Actually, you are quite mistaken about G.H. Thomas's writings. GHT wrote originally in Model Engineer at the request of Professor Chaddock and his was a contribution to us model engineers -for free. Later George managed to publish his articles in book form as what was part of his intended major work. These were Dividing and Graduating and the Universal Pillar Tool but the Model Engineers Workshop Manual never was published in George's lifetime. He sadly became too ill before this.
I think that yet again model engineers of some standing realised that this book was going to be lost if something wasn't done.
Neil Hemingway- the previous owner of Hemingwaykits, prevailed on Bill Bennett to take all the heap of articles and photographs in George's estate and compile the work.- for posterity. Later, Bill revised the two earlier books and we now have Workshop Techniques which adds further works both by GHT and other helpers.
I can only apologise for the somewhat longwinded account of what happened.
On a personal note, I also attempted to save the articles of the late Martin Cleeve Hart who wrote in ME and Engineering in Miniature.
With the help of others, the work was appearing for free on the Internet. However, when Model Engineer went into 'financial difficulties' it was taken over by Magicalia and articles which had been posted on the net were removed following the threats of legal process.
The important thing was that it was all in an effort to save the work- for you, the future.
So let me continue the saga? Another of my friends actually paid for his two books on model locomotives to be published.
He simply got fed up with what was being written.
In a letter to me he wrote thus:-
In spite of making this definitive information, I still see in magazines- such as ************* questions asking the same silly things- and getting the same silly answers!
He goes on that he became reluctant to pay out again.
You, Sir, have part of the very long story.