Herewith the complete list of my Bugatti Library, or rather the Grand Obsession, the collection of which started in earnest in July 2007. They appear in the order I obtained them, and starting with book 18 I've added some comments, observations and thoughts to the thread. Please feel free to comment, especially if you disagree. I do like a good debate.


1.) Great Marques : Bugatti
Conway Hugh
Octopus Books Limited, 1984


2.) Bugatti
Conway, Hugh & Greilshamer, Jacques
Edition Modelisme, 1978


3.) The Big Bugattis : 46 & 50
Price, Barrie
Veloce Publishing, 2000


4.) The Bugatti Type 57S
Simon, Bernard & Kruta, Julius
Monsenstein & Vannerdat, 2003


5.) Bugatti, les 57 Sport
Laugier, Pierre-Yves
Bugattibook, 2004


6.) The Brescia Bugatti
King, Bob
Images Publishing, 2006


7.) Bugatti Magnum
Conway, Hugh & Sauzay, Maurice
Haynes Publishing, 1989


8.) Centenaire Ettore Bugatti 1881 - 1981
Bollet, C ; Kestler, P ; Spitz, A ; Mathieson, T & Barrie, P
Foundation Prestige Bugatti, 1981


9.) Bugatti Legends
Horst, Jaap
Japp Horst, 2005


10.) Grand Prix Bugatti
Conway, Hugh
G. T. Foulis & Co, 2004


11.) Bugatti Type 43 Register and Data Book
du Gann, Jack
Jack du Gann, 2008


12.) Bugatti Yesterday and Today
Matthews, L G Jr
SPE Barthelemy, 2004


13.) Bugatti, Le Pur-Sang des Automobiles
Conway, Hugh
G. T. Foulis & Co, 1968


14.) Bugatti
Borgeson, Griffith
Osprey Publishing Limited & Automobile Quarterly, 1981


15.) Bugatti Royale, le Reve Magnifique
Kestler, Paul
Automobilia, 1993


16.) Memoirs of a Bugatti Hunter.
Raffaelli, Antoine
Maeght Editeur, 1997


17.) Bugatti, The Man and The Marque
Wood, Jonathan
The Crowood Press, 1992


18.) Ettore Bugatti, L'artisan de Molsheim
Steinhauser, Norbert
Bugattibook 2008 (Arrived 08/01/2009)


19) British Bugatti Register
Sewell, David
Bugatti Owners Club, 1989 (Arrived 26/01/2009)


20) Bugatti, Mein Leben
Junek, Elizabeth
Kunst und Musikverlag Wolfgang A Siedler, 1990 (Arrived 26/01/2009)


21) Divine Bugatti
Magehnzani, Guiseppe ; Steinhauser, Norbert ; Kestler, Paul & Ceci, Ivo
Franco Maria Ricci, 1991 (Arrived 26/01/2009)


22) Fantastiques Bugatti
Sauzay, Maurice & de Nombel, Xavier
EPA, 1995 (Arrived 26/01/2009)


23) Bugatti Type 32 Tank
Ratti, Diego
Lulu 2008 (Arrived 26/01/2009)


24) Bugatti, Evolution of a style
Kestler, Paul
Edita, 1977 (Arrived 26/01/2009)


25) Het lot van de Slapende Schoonheden
op de Weegh, Ard ; op de Weegh, Arnoud & Hottendorff, Kay
De Alk bv. 2008 (Arrived 26/01/2009)


26) Bugatti, Een Legendarish Pionier
Jan Apetz
Fourcroy Nederland 1986 (Arrived 16/02/2009)


27) The Bugatti Register Netherlands and Belgium
Kees Jansen, Dick Ploeg & Rick Scholtens
Bugatti Club Nederland 2005 (Arrived 16/02/2009)


28.) The Bugatti Register Netherlands and Belgium Volume II
Jansen, Kees, Ploeg, Dick & Veenebosch, Hans
Bugatti Club Nederland 2008 (Arrived 16/02/2009)


29.) Bugatti Type 46, La Petite Royale
Klein, Bohuslav ; Saunier, Roland & Jansen, Kees
IMOEDITIONS PRAHA 2008 (Arrived 24/02/2009)


30.) Bugatti, from Milan to Molsheim
Hucke, Uwe & Kruta, Julius
Monsenstein & Vannerdat 2008 (Arrived 26/03/2009)


31.) American Bugatti Register and Data Book, 2003
Leith, Sandy
American Bugatti Club (Arrived 08/06/2009)


32.) Black Bess
Boddy, William
Aries Press 1993 (Arrived 25/06/2009)


33.) Bugatti Argentina
Bertschi, Christian & Iacona, Estanislao
Whitefly 2007 (Arrived 23/09/2009)


34.) The Swiss Bugatti Register
Matti, Hans
Bugatti Club Suisse (Arrived 23/09/2009)


35.) Bugattis in Australasia
King, Bob
Turton & Armstrong Pty. Limited 1992 (Arrived 27/10/2009)


36.) The Schlumpf Obsession
Jenkinson, Dennis & Verstappen, Peter
Hamlyn Pyblishing Group 1977 (Arrived 27/10/2009)


37.) Auto Totaal : Bugatti
No Author listed
Uitgeverij Lekturama (Arrived 24/11/2009)

Well, nice collection to be gathered that soon. If you will keep up this speed, you will overtake my collection, and that of many others (or you will go bankrupt, whatever comes first).

What strikes me is that, when you began seriously collecting, the first books (no. 4 - 7) were really expensive ones!

Kindly note the addition of book number 18 to the above list.

Ettore Bugatti, L'artisan de Molsheim by Norbert Steinhauser arrived in South Africa on the 22nd of December 2008 but due to it being sent to the wrong Post Office by accident I only received it on the 8th of January. It was posted on the 5th, it left France on the 11th and arrived in here on the 22nd, which is damn quick if you think about it.

A glorious addition. And to think I wasn't overly exited when it was announced, but Lionel Decrey convinced me that I will not regret ordering one. He was right, I had to pay nearly double the initial asking price to get hold of a copy of Laugier. If I passed up on the Steinhauser book, I would by now be frantically looking for one, and I have a feeling second-hand prices will be sky-high for this one as well.

Bugatti historians, authors and publishers does seem a cut above don't they?

Kind Regards
Johan Buchner

I didn't read much last night, just picked up a few delicious morsels here and there, instead I spent the entire evening enjoying those incredible photographs. The author did include some of the well-known ones, the flower bedecked car, Ettore perched on top, and the delivery photos of Black Bess for instance, but the vast majority are new, at least to me.

I think I will start with the Bebe Peugeot this weekend, of all Ettore's designs this is the one I probably know the least well. Interestingly enough, it was Jonathan Wood who first suggested that the Bebe's type number is 16, which I always believed to be the type number for the type Garros' engine. Type Garros seem to have quite a few numbers ranging from T12 for the first one and ending with the Indianapolis racer which the author speculate might be T24. And T52 was a development of the T46 engine - looking forward to discovering how the miniature T35 came to be known by this number.

So much knowledge to be gained, so much pleasure to be had. Thank you Mr. Norbert Steinhauser.

One last thing, Tome 3 goes in the middle with Tomes 1 & 2 either side ; 2 grey ones on either side of 1 blue one. This is very important.

Glad that's settled then.

Regards
Johan

Starting this morning I did something a little unusual, I simply started reading the English translation from the beginning, just letting the author's words guide me on his journey. What a gloriously wide canvas Mr. Steinhauser use, from the general state of the European economy to the family origins of all those who helped Ettore to poor doomed Rembrandt's battle with depression, it is simply a damn fine read. And all the time I am learning, discovering, just letting the result of the author's painstaking research transfer itself into my brain.

Just thought I'd share this with you quickly, now it's time for another cup of tea and then it's going to be me, Ettore and racing the De Dietrichs. As you may have gathered, I love this book, I really do.

Till later then.
Johan

This morning I'm a little tired, probably because I stayed up until 02H00 this morning to finish Steinhauser. I won't bore you with details, but just allow me to say that between Mr. Steinhauser's exhaustive research and his lovely writing style (complimented by a superb translation) I came to a startling conclusion - above all else, it's simply a very good biography.

I am talking specifically of the historical overview (first 2 volumes), the third volume deals in great detail with every design Ettore had a hand in up to 1922 and is more intended for serious research. A genius touch this, by concentrating the technical appraisal of the actual designs in a separate volume the author allow the narrative to flow without interruption.

Okay , maybe I will bore you with a little detail ; I came to the conclusion that Bradley and Lebe's (not L'Ebe) attempts to turn Ettore into a minor deity actually did him a disservice. Instead of him being the gilded crown-prince of an artistic dynasty, it struck me just how tough Ettore must have been. Sure he charmed a great many people, who helped him a lot, but he was also failed by many of them. A smart, tough, stubborn man with an enormous appetite for good old fashioned hard work, the reality is so much more admirable than the romance. Ettore Bugatti never ever had it easy, yet he succeeded where many, many others failed.

Only now am I beginning to realise the enormity of Ettore's achievement with the factory at Molsheim - the odds against him succeeding was enormous. I do however get the impression, possibly wrongly, that Ettore's one great disappointment was that Molsheim always needed more of his time than he wanted to give. I think he foresaw a future where the factory would run smoothly and independently with him spending his time creating and designing.

One last thing - that U16 engine bought by the Americans was not nearly as bad as Borgeson made it out to be, and King would appear to have changed things before giving Ettore's original ideas a chance to prove themselves. The American Commision sent to Europe to purchase the very latest in aeronautical technology were no fools, and they were never misled by Ettore either. They understood that they were buying an untried design, but such was the potential they still decided to take a chance on it.

Thanks to this historian and author I think I am beginning to understand Ettore Bugatti's complex character a little better. He was certainly no saint, but neither was he a charlatan. The best guarantee for becoming a legend is to do legendary things. That's exactly what Ettore Bugatti did.

Thank you Mr. Norbert Steinhauser, not only did you educate me, but you also entertained me, and such is the quality of your work it will be returned to again and again. It will never become a mere ornament

With Much Gratitude
Johan Buchner

Hello Johan,

I see that you are really enjoying your copy of the book "Ettore Bugatti, L'artisan de Molsheim" (Steinhauser). Like you, when I first knew of this book I thought that it would not be a "must have" book. But reading your posts, I think that maybe this book could be of interest for me.

Please, could you tell me if this book have some pictures in colour or all the pictures are black and white? Does it include current colour pictures of the cars, or all the pictures are contemporary?

I think that the third volume could be the most interesting of the three books. I am much more interested in Bugatti cars than in Ettore Bugatti´s biography. Is the third volume more complete than the book on the Brescia types written by Bob King; or they are complete different books?

Best regards,

LANOS

Another book lover, how utterly splendid. Welcome! While the vast majority of the photos are black and white, there are a few colour photos. They are there more for illustrating detail, they are not portraits of cars in the accepted sense. I hear what you are saying about the cars being more interesting than the life of Ettore, but what Norbert Steinhauser achieved is an understanding of Ettore, both his strong points and his weaknesses. What surprised me is that engineers and analysts from both the firms of de Dietrich and Deutz gave very honest appraisals of Ettore, and while there was general agreement about his lack of formal engineering training and his lack of ability to operate and manage a large industrial concern, such was the breathtaking audacity of his vision and his ambition, to say nothing of his personal charm, that both concerns took him on in senior positions.

Comparing Norbert's work with Bob King's, certainly the chapters dealing with all types except perhaps the 16 valve Brescia's is far superior in detail, insight and depth of research, but Norbert Steinhauser does credit the work of Borgeson a little too much for my liking, and that of Jonathan Wood, not enough. But, and this is important, while I have certainly read the entire translation provided with the Steinhauser work, I have not studied it in enough detail to really understand exactly why he rates Borgeson so highly. Steinhauser is not an "easy" read, oh sure, the first two volumes adds up to a lovely flowing narrative, but absolutely jam-packed with details. Add to that the myriad appendixes and it becomes clear that to truly "get" Steinhauser requires a great deal of intensive, concentrated study. Only then does the author's intimate understanding of all Ettore's work reveal itself. Just to give two small examples - many chapters have been written about Ettore and the small Isotta, the two arguments being that Ettore either designed the Isotta or he copied the design for his T10. Steinhauser dismisses both arguments as untrue in little more than a paragraph. Regarding the T28, it has always been accepted that the current body was an egregious little mistake fitted to it by the Schlumpfs - not true, Norbert found a photo taken of the factory collection before being purchased by the Schlumpfs showing the present body in poor shape.

Having said that, I am not comfortable describing this book as a must-have. Certainly for someone like myself who has set himself the task of collecting just about all English and French (a language I am trying to learn) works on Bugattis, the Steinhauser work is one of the crown-jewels. However, should you wish to stick mostly to the cars, Conway's Pur Sang and Jonathan Wood's Bugatti, the Man and the Marque will give you all the historic overview you're likely to need. Spend the rest of the budget of those works dealing with specific Types - Laugier for instance on the T57S and, as I am about to discover, Klein, Saunier & Jansen on the T46. Kestler's T41 and du Gan's T43 also impress. Anything and everything written by Barrie Price is the only argument in favour of book-burning I can think of. Some people like him, but then again, some people think EXK 6 received an utterly splendid restoration.

Before you make a decision drop Jeroen Vossen (Octagon Fox) a line, I have always found his advise incredibly accurate when it comes to additions to my collection I am not sure of. Mind you I did order Fantastique Bugattis just for the pretty pictures!

For a stunningly comprehensive register of Bugattis, go to Wiki, and click on Bugatti chassis number database. Not only is the quality superb, and the contents in a constant state of being corrected to and expanded, but it is absolutely 100% free.

I wish you the best of luck in your future choices, and welcome again to Bugattibuilder - we are always on the lookout for new blood.

Kind Regards
Johan Buchner

I think you are in fact quite harsh on Barrie Price, he was the first to try publishing books on one type only, and did that in a very appropriate manner, when he started making the T57 book. Of course there are error's but that is also true for Conway's Magnum and almost all other books. The T46 book has for example some language errors in it.

After Barrie Price bookwriting became much more elaborate, with the first really elaborate one the T57S book by Laugier, which came only months after Bernhard Simon's book on the same subject, rendering the latter directly obsolete.

Meanwhile, Mr. Price and Mr. Arbey carried on the same way that they started, with a quality that is now hardly excepted anymore (except for some odd-ball writings, like for example on Legends and Myths surrounding Bugatti), especially the T40 and more so the T44 book are of less quality than some internet pages....

_________________
www.BugattiPage.com
www.BugattiRevue.com
www.BugattiAircraft.com

You seem to labour under the miscomprehension that when Barrie Price started publishing his booklets they were of a comparable quality to the standards of the time. This is an utterly ludicrous assertion, Price's work never even began to approach the quality of Conway, even Bradley and Lebe Bugatti did better, and their work was written a long time before Price's.

There is something that I need to clarify, while I am occasionally prepared to yield to others' opinions about the Bugatti cars, planes and trains, it is due solely to me not having the means to own one. My books, on the other hand, are my property, I worked for the money to buy them and the authors and/or publishers received said funds. In return I got the books and I will hold about them whatever opinion I like, and I believe Barrie Price to be a fraud and a crook. He does not even know the difference between a T46 and a T50, nor does he seem to be aware of the existence of the T50T for Heaven's sake! His chassis lists are woefully incomplete compared to Conway's, and Magnum was published before the Price work. Did he do absolutely no research whatsoever?

I got shafted by Barrie Price once, trust me, there will be a wind-chill factor of 40 below zero in Hell before I buy another of his piss-ant garbage.

You are, of course, fully within your right to spend your own money however you please. If you like Price's work, knock yourself out.

Yours
Johan Buchner

Hello Johan,

Many thanks for your incredibly fast, detailed and polite answer to my question. After reading it, I have decided that I will not buy the book "Ettore Bugatti, L'artisan de Molsheim" (Steinhauser). There are some other interesting (and expensive) books which are of my interest: "Bugatti - From Milan to Molsheim / The complete compendium" (Hucke & Kruta), "Bugatti T43 Register and data book" (du Gan), "Bugatti, journal d'une saga" (Bellu), the new edition of "Grand Prix Bugatti" (Conway)... Too many books. I also ordered the book on T46 and I hope to receive it soon.

I also bought "Fantastiques Bugatti" looking for a lot of nice colour pictures of Bugatti cars and I think that it is a good book, but there is something a bit strange: It is incredible how many rear views of the cars appear; some times only the back side is portrayed and there is not a picture of the front or a 3/4 view of the cars. I think that "Bugatti" (Conway / Greilsamer) is older but much better than "Fantastiques Bugatti".

I also have "Magnum" (Conway), "Bugatti by Borgeson" and "Bugatti: The man and the Marque" (Wood) that you mentioned in your reply to my question. And I also have "Le pur sang des automobiles" (Conway), "Dokumentation einer automobilmarke" (Hucke), "Automobiles et autorails" (Lot), "Doubles Arbres" (Jarraud), "La Gloire" (Zagari) and many, too many others to keep them properly.

I have seen the list and pictures of your collection of books and I think that maybe could be of your interest to buy some books on the Schlumpf collection. I would recommend "500 voitures de reve: Les collections completes du Musee National de L'automobile de Mulhouse (Collection Schlumpf)" by Rousseau, Delerm and Garnier (there are french, german and english editions of this book). I also own the book "Divine Bugatti" (much more explensive) and almost all the cars which appear in this book belong to the Schlumpf collection. The book by Rousseau is one of my favourites.

About the books by Price, I think that they are not too expensive books and besides there are not other books covering the types 40 and 44. They could be much better; but until now there is nothing more on these types. I got shafted by Barrie Price once, trust me, there will be a wind-chill factor of 40 below zero in Hell before I buy another of his piss-ant garbage. You have made me smile, you can be sure.

As you can see, I have many books on Bugatti; but I think that there are many things on the Marque that still have to be written. For instance, the postwar models. I have not seen any drawing on the type 78 yet, the new big sports car for those years. I guess that the successor for the T41 Royale that Ettore Bugatti announced as one of his postwar projects has to be one of the unidentifyed types (T69?, T79? - of course NOT the Argentinian Empereur http://www.bugattipage.com/empereur.htm). But I have not seen any drawing or technical description on this new Royale.

I do not know anything about the T76. Could the Bugatti lorry which appears in this French forum be the T76?: http://www.forum-auto.com/automobiles-m ... 04-735.htm The T451 was under development for several years from the cancellation of T252/253 project (1957?) until the purchase of Bugatti by Hispano Suiza in 1963. I read somewhere (maybe in Automobile Quarterly) that even a lot of Italian wheels had been ordered for this car when the project was definitely left in 1963. Does someone have some drawings of the T451? And we cannot forget other types like the 102 and 125 about which Jaap Horst gave some light in his excellent web page.

I would wish that some day some book covered all these postwar types. But I suppose that it could not be a book on only these types; it would have to be a very complete book covering all the Bugatti types. I hope that the new book by Kruta and Hucke includes something new about the postwar projects. Maybe I should have opened a new topic on these types.

Best regards,

LANOS

Hi Lanos

Fantastique Bugattis, Divine Bugatti as well as the new T32 book + a few others are already on their way to South Africa. The Hucke/Kruta work still need to be ordered (and paid for!). I must admit, I am getting a little worried about the T46 book, my copy was posted 29/12/2008 and I still have not received it. I am not the most patient of people, you may have noticed.

About the du Gan work on the T43, I think you will enjoy it very much - just remember that the author only included those cars whose owners willingly provided the information about their cars and he got no co-operation from the Schlumpf collection. In this it is quite similar to the Brescia Bugatti by Bob King, he also relied on owners' willing co-operation. And just like Brescia owners, it is the owners of replica T43's who provides some of the most interesting information. du Gan's book is not the definitive work on the T43, but it is the only work dealing specifically with T43, and I think it is very good indeed, but then I've always had a bit of a thing for the T43.

As to the post-war models, follow Jaap's suggestion and read some of contributor Lazarus' posts, he owns quite a few examples of Ettore's later works, including a T73. Just don't call them post-war models - Lazarus prefers the term post-Conway! But you are right, this is the most neglected era of Bugatti history, and it's crying out for a comprehensive history to be written.

If you are at all interested in the T57S Laugier is a must-have. Now it is true that his work is superior to that of Bernard Simon, but such is my obsession with the T57S that I am very happy to own both. But Laugier remains The Daddy, his discovery of the fourth Atlantic affirms his position as the pre-eminent Bugatti historian of our time. He has works in progress on both T51 and T55, but patience is needed - Pierre-Yves Laugier will not be rushed!
Interestingly enough, Lionel Decrey, closely involved with both Laugier and Steinhauser, is of the opinion that a comparison between the two is futile, their strengths lie in different directions - Steinhauser deals with people and their times, Laugier more with the actual metal. Obviously there are areas which overlap, but I am in general agreement with Lionel Decrey, except that Steinhauser proved the bigger surprise. But then again, I expected Laugier to be great, and he was - is. But Steinhauser has the better translation, and his information was mostly new to me.

Us Bugatti lovers do seem to be having a great period for quality books. Sure they're expensive, but since when has quality ever been cheap? Speaking of money and value, of all the books I have the most beautifully produced work is that of Bob King - from the quality of the paper, to way the pages are laid out, to the way Ettore's signature is ghosted into the background of every page, it is all a visual delight. To me books are more than the information contained within, they are objects of pleasure even when not in use. Sometimes I sit in front of my collection and just enjoy looking at them.

I have always said that I do not have a favourite, but that is not strictly true - my tatty old copy of Conway's Great Marques will always occupy a special place in my heart. Hugh Conway did not introduce me to Bugatti (that honour belongs to Ralph Stein) but he explained enough of it to me, and explained it in such a way that I fell deeply in love with this man and his 8000 pieces of art. To this day Hugh Conway remains my guru and my mentor, and I will not have a word spoken against him. Later this year I shall travel to Britain so I can pay my respects to the Godfather of Bugatti at The Bugatti Trust, his legacy. The honour will be mine.

Let me leave you with this thought - I wonder how history will judge those responsible for carrying forth Hugh's legacy through the work of The Bugatti Trust?

I am done.
Johan

What has to be said about Barry Price is that he was lucky enough to buy the Atlantic from Pope in the sixties, which involves him quite heavily into Bugatti folklore and also that the books royalties are to support the Bugatti Trust. He must be the only person alive who has crashed the Atlantic as well.True to say that the info contained adds up to nothing though.

Greg wrote : "also that the books royalties are to support the Bugatti Trust."

I know Greg, I know. And yes, he did crash EXK 6 as well. Is there no end to my torment?

Sigh.
Johan

There is a nice photo in this book of my old T40 "being unloaded from the boat from England" Complete with its racing numbers no doubt put on before setting out 6 weeks before from the UK ! Rubbish of course. The race was on philip island which required a ferry trip.The photo was taken whilst unloading the car from the ferry.These books are good as far as they go.They were not intended I think to offer more than an overview of the various models.And as they raise money for the trust they have to be a good thing.I am more concerned [if that is the right word ] about reprints of Hughs books which make scant effort to correct his several mistakes.The "left hand drive T35" accident damaged car [photo reversed] is one such. I would also like to see more about ALL the GPs [even the ones Hugh Hated] and less about T43s and T55s which are not GP cars at all