wesson firearms, and taken from firearms in the museum collection of the Smith and Wesson company. Two copies of the book of patterns were made. One for Mr. Jinks and the other for my friend, Harley.

So, there is a book coming out about the Young (Jung) family written by one of their heirs, but a publication of the patterns is not currently in the works. While the album is not of the same ilk as that compiled by Nimschke and published by L. R. Wilson, it is a valuable record, nonetheless. We fans of engraving can only hope it will be well guarded and eventually published.

That is what I know so far.

DakotaDocMartin · May 17, 2015

Roger Bleile said:
I fear that as time goes by, the one and only will fall into the hands of someone who does not know its historic value and when the owner passes away the book will end up in the construction dumpster or will be lost in a flood or house fire, etc.

Unfortunately, this happens all too often. I know a guy that has a multi-volume set of books that were printed by the government many years ago that are basically the translation key for all of the old Indian languages. Only a few sets were printed. And, he hoards them away scared that if anyone were to find out, they would be taken away. So, they never get used and they stay in his attic. I can't understand that mindset.

atexascowboy2011 · May 17, 2015

Add me to the list of those interested in buying a copy.

Doc,
My ex, a school teacher, was friends with Lawrence Tomeketa, the great(?) grandson of Quanah Parker.
He would teach Dixie and her daughter Comanche? or Cherokee?. They could carry on an everyday conversation and no one, including me, had any idea what was said.
Later after going to work at Texas Tech, she and another professor worked on a book to bring the language back.

Big-Un · May 17, 2015

Being of Choctaw descent, it took me many years of diligent searching but I finally found a book containing English to Choctaw words and phrases, written in the late 1800's. Other than trying to get translations directly from the Nation themselves, it is the best and most complete book available and is the only one I could find. For someone to hoard knowledge because of an imagined, or real, fear is just plain wrong.

Bill

Gustave Young Book?????????

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