Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos Provided by Gustavo Capozzi

“The original is unfaithful to the translation.” ― Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges, KBE(1889-1986), Argentine short story writer, essayist, poet, translator and Knight of the British Empire, regarding Henley’s translation of Beckford’s “Vathek” [1943]

I noticed fairly frequent comments from a certain Argentine member of the Smokers Forums on various threads of mine as well as others, but his note on my most recent post about the restoration of a Savinelli Panama Bent Bulldog #111 KS was – in particular because of the broken English that seemed to me even more apropos to his meaning – eloquent and moving. The member, whose real name I now know is Gustavo Capozzi, referred to a comment I made, that I never bought a Savinelli I didn’t like, when he wrote:

“Robert I agree with you. When I´m a young boy, looked through the window the Savinelli pipes, and as people with money buy.In my student days had only national pipes and an Albanian as ‘imported’.I have a catalog Savinelli of that time where I enjoyed. Even today I could not get some. Congratulations!”

Concluding from the message that he has never owned a Savinelli, I experienced a series of vivid mental images of the young Gustavo growing into manhood, saving the cherished Savinelli catalogue and never being able to afford one or, now, to find the fine Italian brand anywhere in his native country because of governmental commercial import regulations. To be open to the point of risking sounding mushy, I was very touched. And the final word of congratulations to my good fortune added a sense of downright guilt.

In a private message to him on the Forums, I suggested that our host, Steve, would likely be quite interested in the catalogue, which Sr. Capozzi agreed to photograph and email. In fact, he replied that he had already done so, with such speed that I was further struck by his deep love of Savinellis. However, in a case of miscommunication, I believed he had sent the photos to Steve. Eager to know that they were received, Sr. Capozzi wrote to me again, and I contacted Steve, who responded that he had no such email. When I relayed this news to him, he dashed back the frantic note, “emails were sent to you!!!!!!”

With a rising sickness in my stomach, I searched my email, not finding anything. Then I found all but the first batch in the WRONG Junk Mail folder (only with MS Office, I know) and hastened to alleviate Sr. Capozzi’s clear agitation. He shot back the first eight photos.

As a final note before posting the catalogue, I will just add that Sr. Capozzi and I turned out to be mutual fans of the great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, whose quote above seemed fitting to the means of my new friend’s photo translation of the catalogue for our enjoyment and learning…and how much there is to learn from this marvelous catalogue is astonishing: pipe lines, shape charts, dry system pipes, filter dry systems, accessories and even “suggestions.” There happens to be one particular Savinelli in my possession that I have good reason to suspect would make an excellent first for him, if I can find a way to clear Argentina’s red tape. And, of course, provided Sr. Capozzi will give me his address.