SBXI - Secondhand Books Exchange Index

At Midnight Oil Books, we have sometimes bemoaned the lack of uptodate price fluctuation information for secondhand and antiquarian books. To this end we are keen to trial a new price index, the SBXI, which will take a starting value of 100 as of the Monday, 4th August 2008. The initial figures are based on our own data and the index will be updated on Mondays and Thursdays every week.

Monday, 4th August 2008 at 12.00noon GMT

100

If you would like to participate in the project, please let us know. We are very keen that sensitive information such as the profitability of individual firms be kept from the market place. To this end we have produced a downloadable calculator which returns a single number value for secondhand book sales aggregated over a certain time period. The algorithm is not reversable except in the case of exceptionally low sales figures.

Ephemera - Perfect Cooking by Parkinson

Cookery books typically prove an ephemera junkie's paradise, with blank final pages doubling as a scribblepad and loose leaves being thrust in at random. An exceptional instance of this was provided by the above title, which is not only rare enough itself, but contains numerous such inserts. These will be published or reprinted in our blog entries throughout the coming week.

Bibliographical reference: Perfect Cooking: A Comprehensive Guide to Success in the Kitchen, Entered at Stationer's hall. All rights reserved. Written and compiled by the Staff of the Demonstration and Research Department of the Parkinson Stove co., ltd.,. With a Section on Fascinating Foods from Abroad contributed by Miss GWEN L. HUGHES, Dipl. of Dom. Sc., Melbourne, Australia. Revised, November 1947. Hardcover, in green cloth. pp. 275.

The section on foods from overseas alluded to above betrays a remarkably wide appreciation of international cuisine, and the recipe list is worth quoting in full here.

Borstch, Herring Salad (Germany), Soles aux fines herbes et au vin blanc (Brittany), Soles à la bonne femme (Banska Bystrica), Bacǎlao, Leipziger Allerlei (German), Aubergine provencale, Braun Katoffler (Danish). Pommes de terre savoyard, Spaghetti (Italy), Ravioli (Italy), Pieta, Sheese-filled pockets, Gibanitsa (Chesse Tart), Djuvetch, Musaka, Ražnjići, Kajmak (Kaimak), SourMilk, Joghurt, Slatko, Slatko of Roses, Black Coffee, Slava Cake - Zito, Chinese Steamed Rice, A Famous Chinese Fish Dish, Chinese Savouries, Japanese Beef Sukiyaki, Hungarian Goulash, Sauer Kraut, Wiener Schnitzel, Filet Mignon Henri V., Schnitzel Garni, Fillet of Veal with Mushrooms, Crôute Fromage (Swiss), French Pêches bourdaloue, Caramel Sauce, French Toast, Little Plum Puddings (Czechoslovakia), Czecho-Slovak Cakes, Bratislava Rozky, Kolac, God's Grace, Noodles, Vanilla Kipfel, Christmas Stars, Black Boys in Shirts, Anicka's Little Coffins, Tvaroh, Knedlicky, Strudel, Spinach Pie, Apfel Strudel, Baba au Rhum, Crêpes suzettes, Paris Biscuits, Cornflake Nutties, Passion-fruit flummery, Swedish Wafers, Hjortetak, A Swedish Wedding Cake, Gurabija, Nuremberg Merigues, Petits Fours, Pernik, and Boiled Eggless Cake. Any of these can be supplied on request. Please contact us through the Midnight Oil Books website.

Christmas Opening Hours

Late opening Sat, 23rd & 30th December til 19:30. Closed December 24th, 25th, 26th, 31st, and January, 1st, 17th, 19th, 20th and 22nd. Sorry.