[BIRKINSHAW, D. C.]. Technical Description of the Marconi-E.M.I. System of Television at the London Television Station. Broadcasting House, London: The British Broadcasting Corporation, 1937-1939.
"THE BLACK BOOK", including revision pages, no. 137, issued to J. Brockbank, in 12 parts, index, preface amendment sheets, pull-out circuit diagram charts, progress and testing tables through sums, definitive explanations from transmission modules to receiving apparatus. English text in double columns. Publisher's original black loose-leaf binder, titles in green to spine and upper cover, size: 26.5 x 32 x 3.5 cm. Condition: VERY GOOD. Binding secure. Corner reinforcements slightly oxidised. Titles to upper cover faded. Interior very well-preserved. Scarce.
Notes: Rare technical manual in loose-leaf binder, ‘Technical Description of the Marconi-E.M.I. System of Television at the London Television Station’, by D C Birkinshaw MA, known as the ‘Black Book’, comprising a description of the 405-line television equipment installed at Alexandra Palace, north London, in 1936, and as modified, published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Broadcasting House, London, W1, marked ‘Copy No 137’ inside front cover and issued to J. Brockbank.
"The manual, now scarce, covers the entire broadcast chain from camera to aerial (with the exception of the transmitter's RF amplifier) installed in 1936 by Marconi-EMI for the BBC’s first high-definition television station. Owing to the urgency to complete the installation, the manufacturers had not had time to prepare a manual. Birkinshaw, manager of the station, undertook the task himself and the result was a complete description of the equipment, not an overview. Because of the comprehensive nature of the manual as a technical resource, and the colour of the binder, it became known to BBC engineers as the ‘Black Book’. It has recently (2017) been described by ex-BBC senior engineer Martin Ellen as ‘a significant record of broadcast technology history’" [SMG].
