ARTIFAX BOOKS

Announcements April 11 2008:

We are back..... with many new finds from our winter trip. We will be posting them on our pages over the next few weeks, so check in from time to time and review the pages. Here is a photo I took while out in the desert near Quartzsite Arizona. It was winter, so the days were somewhat cool, although one night in the park behind us it got a bit hot.

Photos of the Vibroplex Premier I discovered in Arizona are now up, click here to see this rare vintage bug.

The New 3nd Edition of Perera's Telegraph Collectors Reference Book is out. Bigger format, and updated. We are taking orders now and will begin shipping April 22. See this page.

More recent additions: The New 4th Edition of The Story of the Enigma CD are now available! Each contains twice the material of the earlier editions, at the same low price. More good news: The McElroy book has (finally!!) been reprinted. And the Prescott book, History, Theory and Practice of the Electric Telegraph, is available again. We are able to offer this scarce 1972 reprint of the 1866 book at a fraction of the price that rare book dealers charge for this reprint -- and forget about the price of an original! For all of these items, and more, see this page.

Who we are. Artifax Books has been in business since 1990, when we first offered reference books to telegraph key collectors. The proprietor of Artifax Books is Tom French, author of several books on telegraph instruments. I have been an amateur radio operator since 1955 (and have held the same call letters, W1IMQ, ever since). My hobbies are telegraph instrument collecting, and cars (here's one I built 25 years ago).

Over the years, this list has grown to include telegraph, ham radio and science instruments, antiquarian and used technical books, and other special items that are collectible, interesting, and available nowhere else.

Our email address is (presented this way to avoid email harvesting by spammers).
Your email: Earthlink, Hotmail, AOL and other ISPs have email filters or spam blocker systems. If you send me an email and don't receive a response, it may be because you are filtering out yahoo mail or didn't unblock our email address. Either that, or your mailbox is full (yes, we get bounced for that reason, too).

New and used books, and CDs

New communications books. Books and CDs on telegraphy and telegraph instruments, wireless, solar, and related subjects.
The Vail Correspondent. An index of all issues of this out-of-print telegraph reference, and information on ordering the CD or back issues.
Used books:
Used communications books. Telegraph, telephone, wireless and radio (including commercial and amateur radio).
Americana including Local History, and The American West.
Books on Books including collecting, pubishing and printing.
Electricity and Magnetism
Miscellaneous Various scarce and collectible books on non-technical subjects, from history to poetry.
Science, Technology and Engineering Miscellaneous technical books from astronomy to surveying.

Category-specific books, instruments, equipment and parts..

Telegraph instruments keys, sounders, etc. Also small parts for keys, bugs and paddles.
Railroad Vintage books and rule books, and RR-specific items. (Also see telegraph instruments, and the new and used communications books)
Radio equipment, including early spark radio, tube home radio, military and ham radio, including related manuals, catalogs and publications.
Vacuum Tubes, including tube sockets, manuals and books. Anything tube related will be here.
General Radio Company apparatus. Equipment, connectors, parts, catalogs and manuals, etc.
Science instruments. Scientific, laboratory, electronic test and similar equipment.

Tartans of the Clans of Scotland. Antique prints for the Scotsmen among us. Remember, April 6 is Tartan Day in Massachusetts!
The McElroy pages. Everyone should have a collecting specialty - this is mine.
Links to other sites full of more information on telegraphy and keys.
Get your old telegraph sounder up and running. Good information for the landline and railroad hobbyist.
Wanted: McElroy telegraph keys and apparatus for my collection.

ORDERING INFORMATION for our books and other items appears on their respective pages. For used and antiquarian items be sure to email first to check availability, and to request that we hold the item for you pending receipt of your payment. PAYMENT may be by personal check, money order, or by paypal to our email address (delivery must be to a paypal-confirmed address for orders over $100 unless previously approved).
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS. You can e-mail us, or send us a letter (a SASE for response will be appreciated). Since we often travel during the winter, we may not be able to read e-mail for a week or more during that season, and winter mail correspondence requires patience. Please check our announcements at the top of this page.

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