new book by Christian Settipani

[antoin...@gmail.com]

Dear all,

As I wrote on this group several months ago, my friend Christian Settipani was busy these last three years writing his habilitation thesis (the highest university degree in France as in many other countries) entitled "Les liens dynastiques entre Byzance et l'étranger à l'époque des Comnènes et des Paléologues". The thesis defence took place at the Sorbonne in spring 2019 in front of a jury headed by Béatrice Caseau and composed of Jean-Claude Cheynet, Martin Aurell, Smilja Marjanovic-Dusanic, Alexandra-Kiriaki Wassiliou-Seibt and Sophie Métivier.

The thesis is now finally being published by the publishing house de Boccard.
Having played a role in the editing of the "thesis to be defended" and then the "thesis to be published" I can testify it is a crucial publication for those who have established a genealogical connection with Byzantium through Western european nobility. You can check it for yourself with the table of contents available there
https://deboccard.com/get_product_document/9866

As for the book itself it can be ordered directly from de Boccard under the following link
https://deboccard.com/shop/product/db-9-74-les-liens-dynastiques-entre-byzance-et-letranger-a-lepoque-des-comnenes-et-des-paleologues-64134

Christian was interviewed by the Revue française de généalogie to present this latest work and more generally to explain his approach to historical and genealogical research. I will publish in this newsgroup (in French) this very interesting interview in several segments.

Final good news: now that the work on his thesis is completed, Christian has gone back to his mammoth project, the publication of the "Préhistoire des Capétiens volume II". The current manuscript already being long 1600 pages, the work will most probably be published in two to four volumes... Here again I can assure you the next two years will be very interesting on the genealogical front...

best regards

Antoine Barbry

[Peter Stewart]

Thanks Antoine. Is it decided yet whether "Préhistoire des Capétiens
volume II" will be published all at the same time, or might the several
volumes appear separately over a few years?

My copy of "Les liens dynastiques entre Byzance et l'étranger" is still
some weeks away, with imports to Australia slowed due to the pandemic -
meanwhile, can you give us a hint about the "Nouvelle proposition"
regarding Eudokia of Montpellier?

Peter Stewart

[jean-luc soler]

Aussitôt commandé!!!!!!

Juste ce petit mot pour dire mon impatience totale pour la préhistoire 2 (ca fait long 15 ans non ?????)

Peut on faire des précommandes ?

Transmettez mes pensées a c. Settipani

Merci

Jl

[antoin...@gmail.com]

Le dimanche 23 mai 2021 à 03:22:25 UTC+2, pss...@optusnet.com.au a écrit :
> Thanks Antoine. Is it decided yet whether "Préhistoire des Capétiens
> volume II" will be published all at the same time, or might the several
> volumes appear separately over a few years?
>
> My copy of "Les liens dynastiques entre Byzance et l'étranger" is still
> some weeks away, with imports to Australia slowed due to the pandemic -
> meanwhile, can you give us a hint about the "Nouvelle proposition"
> regarding Eudokia of Montpellier?
>
> Peter Stewart

Dear Peter,

The first two volumes (probably sold together) will be published within the next year/year and a half (two years max) and will most probably cover the gallo-roman and Frankish families, the rest will follow later as it is less advanced.
As for Eudokia, I wouldn't want to misinterpret the reasoning and spoil the book, I am sure you will succeed in waiting a few more weeks:-)
regards

antoine

[antoin...@gmail.com]

Bonjour Jean-Luc,

Je lui transmettrai votre salut.. Oui, tout le monde attend avec impatience la Préhistoire II mais il y a eu une infinité d'autres projets dans l'intervalle, un cursus académique à finaliser, une vie professionnelle et personnelle etc. Bref, c'est maintenant le bon moment!
Par contre pas encore de précommande, on en reparle dans un an peut-être:-) Il est fort possible que ces ouvrages soient publiés à compte d'auteur et à la demande donc pas de risque d'épuisement des stocks a priori...
Cordialement

antoine

[Peter Stewart]

I can wait, but then I will receive the book shortly whereas there are
others here interested in Eudokia who will not.

Never mind, she has kept her parentage secret for more than 800 years
and no doubt will for the next 800 too.

The amount of necessary cross-referencing in Préhistoire des Capétiens
II will make for frustration from publishing it in parts, but that will
be preferable to waiting years for all of it an once. Is Patrick Van
Kerrebrouck contributing to the work and/or to its printing and
distribution?

Peter Stewart

[antoin...@gmail.com]

Le mardi 25 mai 2021 à 13:16:17 UTC+2, pss...@optusnet.com.au a écrit :

Is Patrick Van
> Kerrebrouck contributing to the work and/or to its printing and
> distribution?
>
> Peter Stewart

No, P. van Kerrebrouck is not contributing and it will probably be self-publishing to avoid the books being sold out too early, leaving many frustrated.
regards

antoine

[Peter Stewart]

Just think how much easier, quicker and more friendly to users as well
as the environment self-publishing will be once authors and librarians
have gotten over the notion that a physical book is somehow better than
a pdf file.

Peter Stewart

[Bronwen Edwards]

I have always preferred physical books, especially the ones I have written. You can't throw an e-book against the wall or set it on fire.

[Peter Stewart]

Librarians rarely do either of these therapeutic exercises.

You can delete a pdf, which is far more difficult to achieve with a
physical book.

The only drawback I can see is that it's harder to scribble notes
(though I understand this can be accomplished by users who know their
way around a computer better than myself). Against this little problem,
it's far easier to extract a section or chapter to keep while discarding
the rest, saving further on resources for storage and streamlining
retrieval.

But the greatest advantages for works such as Préhistoire des Capétiens
II are in vastly expanded size - almost unlimited without extra paper,
printing, binding and shipping costs - and in the opportunity to update
and correct as necessary with free resupply of amended files to purchasers.

Since many authors have a weird expectation of profit from their books,
so that they resist open access online, the much higher rate of return
to self-publishers is an added benefit.

And of course the planet isn't made to groan over each new title.

Peter Stewart

[Jan Wolfe]

On Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 5:34:48 PM UTC-4, bronwened...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at 4:05:16 PM UTC-7, pss...@optusnet.com.au wrote:

...

> > Just think how much easier, quicker and more friendly to users as well
> > as the environment self-publishing will be once authors and librarians
> > have gotten over the notion that a physical book is somehow better than
> > a pdf file.
> >
> > Peter Stewart
> I have always preferred physical books, especially the ones I have written. You can't throw an e-book against the wall or set it on fire.

But Bronwen, you can actually DELETE a pdf! I definitely agree with Peter. I'd choose a pdf version of the book. With a pdf one can search the text and easily go to any page. One can still look in the index for additional search ideas. With a pdf, a book can be delivered immediately. Just think how wonderful it is to have pdfs of all the out-of-copyright books we now have available!

[Peter Stewart]

Deleting can be quite a satisfactory protest. For years I have resisted
the urge to smash my TV whenever a particular actor appeared on it, and
now that bugbear has taken to making shows as well as appearing in them,
just when I am stuck in front of the TV much of the time and avoidance
is harder than before. Karma. But I still have a remote control and can
change channels (though only from the unbearable to the slightly less
annoying most often).

I always found it a lame practice to put errata slips into books and/or
issue corrigenda sheets after publication. With pdfs changes can be made
and revised editions circulated whenever needed.

For disabled people, like me, pdfs are a boon to research. I have had
some physical books on my shelves scanned for easier access and have
avoided purchasing some titles that weren't available electronically.

One day books may be deliverable straight into readers' heads. Bring it on.

Peter Stewart

[John Higgins]

I also agree with Peter in preferring PDFs. I've been undertaking, in fits and starts, a project to go through my extensive files of paper copies made before the age of PDFs to eliminate those for which I now have a PDF copy. So far, I've reduced my files by about 2 boxes - and I'm not even halfway through my file cabinets yet!

I have to say, though, that there is at least one disadvantage with PDFs. You can look at only one page at a time in a PDF - whereas with a physical book, you can look at one page while having a finger or two (or more, if you're especially dexterous) in other pages, effectively giving you simultaneous access to several pages. Perhaps some clever soul can suggest how to do this with a PDF. :-)

[Jan Wolfe]

On Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 8:44:48 PM UTC-4, jhigg...@yahoo.com wrote:
...

> I also agree with Peter in preferring PDFs. I've been undertaking, in fits and starts, a project to go through my extensive files of paper copies made before the age of PDFs to eliminate those for which I now have a PDF copy. So far, I've reduced my files by about 2 boxes - and I'm not even halfway through my file cabinets yet!
>
> I have to say, though, that there is at least one disadvantage with PDFs. You can look at only one page at a time in a PDF - whereas with a physical book, you can look at one page while having a finger or two (or more, if you're especially dexterous) in other pages, effectively giving you simultaneous access to several pages. Perhaps some clever soul can suggest how to do this with a PDF. :-)

John, if you have a piece of scrap paper handy, you can jot down the pdf "page" numbers of the pages where you might put fingers in a paper book. Then you can easily go back and forth by typing a pdf "page" number in the navigation box.

Some pdf readers may include a bookmark option and there are some workarounds suggested on the web (using the highlight or comment tools in some reader versions), but I think the simple method above works in any old reader.

[Peter Stewart]

As an inveterate computer dummy, I have no idea of the best way to do
this but my method is to open the same pdf twice or three times, from
the hard disk and from external drive/s, so that I can see two or three
different pages on screen together. I can't do this as readily with any
book I've seen.

Peter Stewart

[John Higgins]

Thanks for the suggestion, Jan, which I've used occasionally. But I don't think that your idea is quite the same as using fingers to keep several pages at hand simultaneously. It's more akin to writing down page numbers in a book for easy reference. IMO fingers work better for quicker reference to just a couple of pages. :-)

[Peter Stewart]

How is this better than being able to see two or three different pages
(or for that matter up to six by my untutored method in double-page
view) on screen at the same time, steadily, without tearing any of them
out of the book?

Peter Stewart

[Peter Stewart]

I hadn't tried this before, but I just viewed eight pages simultaneously
all from the same hard drive by saving the pdf to four different
locations. I doubt that this will ever be useful, even with a bigger
screen than I have (though it could be improved with two screens), but
then I didn't dislocate any fingers or twist my neck in the process.

Peter Stewart

[Jan Wolfe]

On Friday, May 28, 2021 at 7:53:41 PM UTC-4, pss...@optusnet.com.au wrote:
> On 29-May-21 9:12 AM, Peter Stewart wrote:
> > On 29-May-21 4:31 AM, John Higgins wrote:

...

> >> don't think that your idea is quite the same as using fingers to keep
> >> several pages at hand simultaneously. It's more akin to writing down
> >> page numbers in a book for easy reference. IMO fingers work better
> >> for quicker reference to just a couple of pages. :-)
> >>
> >
> > How is this better than being able to see two or three different pages
> > (or for that matter up to six by my untutored method in double-page
> > view) on screen at the same time, steadily, without tearing any of them
> > out of the book?
> I hadn't tried this before, but I just viewed eight pages simultaneously
> all from the same hard drive by saving the pdf to four different
> locations. I doubt that this will ever be useful, even with a bigger
> screen than I have (though it could be improved with two screens), but
> then I didn't dislocate any fingers or twist my neck in the process.
>
> Peter Stewart

Whatever works for each individual seems like a good idea to me. If I used multiple screens or had one large screen, I'd use Peter's idea. One could also tab among the various copies on one small screen. Instead of putting multiple copies of the file in different locations, one could just make multiple copies of the pdf with different names (say by adding 1, 2, 3, etc. to the filename) in the same location. Then it would be easy to delete the extra copies when one finished reading the book.

[Charles Owens]

Hello,

How long does it typically take to receive the book? I am in the USA and I ordered it over 6 weeks ago but I haven't received it yet.

Thank you,

Chuck

[jean-luc soler]

Salut Antoine

une date sur une éventuelle sortie ?

Merci

JL
>
> Antoine Barbry

[antoin...@gmail.com]

Bonjour Jean Luc,

Désolé de la réponse tardive. Christian estime qu'il pourra sortir les 3 premiers tomes de la Préhistoire II des Capétiens pour la fin 2022. Depuis la publication de sa thèse en début d'année, il se consacre exclusivement à ce projet Préhistoire II donc on peut être confiants:-) Par contre il n'est pas encore décidé si les trois tomes sortiront en même temps ou l'un après l'autre avec 1-2 mois entre chaque volume. Le 4e tome par contre attendra un peu plus...
Donc pas de doute sur quels cadeaux demander pour Noël 2022:-)
amicalement

antoine

[Arkadiusz Sz]

Hello

As Christmas 2023 is inevitably approaching, may I kindly ask about the chances of the book (or any volume) being published?...

Best regards

Arkadiusz Szczawinski

[Will Johnson]

Have you tried to contact him?

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian-Settipani