Personal Website of Yakov Shafranovich

I’ve noticed that some books they’ve reproduced and are reprinting are still technically in copyright.

By Alex on Aug 2, 2010

I bought a book from a seller called Nevido on Amazon. Nevido is in Charleston, SC. It turned out to be a Nabu reprint. The only information provided by Nabu says it is in the public domain and was published prior to 1923. In this case, it is J.H. Whyte’s Church and State in Modern Ireland, 1923-1970, a book published in 1971. I am no expert, but this sounds like a book that is not in the public domain, and in any case certainly was not published prior to 1923. Is this part of a scam?

By Robert Curley on Sep 22, 2010

Hmmm . . . Since BiblioBazaar was founded by the creators of BookSurge which is now CreateSpace, it seems Nabu may just be owned by Amazon.

Bezos strikes again!

By dweiums on Oct 2, 2010

THANK YOU FOR THIS INFORMATION …. HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET SOME INFORMATION WITH REGARD TO A SET OF BOOKS THEY PUBLISH, BUT HAVE NO WAY OF MAKING CONTACT …….. THEY PUBLISH A SIX VOLUME SET OF THE CORRESPONDANCE OF GEORGE SAND, BUT AS I ONLY NEED A PARTICULAR PERIOD OF HER LETTERS FOR MY RESEARCH PROJECT, I AM DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIND WHICH YEARS EACH VOLUME COVERS AS I CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY THE WHOLE SIX VOLUMES AND LIBRARIES DO NOT HOLD COPIES OF THEIR BOOKS…….
ANY SUGGESTIONS APPRECIATED.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP
SOMARIUS.

By Peter Hughes on Oct 15, 2010

I am also keen to establish who Nabu Press really are. They have published a re-print of my great great grandfathers book ‘Indian Gleanings and thoughts of the Past’ and Google now incorrectly ascribe the original work to someone totally different but of the same name! The book represents a significant milestone in my families history, with much emotion attached. I object to the wholesale abuse of older works.

By Andrew Waters on Oct 26, 2010

I recently bought a copy of Whitley Stokes’ The Martyrology of Oengus, originally published in London, 1905 (Oengus wrote it in 800 AD, but that was before the printing press). It was published by Nabu, with no address or way to contact Nabu. The disclaimer said this: “The book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages,….etc., that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.” In my copy, 46 pages were unreadable (that is 9% of the pages) including 3 totally missing. In addition, throughout the entire 52 pages of the preface and the 273 pages of the body of the text, the right margins of the left-side pages are cut short. None of this is a reflection of the original publication, which is available in digital version online. I think the imperfections are more than “occasional,” I think it is clear they are systematic failures of care with the scanning process. The book is usable for my purposes, but I do not believe I would buy another from this Nabu outfit. crafte

By gertie on Oct 27, 2010

I think that some of those books are actually lifted from the library of congress and they don’t give permission to print their scans.

By herman on Nov 4, 2010

Sir,
I often try to buy one of the reprints but always I am disappointed, because I don’t receive the book I wanted The reason (I don’t know why) is that the reprint ordered is never designated by year,volume,number issue. So I receive always the wrong volume.The situation causes me to refrain from purchasing these otherwise fantastic reprints

By David on Nov 8, 2010

I bought the following online – in all good faith – from Amazon called:

The Holy Bible, Containing The Old And New Testaments With The Apocryphal Books
Author: John Wycliffe
ISBN: 1178018350
ISBN-13: 9781178018356, 978-1178018356
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Nabu Press
Number of Pages: 780

So I was very annoyed indeed when it turned out that this reproduction was in fact only a tiny part of the original work – just a few books of the Old Testament!! The problem is that nowhere on the front cover ( or for that matter in the book details used by a seller ) is it made clear that the description is Totally inaccurate and possibly a mis-representation of the true facts! This is certainly wrong.

By Ray on Nov 25, 2010

I too have been trying to purchase a book by my great grandfather, (Are we a declining Race? An old Sailors Verdict. by Walter Hunt). It was originally printed in 1904 and amazon is showing the paperback written by Pee Wee Hunt, who don’t get me wrong is probably a fine musician, but nothing to do with the writing of said novel. This copy is also ‘published’ by Nabu Press. This has stopped me from buying it because i need to know i am buying the real thing

By carmel doolan on Nov 28, 2010

ps . have found another reprint on amazon but this time published by Kessinger, with a different cover but with the correct authors’ name, but has the comment ‘Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages’, which was what gertie complained about on Oct 27, 2010 . So not really keen on buying this copy either

By carmel doolan on Nov 28, 2010

I purchased two books reprinted by Nabu Press: Histoire du peuple de Genève, depuis la Réforme jusqu’à L’escalade, Volumes 1-3 and Volumes 4-7.
Since the original work was a collection of 7 volumes, I assumed that the two reprints would have all seven volumes (as stated in the titles on Amazon).
The first book was a reproduction of only volume 3, and the second book was a reproduction of only volume 5. How misleading!

By Isabella Watt on Dec 9, 2010

Has anybody bought Nabu Press’ publication of “Revolutions de Paris”?

Any comments on it?

By Dan O'Hanlon on Dec 19, 2010

I am very grateful for the information about Nabu Books. Since I loved Jean Webster`s Daddy Long Legs as a kid, I`d like to read all her books without spending too much money because it`s just for fun. I found copies by Nabu Press at a reasonable price but I will refrain from buying them now. I don`t mind reprints, but I do want a “real” book with a cover etc. and, of course, the complete text and due care given to the making of the book. I bought some other authors in “Girls Gone By” editions, which are fine for me. Being German, I am not familiar with English publishing companies. Which reprints are to be trusted? Nabu certainly not, nor, I suppose, Books on Demand. Apart from spending a fortune on the old originals – how can I tell which reprint is the real thing?
Thank you.

By Cornelia Krutz-Arnold on Dec 28, 2010

I ordered POD book the Trial of John H. Surratt Vol. I I was hoping that if I liked vol. I I would buy the concluding vol. II. Well the book cover says one, but when you open the book up it is vol. 2. So I tried to contact the dealer to find out what to do to get vol. 1 – They could give me no answer. Stated they don’t know if I need to order another vol. 1 which may end up vol 1 or be another vol. 2.

By CHRIS on Jan 3, 2011

Thanks for this information. This Nabu Press has done an odd job of choosing pictures for some of the book covers. For example, they’ve got the same picture of what looks to be a mountain in the Himalayas for History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 as well as for Ozma Of Oz and others as well, including a book about the plants of Delaware.

By kathy bilton on Jan 5, 2011

do you have any e mail for nabu books?

By Bülent on Jan 14, 2011

People dealing with this company, please make sure to register your comments on Amazon. The book I got from Nabu is absolutely terrible. Pages are out of focus and unreadable, alignment is off so text runs off the edge of the page, and 8 of the 12 colour plates (which were my reason for purchasing the book) are missing. Text on the existing colour plates is illegible because the print was small and italic, so didn’t render well in on the slightly off-focus reproduction.

Stay away from these “Exact duplicate” companies .. they don’t have the technology necessary to do this job right.

By Rosetta Stone on Jan 14, 2011

Similar story to all the above: the Nabu Press edition of the 19th century play “The Octoroon” by Dion Boucicault is missing the first page, many pages are missing the first letter on every line along the left margin, and the readability is extremely poor.

By Thomas Simpson on Jan 28, 2011

I just purchased one of these reprints by Nabu on Amazon.
The quality is horrible and it is actually missing the last part of the original which is approx 150 pages!

I have contacted Amazon.

By jb on Jan 28, 2011

I’m new to ordering these reprints. Have a perfectly acceptable reprint from Kessinger and another from Pranava Books in Delhi. Recently ordered a title by Victorian Author G. Lacy Hillier with a title I did not recognise. It turned out to be one chapter only from His “Cycling” Longmans Green 1887-1905. Then I noticed several other Chapters retitled and sold as books. Ordered it through Blackwells Oxford so no problem getting money back. Recently I have been “asking bookseller a question” through Abebooks regarding a Nabu Press Book. Viz “Cyclist and Wheel World Annual” by C.W.Nairn et al. As it was issued annually for several years I have been trying to find what date the reprint is.(I have several years but not a complete set.) I asked the same question of eight bookseller listing it and not one of them would take the trouble to find out.I wonder why? Sincerely Dave Twitchett

By Dave Twitchett on Jan 31, 2011

The books my Library get from Nabu are absolutely terrible. Pages are out of focus and unreadable, alignment is off so text runs off the edge of the page, and sometimes “phantom fingers” appear on board page…Never more!!!!!

By Paola Rescigno on Feb 9, 2011

=== I asked the same question of eight bookseller listing it and not one of them would take the trouble to find out.I wonder why?===

They would have no way of knowing or finding out, because they are just listing the virtual book, which doesn’t come into existence until you order it and somebody associated with Nabu prints off a copy from a database of poor-quality scans.

By Peter Donnelly on Feb 12, 2011

I just discovered Nabu Press reprinted the 4 Browne Readers my grandmother, Ruby Wrede Browne, wrote around 1920. I noticed the disclaimer in the Amazon description that stated it was an exact reproduction of scanned pages with potentially blurred pictures, damaged type, etc.. At first I was delighted someone had brought them back. Now I’m not so sure. I see many of the posts complain of poor quality. Had I know of the project, I would have gladly worked them on perfect scans since I have two complete sets of her books in mint shape. I will be trying to get in touch with them, especially if they are just printing on demand and can replace bad scans. I would appreciate any email info.

By Melinda Shebell on Feb 14, 2011

Melinda: I do agree with Yakov you could publish them through Lulu.com. I would not try to work with Nabu Press, however. They just don’t seem to care what the print, or what it looks like, so long as the get money.

I run a volunteer website (volunteer of 1 = me) where I reprint public domain books I come across in book sales and antique stores for free on line. I also offer hard copies of some of these free books through a minimal fee through Lulu.com and in the Amazon Kindle store. I’d love to work with you on a project to get the Browne Readers all on my website. Feel free to contact me through my website: http://www.kellscraft.com

Thanks
Jeff Kelley
kellscraft.com

By Jeff Kelley on Mar 10, 2011

One of the things they does is to just print “reprints” of Google public domain documents they find, based on what orders they receive on line. And, where they deem appropriate, they post an attractive photographic cover on Amazon for it, which can be confusing if you know a title and are expecting something that looks old.

Someone posts the documents they select from these old works, along with the gussied up cover on Amazon, as if the books are warehoused and ready to send. But they print them as needed based on the orders they receive, and then ship them.

If they find a good copy of an original, then the reprint will more likely be acceptable for anyone who may be interested in the content of the work itself. But it would obviously be a complete disappointment for a book collector, such as someone searching for a genuine First Edition.

Also, I suppose if the “original” which Google digitally scanned was either incomplete (missing pages), or perhaps damaged in some way (e.g., water marks) a purchaser of the “reprint” might well be out of luck and therefore unhappy with what they buy.

I suspect many of the purchases are by people who cannot find the Google public domain digital editions on the internet, and conclude the only way they can get access to the material is to buy the print-on-demand version.

By Steve Robbins on Apr 5, 2011

I’d conducted two years of early American Colonial history research through the google library. I’d had PoD reprint Google books with a generic cover.

This work could not be replicated today!

I’ve seen a massive Privatization of the Public Square by Amazon, Nabu, et al.

Many of the books I’ve read are our earliest Colonial history; published originally by State Archivists.

It is a business model that resembles theft.

By Martin on Jul 8, 2011

My husband’s great aunt published a book in 1923 which has been recently republished by Nabu Press without any notice to the family. Who are these people and what gives them the right to publish whatever they please without consent from the family? Aren’t there copyright laws to protect such a thing from happening? Does anyone know how to contact Nabu Press? They seem to be very elusive.

By Nancy on Jul 20, 2011

I am a Chinese reader. I feel also cheated by Amazon. The reason why the nasty Nabu print can sell so many “books” which are actually prints, bad prints, is by cheating!

By zhihong mo on Aug 7, 2011

I have only now got to spend some time with a Nabu Press book I purchased from Amazon last year. I have not read the entire book, only one part of it containing an essay I needed to read. That part is missing two pages (i.e., one exposure); another page was scanned with the image of some extraneous page superimposed upon it, rendering the top third useless. I spent $21.50 for this? I did contact Amazon, but only by writing a “review.” Is there some other way I should notify them?

PS a shout-out to Dave Twitchett above: I share your interest (probably not as developed as yours) in Victorian cycling!

By Beth Newman on Oct 11, 2011

Many of their books are still under copyright in certain parts of the world. I’m getting tired of companies which take such a cavalier attitude to creator rights

By james portman on Nov 30, 2011

They published my step father’s book without contacting my mother who has the copy right.
EBW

By Eszter B. Wilson on Dec 21, 2011

Nabu’s imprints keep popping up as I search Alibris, but I’m looking at 16th-17th century works in canon law, hardly a boom business for a press. I cannot fathom how or why Nabu is claiming copies of these works, unless they can do it on demand: getting an order, locating a copiable edition and then having either the instituion or themselves do the scanning. In any case, if they are using volumes they do not own to make their copies, they might not be violating the copyright laws but conceivably could have legal problems with the institutions that own the volumes they scan. Any rare book librarians out there whose institutions have rules against patrons reselling copies of books in their collections?

By Steve on Feb 3, 2012