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by Ian L. Sanders, with photography by Carl Glover
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Published by the British Vintage Wireless Society (BVWS)
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Each edition - hardback, large format 8½ x 12 inches. Profusely illustrated with full-page photographs.
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| BVWS Books |
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When it was introduced in 2001, Tickling the Crystal was the first book dedicated to the topic of British crystal sets to have been published for over twenty-five years. Spanning just a short period during the early 1920s at the start of regularly scheduled broadcasting, these simple receivers played a crucial role in the development of domestic wireless throughout the United Kingdom.
For many families, rich and poor, the crystal set provided an introduction to the new pastime of "listening-in" to broadcast programmes from the fledgling British Broadcasting Company. Soon to be made obsolete by more sophisticated valve receivers, crystal sets disappeared from people's homes as rapidly as they had arrived, but not without leaving an indelible mark on wireless history.
Since its initial publication, Tickling the Crystal, has expanded into a series of five volumes providing a comprehensive reference work on the subject.
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| Volume 1, 256 pages |
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Compiled by a long-time authority and enthusiast, Tickling the Crystal is the most comprehensive work on the subject ever assembled. Volume 1 contains almost two hundred full-page photographs, many in colour, and a wealth of previously unpublished material covering commercial and amateur crystal receivers, components and early broadcasting. It cannot fail to be an invaluable reference for anyone interested in the history of early wireless and should appeal to both the experienced collector and to the novice alike.
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The second volume of Tickling the Crystal, published in 2003, complements the first and expands on the story of the domestic crystal set during the early broadcast years. Like its predecessor, this volume is packed with high-quality, full-page photographs and a vast amount of new information relating to crystal set models, manufacturers and broadcast conditions at the time. These volumes fill a void in the much-neglected field of vintage wireless literature and are intended to provide an extensive reference work for enthusiasts and collectors.
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| Volume 2, 208 pages |
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| Volume 3, 240 pages |
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| Produced with the same careful attention to detail as its companions, Tickling the Crystal 3 published in 2005 continues the story of the domestic crystal set. Like the earlier volumes, it contains many full page photographs of previously unrecorded receivers, but places greater emphasis on early manufacturing company profiles and ephemera. An extended collection of period advertisements has been incorporated to help in the identification of lesser-known models.
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New information related to vintage wireless continually comes to light and seems to show no sign of slowing down. So, without apology, the need to update, expand and where necessary correct information published so far hs been satisfied with the publication of a fourth volume. The central feature - the Pictorial Dictionary - contains a further quota of full-page photographs of crystal and crystal-valve receivers along with note magnifiers, mostly unrecorded and previously undocumented.
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| Volume 4, 280 pages |
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| Ian Sanders |
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Dr. Ian L. Sanders grew up in Harrow, North-West London. His life-long involvementwith vintage wireless was aroused by the chance discovery of an early 1920s valve receiver in a local antique shop while an electrical engineering student at the University of Wales in Cardiff during the 1970s. He rapidly became fascinated in what was then a field of relatively little interest, concentrating on wireless receivers from the early BBC broadcast era. His enthusiasm for the subject continued to develop after moving to the United States to pursue a career in computer storage technology. He has written numerous journal articles on various aspects of early wireless history, published on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Tickling the Crystal series of books is the culmination of some thirty years of research into the development of the domestic crystal set, drawing on his comprehensive library of contemporary literature and ephemera and the generous contributions of a small number of like-minded enthusiasts. Many of the receivers illustrated in the series are from his own collection.
Dr. Sanders is a member of the British Vintage Wireless Society and currently lives with his wife and daughter in Morgan Hill, California.
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All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced without express permission.
©2001-2010 Ian L. Sanders
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