The 'Black Book' or ‘Technical Description of the Marconi-E.M.I. System of Television at the London Television Station’

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 9’ inside front cover. British, 1937 – 1939.

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’.