Cameron's Encyclopedia on Sound Motion Pictures [*SIGNED* association copy]

Manhattan Beach NY: Cameron Publishing Company. Good. (c.1930). First Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [front hinge weak and rear hinge cracked, with light bumping/fraying to a couple of bottom corners, a little spotting/soiling to top of text block, tiny dent in top edge of front cover]. (advertisements) INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the verso of the half-title page: "To / Bill Canavan / with the high esteem of / Jim Cameron / March/1930"; this copy is also personalized with the name of the inscribee (William F. Canavan) embossed in gold at the lower left corner of the front cover. (Canavan, identified as the International President of I.A.T.S.E. and M.P.M.O., is one of the 14 individuals listed by name in the author's acknowledgments.) This thick (336 pages) but short little volume (just 6.5" tall, obviously designed as a handy reference) is an A-Z rundown -- without illustrations -- of hundreds of terms and topics, ranging from simple definitions to little mini-articles, some several pages long, on diverse topics (e.g. "Care in Handling Sound Film," "Cutting Movietone Pictures," "Setting Up Disc Reproduction," etc.). Cameron had been issuing his motion picture technical manuals since at least 1918; the 4th edition of his volume "Motion Picture Projection" had been published in 1928, and was the first to include information on the technical issues involved with the earliest "talkies," which were then truly in their infancy. By the time 1930 rolled around, however, it was clear to everybody that the talkies were here to stay, and with thousands of cinemas having to rapidly revamp their projection systems, Cameron seized on the demand for related documentation by issuing not just this little encyclopedia but also two more books the same year: "Motion Pictures With Sound" and "Sound Pictures and Trouble Shooters Manual," both advertised in the back of this volume. Invaluable for anyone who wants a comprehensive understanding of the myriad technical challenges of the early sound era. Signed by Author .