Is anyone familiar with this book? It's entitled, "A Compendium of Drawings of Tanks Mark V - IX and Some Experimental Tanks". It was apparantly collected in 1920 or so and is availible in reprint here:
"The origin of this compendium is unknown - it is a collection of 100 line drawings of tanks from around 1916/17 to perhaps 1920. The drawings are all on linen paper, and are oversized: this has meant they have had to be reduced in many cases by varying amounts. Nevertheless the detail they give of early British tanks (especially the Mark V and variants) is remarkable, and even for non-tank readers they are too interesting to miss. - A full sized set of these drawings can be made available on request."
Any guesses as to the origin of this book/collection? What specific models are included? Is it worth having?
It would be interesting to know more. I notice that the drawing on the cover of this book is the same MkV* cross section that appears in "Tanks and other Armored Fighting Vehicles 1900-1918", by B.T. White. and also in a number of other publications. At £20 a go its a mite expensive to order sight unseen so to speak if it turns out that the other drawings are also ones that are already in circulation. If anyone on the forum has actually seen it they'd be doing as service if they could let us all know what the contents look like.
Having seen reference to this compendium before I bought it, although it is not complete in many ways (and may well contain drawings in circulation) its a pretty good reference, showing general arrangements, elevation cutaways and interior components. Quite a bit of stuff on the MK 1v and MK V tanks, and is cited as being a collection from an armourer's files - better than anything I found out of the tank museum etc...all the drawings appear crisp, no/little distortion from copying etc. I would highly recommend it.
I'm also looking for (more!) decent line drawings of the MK IV, V and also the octagonal turreted Char FT-17...particularly interiors / engines / drivetrains.....the stuff you cant see in most photos...can anyone help?
