I don't know what the problem is exactly, but when I went on Amazon.com to try and order the new Taschen book MAGIC 1400s-1950s, the book was listed as Currently Unavailable and there is also a notation that the book is under review. I am going to guess it probably has something to do with the weight of the book and the packaging leading to damaged books. I'll be happy to go on record and say UPS and the Postal Service could care less about what is inside a package, so if an item isn't packed properly, it is likely to arrive damaged. The wonderful USPS damaged three posters I ordered in the past and good luck trying to recover the insurance on one of those. You practically need an act of congress to get your money out of them.
UPS is considerably better when it comes to paying for a claim. But as far as being sure an item arrives in perfect condition, no carrier can guarantee that. The original Taschen book was packed in it's own carrying case and that was then put into another box. I think it was a safe way to ship it. I don't know how the current edition is being packaged.
But there is good news. You can still order the book directly from Taschen by going to this link!
Hi Dean. I ordered one of these books immediately before Amazon put it "under review." It arrived in decent condition, but the slipcase was slightly damaged. Why? Because Amazon packaged it horribly in an oversized box with plenty of room for the book to shift around. Ordinarily, I would have returned it, but fortunately the damage was minimal and affected only one corner of the slip case. I don't plan to resell the book, so I can live with the imperfection. But I agree. If you don't package something really well, it's a crapshoot as to whether or not your item will arrive safely. Frankly, it surprises me that there was any issue at all with this book. It's Amazon's business to thoroughly package items for shipping, yet somehow the employees doing the packaging are failing to accomplish that one simple task, at least for this particular book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for confirming that. I figured it was the packaging. I'm sorry you got a slightly damaged edition. Years ago I ordered the Robert-Houdin books by Christian Fechner at a whopping $250 +shipping and the slip case on that was damaged. Unfortunately, all the copies had sold and I was unable to get a replacement. I could return the book and get a refund, but then I'd never have the book. So I settled for a slightly damaged slipcase as well.
DeleteAw, that's a bummer about the Robert-Houdin slipcase, but how fantastic you have the books. I can't find them online for anything less than $500. I know exactly what you mean, though. With the Taschen book, I was a bit impatient and didn't want to have to wait a long time to receive another one because there were no guarantees it would arrive undamaged. But on a positive note, the book is simply beautiful. I'm so glad they offered it for $40. Do you have David Price's book, "Magic: A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theater"? Another beautiful book. I was lucky enough to get one directly from Price back in the '80s. His collection was incredible.
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