I just received Stephen Slater’s "World Encyclopedia of Flags and Heraldry" as a belated Christmas gift.  Sure enough, on the copyright page, it clearly says, "Previously published in two separate volumes as ‘The World Encyclopedia of Flags’ and ‘The Complete Book of Heraldry’".

This makes, what- five, six times "The Complete Book of Heraldry" has been published under a different title?

Yes, it’s a well-illustrated, informative book that I’m happy to have for the sake of the first half, but it’s just annoying that his "Complete Book" gets republished so many times instead of a new book.

Agreed. I’ve fallen for that one more than once.

Yes I fell for it too, much more annoying since I also had Znamierowski’s Flag Book since before.

Thank you for your posts.

I have been looking at the book on Abebooks site for some time and have been seriously considering purchasing it.

I already have both of the constituent books so will not bother, now.

Republishing under different names is not unusual, unfortunately.

I recently purchased a book in another area of interest only to find after I got it home that I already had it. It had a different name, a different cover and had been published by different publisher, but, the contents were identical.

Let the buyer beware!

Iain Boyd

As I have known Stephen for very many years and count him amongst my wide circle of heraldic friends and acquaintances I must defend his reputation against all manner of folk.  I have been told by a third party that Stephen assigned away the rights of his book (and therefore receives no income from it) to the publisher involved.  The publisher or its agents concerned have reproduced Stephen’s excellent book in many other guises in order to make a little coin to fill their own coffers and not Stephen’s.  Such is the world of commercial enterprise today!

I shall be meeting Stephen at The Heraldry Society’s Heraldic Weekend at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge early next month and shall have a chat with him about the nefarious world of publishing.

Yours aye,

John

liongam;61442 wrote:

As I have known Stephen for very many years and count him amongst my wide circle of heraldic friends and acquaintances I must defend his reputation against all manner of folk.  I have been told by a third party that Stephen assigned away the rights of his book (and therefore receives no income from it) to the publisher involved.

Precisely why one should have a good agent/lawyer when negotiating with publishing companies. If he is upset, he should talk to to an intellectual property lawyer; certain "moral rights" provisions of copyright law could apply.

liongam;61442 wrote:

As I have known Stephen for very many years and count him amongst my wide circle of heraldic friends and acquaintances I must defend his reputation against all manner of folk.

Well, I had assumed that this was the publisher’s idea rather than Mr. Slater’s, but I was curious as to why he allowed it.  Thank you for explaining.

Yes, Stephen told me several times that his contract with the publisher deprives him from any [well-visible] chance to intervene. I wonder if a legal advise could help.

As to the publishers’ liberties from which Stephen’s name suffered undeservedly, I must mention the Russian version of “The Complete Book of Heraldry” published in 2005 by the “Eksmo Publishing” in Moscow (and re-published with minor modification since then).

The translation is fabulously awful :shock: . I shall not write much about its poor style, confused phraseology and distorted terminology because, due to the language barrier, these accusations could sound unsubstantiated in this forum, although it is these qualities that make the book merely unreadable. - Those who read the book anyhow, may find more curiosities.

The translator simply did not understand the text. Not only a “savage” is translated as an “ill-mannered man” (p.173) and “[heraldic] supporters” as “adherents” (p.37), but “the late Sir” turns into “the last Sir” (p.184), an “estate” [as a social stratum] into a “manor” (p.9), the Lord Mayor of Manchester appears as a Lord [named] Major (p.41), and so on, endlessly. To complete the image, I shall compare few phrases from the chapter “Badges and Liveries”.

The original text, p.29
Quote:

…Warwick’s forces were wearing red tunics upon which was the white ragged staff. (The bear and the ragged staff of Lancaster were, initially, two separate badges…)

The Russian text (in an English re-translation), p.27
Quote:

…Warwick’s warriors were in red tunics upon which was put on something torn and shabby of white colour. (Let us notice that matting and tatters were, initially, Lancaster’s two separate badges…)

In this way, each chapter is turned into “something torn and shabby”.

In some cases the translator tries to follow some system, but this does not help. Thus all the national heraldic authorities are called (mimicking the ‘Collegium Heraldicum Russiae’) “Heraldic Colleges” as if they are all collegial; and the Kings of Arms appear as “Herald Masters” which is absolutely misleading. May Lord Lyon be defined as “the Scottish principal Herald Master of the Heraldic College” (p.44)? Hardly so. The Pursuivants Bute and Carrick are called (ibid.) “the employees of the Heraldic Colleges of Bute and of Carrick”; Garter and the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod are described as “two officials of heraldry: the Herald Masters of the Order of Garter and of the Black Rod” (p.139) and so on.

I am not intended to reproach the amateurish translator for not knowing how to pronounce and transcribe “Argyll” or “Khartoum”, “Holyrood” or “Gian Galeazzo” etc etc. But why to give, on different pages, different spellings of the same name (Oettingen, pp.52 and 103; Arundell, pp.63 and 88, etc). At the same time numerous continental personae (even Emperor Charles V and his Burgundian grandfather; p.147) are mentioned in an Anglicised phonetic form, which looks quite hilarious. Even the Russian names are not immune: thus the princely title of Generalissimo Suvorov is spelt “Italiansky” (p.102) instead of the only correct “Italiysky”. - This is just a selection; but the book does consist of such gems.

What is more, the Muscovian edition is not really Slater’s book, even if badly retold. It is announced (p.2) as a translation of “The Complete Book of Heraldry” by Stephen Slater with inclusion of the chapter ‘Russia’ written by Mr.K*** (I shall not give his name here to follow the peaceful policy of the forum). It is enough to say that Mr.K*** - an active member of the notorious ‘Collegium Heraldicum Russiae’ - was known for distributing amateurish arms, mostly among the clerics and the dead (his attempts to turn both Orthodox martyrs and Soviet generals into posthumous armigers made him known as an “armorial marauder”). The proud list of his titles and degrees (p.2) includes that of ‘Herald Master of the Order of St. Constantine’.

The chapter written by Mr.K*** (p.212-227) starts as a compilation, partly based on Slater’s text, with its rubrication, and on original illustrations, and partly (pretty plagiaristically) derived from several publications by my colleagues and myself. Then K*** adds nearly six pages about the present state of Russian heraldry, only to list the pseudo-arms designed by himself for clerics, to advertise the ‘Collegium Heraldicum Russiae’, and to deny the State jurisdiction over the corporative and family arms (it is needless to say that such denial is a nonsense). All this is in a striking contrast with the words of the original version:
Quote:

“various societies and heraldic colleges […] often ally themselves to one or other member of the former imperial family, which is supposed to give them some form of quasi-official status, although the State Heraldic Office does not recognize the connection”.

Finally, on the p.264 are printed “Stephen Slater’s acknowledgements” (from which some names were excluded) together with “K***’s acknowledgements” which are two times longer. From these we may learn that the book was translated by K***’s bride, and that since then she became Mrs.K***; he solemnly expresses his gratefulness for both.

Stephen was chocked and complained to the English publisher who, in its turn, recommended the Muscovian one to find a competent consultant. This was of no effect.

That’s the sad story… In this situation, I wonder if the Russian publisher was, and could be legally, authorised by the Annes Publishing Ltd to distort Slater’s original book in such a way, publishing such a monstrosity under Stephen’s name.

Michael Y. Medvedev;61539 wrote:

That’s the sad story.

Mr. Slater now has my complete sympathies.

Marcus K;60950 wrote:

Yes I fell for it too, much more annoying since I also had Znamierowski’s Flag Book since before.

Me too.

Stopped counting after the third time…