Night Climbers of Cambridge
One of my more successful little projects was the systematic photographing and OCR’ing of the infamous 1930s book “The Night Climbers of Cambridge”. This marvelous little book, written on behalf of a group of Cambridge students at the time, catalogues their illicit adventures on the rooftops of Cambridge. In the intervening years, it has become rather a sought-after rare book, at least in the Cambridge area. Since I know many Cambridge climbers who would love to read the book, I made it available online.
The intention of this little escapade is not to flout copyright just for the hell of it. I think that anyone who’s prepared to pay rare book rates for a “real” copy made from dead trees is unlikely to be fully satisfied by this much less elegant online version - at least that’s my excuse for the total lack of effort that’s gone into the formatting. Similarly, my photographs of the photographs (if you get my drift) are blurry and shiny, to an extent which will probably make grown men weep. So if you’re a real aficionado, nothing but the original will do. In fact, I’m pleased to be able to say that the book was recently re-published with the photographs digitally remastered from the original negatives, so owning a top quality version is now a much simpler and cheaper enterprise.
My cautious belief is the Night Climbers themselves would have liked their work to become available to all, now that the Web has reduced the price of content redistribution to pretty much zero. Roof climbing, while in principle a secret activity, derives much enjoyment from the post facto telling of tall tales, and the Night Climbers now have a new audience to enthrall.
Take me to the book!
Please let me know if you find any errors or areas for improvement! And thanks to everyone who helped me to make it happen.
