The falconry community is small and therefore literature on the subject is somewhat limited. Every once in awhile though, a book will be published that is a "must have". Because of the limited size of the audience, falconry books tend to be published in smaller numbers and once the initial published count has been depleted those "must have" books become quite the valuable commodity. Take for instance
The Imprint Accipiter by Michael McDermott, considered by many to be an essential read if you are going to be raising a young hawk. Now you can own your very own copy for only $408.52! (Luckily Mr. McDermott is rumored to be working on a reprint of the book that should be out soon...I'll buy one then!) And if you thought
that was bad check out this special edition signed copy of Harry McElroy's
Desert Hawking II . Granted, it's a signed special edition copy of the book but...$850?!?!
鷹狩の仲間がどこにいっても少ないです。それからこそ鷹狩についての本がわずかしかない。（日本語の本にしてはもっとそうかもしれない）しかしたまに買わなきゃような本が出てきます。例えばインプリントをするなら
The Imprint Accipiterは聖書みたい（英語しかない）。しかしそういう本を読む人が少ないのでそう何印刷しない。今その本を買おうと思ったら約5万円がかかる！
高い！でもあれが可笑しいと思ったら
Desert Hawking IIという本は今ebayで10万円に近い値段で売っています！まぁ，ちょっと特別な本は確かでしょうけど10万円?!?信じられない。
Well wouldn't ya know it, back when I was an apprentice falconer at a weekend meet at a
spectacular lodge (that was geared toward falconry at the time), I happen to pick up a copy of one of Mr. McElroy's books:
しかし12年ぐらい前に鷹狩大会に行った時
Desert Hawking IIの作者の別の本を買いました：
I remember struggling over the purchase, I can't remember if I had a job or not at the time but $60 seemed like A LOT of money at the time. Looking back now I can't say I regret the purchase! Another falconer recently told me that he sold his copy for $500! If I sold mine for that much it would be about a 850% return on my investment! Why can't I get my stocks to do that?!
その時7千円は‘高いな!’と思ったきょくがあるけど反省すると買ってよかった!他の鷹匠は最近同じ本を6万円で売ることが出来たそうです。役850％のもけ！株がそのぐらい上がったらいいのに．．．
Yeah, the economy is bad right now but not quite bad enough for me to give this book up yet. There's definitely a part of me that wonders what this price tag would say today though:
景気が悪いというのは確かだけどこの本を売るほどではない。しかし売ったらその時の値段は今どうなっているかな．．．
