Friday, September 14, 2012

Save(d) The Art Of Thought!

Note:

There is good news on this front. Apparently the copyright has been settled, and we have new copies printed last year by Solis press. You may still be able to buy a copy from Amazon!
Now on with the original post....



In 1926, Graham Wallas published a book which has been cited in organizational theory texts all over the world (as well as papers on the Philosophy of Art). It presaged cognitive psychology and built a model of creative thought that has helped millions of people recognize and appreciate their own ability to think creatively -- and teach it to others.

I don't have a copy of The Art of Thought. I know it by reputation and reference only. It seems like every once in a while I stumble across yet another reference to the Wallas Model of Creativity, and still I don't have a copy, and have never read a copy of the original work.

Why? Because I can't have one.

Amazon doesn't have it.
Google books doesn't have it.
Barnes and Noble doesn't have it.
Project Gutenberg doesn't have it.

I don't know what the process is to acquire and digitize a book. Heck, I'd be willing to stop into a library and photograph every single page if that would help.  Few libraries have it.

I think that someone needs to digitize and distribute this work, since it is as important as it is rare.

Would you like to help?
Do you know where we can get a copy?
Who has a service that would professionally digitize it?
Do you know how to get the attention of Gutenberg, Amazon, or Google books?

I think we need to figure it out before there aren't any copies left.

5 comments:

  1. It is already digitized at hathitrust.org http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015000629049

    It is not available for download yet, but at least it is saved for future generations :-)

    Looks like the library is your best option!

    Best regards
    Torben

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  2. Unfortunately, "The Art of Thought" seems to still be under U.S. copyright (copyright registered 1926, renewed 1953) which means it can't be digitized or redistributed from servers hosted within the United States, without permission from the copyright holder. No idea who that would be: the author, his wife, and their daughter (who apparently never married or bore children) are all long-dead, so it would either be some distant relative, or someone they sold the rights to.

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  3. There's also this brave man (http://artofthoughtbook.com/) who is apparently the owner of the only surviving copy of the book. He reportedly scoured the seven seas before finally excavating on Tasmania. It might be an elaborate scam though.

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  4. Does anyone know how to find the copyright holder on a book you don't own? Maybe we can petition or bribe or something?

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  5. Okay, here is the official holder:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harcourt_(publisher)

    Not only had the original author and his family departed this earth, so did the publisher.

    Now it is likely held by Pearson:
    http://www.pearson.com/contact-us/pearson-head-office.html

    Digitizing via Pearson might be more likely/possible.

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