Series

A 1984 Briar Circle "Kapp & Peterson" Book Set by Paddy Larrigan This morning I want to share a few thoughts on Peterson first issues and rarities. I’ve been in correspondence with a number of Pete Geeks who have amazing and extensive collections of both, and I’m hoping they'll consider this entire post as an invitationl for them to share their knowledge and collections with us and thereby enlarge our understanding and appreciation of the world’s oldest continuously-manufactured briar pipe. FIRST ISSUES I’ve talked about first issues a number of times in the past, but what I want to look at this morning is what may not at seem an obvious fact: the first issue of a particular shape, line, or series should be seen by us as definitive and important as the first edition of a book is to the bibliophile. While this observation could doubtless be expanded, I’ll confine it to three instances: 1. A first issue represents K&P’s original idea and understanding of what a shape or line should be. 2. Like a first edition book, a first issue Pete usually sets the standard for how subsequent issues will be judged.  3. Sometimes the first issue is simply an original, as it's the only issue. 1. What it "Should Be" What a Shape or Line “Should Be.” In talking with Josh Burgess, Managing Director at Peterson, on the phone last week, we compared notes on the evolution of catalog shapes over the decades. We agreed that while Charles Peterson’s original Patent Systems all of necessity featured tubular shanks, most of them were feminine in comparison with the masculine, iconic versions these same shapes would assume by the Éire era (1938-48).  Of course, if you’re an enthusiast of Patent and IFS-era pipes (as many of us are), then you’ll think of shapes like the 9 and 14 differently than those of us who reference the Éire 9 and the 1980s Mark Twain version of the 14. As Post #203  has dealt with the 9 and Post #296 with the 14, there’s no need to go into it further, although other examples could be given--the original 301 Short Dutch with its beautifully proportioned stem is one that comes to mind: My idea of what shape 302 "should be" (see Post #317) 2. A Standard for Comparison A Standard to Compare With Later Reissues.  Sometimes a shape can change so much that it’s not really even the same shape at all, as was the case with the John Bull 999 (see Post #114 ) and the the B42 / Darwin (see Post #323). The B42 went from being a bent apple (something almost never seen) to a bent brandy (a common-enough shape and one even K&P has repeated, as in the 2013 Limited Edition / POY). While I like both shapes, the very fact that the bent apple was the first, as well as it being replaced by the bent brandy, has prejudiced me in its favor. More recently and…