![Book collection](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Book_collection.jpg)
Book collecting is the
collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvio ...
of
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
s, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''
bibliophilia
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books.
Profile
The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...
'', and someone who loves to read, admire, and a person who collects books is often called a ''
bibliophile
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books.
Profile
The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...
'' but can also be known as an ''bibliolater'', meaning being overly devoted to books, or a ''bookman'' which is another term for a person who has a love of books.
Book collecting can be easy and inexpensive: there are millions of new and used books which are available in brick and mortar
bookstore
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
s as well as online bookstores. Large book sellers include
AbeBooks,
Alibris
Alibris is an online store that sells new books, used books, out-of-print books, rare books, and other media through an online network of independent booksellers.
History
Martin Manley founded Alibris in 1997 with the team behind early o ...
,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
, and
Biblio.com, and there are independent booksellers that can be found online by searching key words such as: books, books for sale, bookseller, bookstore, rare books, collectibles, etc.
Books traditionally were only printed on paper and then pages were bound together; however, in the past decade or so, books are also available in audio format through websites such as Audible, Google Audiobooks, Librivox, Kobo Audiobooks, and Downpour. Users of these sites can purchase a large library of books that they can access at any time using a phone, tablet, or computer. Just like hard copy books, audio books can be accumulated over many years.
Wealthy book collectors pursue rarities such as the
Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed b ...
and Shakespeare's
First Folio
''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
, books which are both famous and extremely valuable. Collectors of lesser means may collect works by a favorite author,
first edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants.
First edition
According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...
s of modern authors, or books of a certain genre. Book prices generally depend on the demand for a given edition which is based on factors such as the number of copies available, the book's condition, and if they were signed by the author (and/or editor or illustrator, if applicable) or by a famous previous owner. For example, a first edition “And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street” can reach the price of $12,000 in the best condition. Some collectors join associations such a
The Fine Press Book Association which is aimed at collectors of modern
fine printing. The
Private Libraries Association The Private Libraries Association (PLA) came into being in 1956 when 18-year-old Philip Ward wrote a letter to the ''Observer'' inviting booklovers and book collectors to attend a meeting to discuss the setting up of an association whose aims would ...
also covers modern fine printing, but is much more general in its outlook.
History of book collecting
In the ancient world, ''papyri'' and scrolls (the precursors of the book in
codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
form) were collected by both institutions and private individuals. In surviving accounts there are references to bibliophile book collectors in that era.
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...
wrote disparagingly of a man who tried to collect more books than his friends.
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was born in ...
was skeptical of those who collect books they do not read, asking: "What is the use of possessing numberless books and libraries, whose titles their owner can hardly read through in a lifetime?" Book collectors in western antiquity prized accurate transcription and high-quality materials.
In 1344 the English bishop
Richard de Bury
Richard de Bury (24 January 1287 – 14 April 1345), also known as Richard Aungerville or Aungervyle, was an English priest, teacher, bishop, writer, and bibliophile. He was a patron of learning and one of the first English collectors of books. ...
wrote ''
The Philobiblon
''The Philobiblon'' is a collection of essays concerning the acquisition, preservation, and organization of books written by the mediaeval bibliophile Richard de Bury shortly before his death in 1345. The purposes of the ''Philobiblion'' were "to ...
'', in which he praised the love and appreciation of books.
Philip the Good
Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...
brought together a collection of "about six hundred manuscripts in his possession at the height of his reign", which was the largest private collection of his day.
With the advent of the
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
invented by
Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable type, movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its ki ...
in the 15th century, which resulted in cheaper and more abundant books, and with the contemporaneous economic, social and political changes of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, book collecting received a great impetus.
Jean Grolier, the Treasurer-General of France, was an important bibliophile and book collector of this period. Grolier owned a library of 3,000 volumes and was known for his love of the Latin classics and of richly decorated bookbindings. He was a patron of the
Aldine Press
The Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics (Latin and Greek masterpieces, plus a few more modern works). The first book that was dat ...
that had been founded by the prominent Renaissance printer, typographer, editor and publisher
Aldus Manutius the Elder Aldus may refer to:
People
* Aldus Manutius, a Venetian publisher who popularized small personal volumes
* Aldus Manutius the Younger, grandson of Aldus Manutius
Businesses
* Aldine Press, the printing office founded by Aldus Manutius
* Aldus Cor ...
.
During the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
many
monastic
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
libraries were broken up, and their contents often destroyed. There was an English
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
reaction to
Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. The commissioners of
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
plundered and stripped
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
,
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
, and
monastic
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
libraries; so to save books from being destroyed, those who could, such as
Archbishop Matthew Parker and
Sir Robert Cotton, began to collect them.
By the late 17th century, millions of printed books were in circulation and auctions devoted to books began to occur and printed catalogues devoted to books began to be issued by book dealers and by auction houses in Europe and America, leading to a growing popularity of book collecting with the increasingly literate public.
With the advent of the
Romantic era
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
in the 18th century and its focus on the past, book collectors began to show an interest in old books, antiquarian editions and manuscripts. This new emphasis was nourished by the flood of old books onto the market following the dissolution of monastic and aristocratic libraries during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
and the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
The British Whig politician
George John, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834) collected tens of thousands of volumes. Strengths of his collection included first editions of the classics; works produced by important early presses, and notably an almost complete collection of
Aldine editions; and many Bibles. In 1812 he founded the bibliophilic
Roxburghe Club
The Roxburghe Club is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom.
Origins
The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 days ...
.
Sir Thomas Phillipps
Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (2 July 1792 – 6 February 1872), was an English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. He was an illegitimate son of a textile manufacture ...
(1792-1872) collected 40,000 printed books and 60,000 manuscripts. He was "the greatest collector of manuscript material the world has ever known". His zealous collecting efforts, which were termed
bibliomania
Bibliomania can be a symptom of obsessive–compulsive disorder which involves the collecting or even hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged.
Bibliomania is not to be confused with bibliophilia, which is the ...
by
Thomas Frognall Dibdin
Thomas Frognall Dibdin (177618 November 1847) was an English bibliographer, born in Calcutta to Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of the composer Charles Dibdin.
Dibdin was orphaned at a young age. His father died in 1778 while returning to En ...
, resulted in the preservation of much historical material, particularly manuscripts, that would otherwise have been destroyed.
The increasingly wealthy United States during the 19th century saw the appearance of "titan" book collectors such as the railroad magnate
Henry Huntington and the financier and banker
J. Pierpont Morgan.
Well-known book collectors of the 20th century included
Eric Quayle Eric Stanley Quayle (1921–2001) was a noted British bibliophile, collector, historian and author.
Career
Quayle's writings were mainly related to the themes of collecting books but he also produced a noted biography (1967) of the Victorian adven ...
(
children's books
A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...
),
Henry Wellcome
Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (August 21, 1853 – July 25, 1936) was an American pharmaceutical entrepreneur. He founded the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Company with his colleague Silas Burroughs in 1880, which is one of the fo ...
(
history of medicine
The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies.
More than just histo ...
) and
Michael Sadleir
Michael Sadleir (25 December 1888 – 13 December 1957), born Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler, was a British publisher, novelist, book collector, and bibliographer.
Biography
Michael Sadleir was born in Oxford, England, the son of Sir Michael ...
(
Victorian fiction).
Prices
Book prices generally depend on the demand for a given book, the number of copies available for purchase, and the condition of a given copy. As with other collectibles, prices rise and fall with the popularity of a given author, title, or subject.
Because of the huge number of books for sale and the constant changing marketplace of editions available, there is no single comprehensive price guide for collectible books. The prices of the copies listed for sale at the online bookseller sites provide some indication of their current market values.
The
Rothschild Prayerbook
The Rothschild Prayerbook or Rothschild Hours (both titles are used for other books), is an important Flemish illuminated manuscript book of hours, compiled c. 1500–1520 by a number of artists.
It has 254 folios, with a page size of 228 × 1 ...
sold for $13.6 million while the
St Cuthbert Gospel sold for $14.7 million. Both of these religious texts were sold in 2012. The Northumberland Bestiary sold for $20 million in 2007. The New Book of Tang sold for $17.1 million in 2018.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
’s
First Folio
''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
, printed in 1623, sold for $9.978 million in 2020. An Action Comics #1 issue sold for a record $3.2 million in 2014 with a cover price of 10 cents.
Condition
As with other collectibles, the value of a book ultimately depends on its physical condition. Years of handling, moving, and storage take their toll on the
dust jacket
The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book ...
, cover, pages, and binding. Books are subject to damage from sunlight, moisture, and insects. Acid from the paper making process can cause the pages to develop brown spots, called ''
foxing
Foxing is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on old paper documents such as books, postage stamps, old paper money and certificates. The name may derive from the fox-like reddish-brown color of the stains, or ...
''; gradually turn brown, called ''tanning''; and ultimately crumble.
Common defects include general wear; jacket/cover edge wear, scratches, and tears; the previous owner's written name,
Bookplate, or label; soil and stains;
dogeared pages; underlining, highlighting, and marginalia; water damage; torn hinges, endpapers and pages; and pages, illustrations, or whole
signatures
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...
free of the binding, or missing entirely.
A book in good condition should be a rectangular solid when at rest, whether upright or on its back, with the covers at right angles to the spine. If a book is out of square, usually from resting crooked on a shelf, or leans to the right or left when on its back, it is ''cocked'', or ''shelf-cocked''. If the covers bend in or flare out, usually from rapid humidity changes, a book is ''bowed'' (bent like a drawn bow). Thick hardbound books also tend to have their pages sag downward in the middle even if they are sitting level on a shelf.
Sources
New books are readily available from
bookstore
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
s and online.
Out-of-print, used, antiquarian, rare and collectible books are available in specialty bookstores both in person and online. Large online booksellers such as
Abebooks,
Alibris
Alibris is an online store that sells new books, used books, out-of-print books, rare books, and other media through an online network of independent booksellers.
History
Martin Manley founded Alibris in 1997 with the team behind early o ...
,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
, and
Biblio, list inventory from other stores and collectors (charging them a monthly fee and commission charges). Smaller online rare book stores can be found by doing a general search engine inquiry using keywords such as: rare books, collectible books, rare collectibles, out of print books for sales. Antique and collectible stores may have books for sale as well. Major auction houses auction off rare and collectible books; some local auction houses sell rare books by the carton. Other sources can include estate, yard, garage, or rummage sales; and charity fund-raisers.
Antiquarian book collecting
Antiquarian book collecting may be roughly defined as an interest in books printed prior to 1900 and can encompass interest in 19th, 18th, 17th, 16th, and 15th-century books. Antiquarian book collectors are not exclusively interested in
first edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants.
First edition
According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...
s and first printings, although they can be. European books created before 1455 are all hand-written and are therefore one-of-a-kind historical artifacts in which the idea of "edition" and "printing" is irrelevant. Any book printed up to the year 1501 is known as an
incunable
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pr ...
or incunabulum. Such books command a premium and are particularly sought after by collectors interested in the history of printing. There is also an interest among antiquarians for books beautifully made with fine bindings and high quality paper. For many books printed before about 1770, the first edition is not always obtainable, either because of price and/or availability. Later editions/printings from an era of interest are still often desirable to the antiquarian collector as they are also artifacts.
![ParadiseLost1720Ed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/ParadiseLost1720Ed.jpg)
For example, a first edition of ''
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...
'' (1667) by
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...
can fetch equivalent to a down payment on a house. However, the first illustrated folio edition of 1688, technically a later edition, is worth a fraction of the first edition, but still fetches in the thousands of dollars as an illustrated book from the era in which Milton lived.
There were many editions of
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
's translation of ''
The Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Ody ...
'' and ''
The Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', the ...
''. The first edition of 1715-1720 is worth a small fortune whereas slightly later 18th-century editions are a lot less expensive but still garner premium prices. The
John Ogilby 17th-century translations of
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
The Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Ody ...
'' and ''
The Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', the ...
'' garner hefty prices, but not as much as the first edition of the Pope translation. This may be in part due to a significant number of copies of Ogilby's first edition that probably perished in the
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...
of 1666.
The first English movable-type printer was
Caxton Caxton may refer to:
Places
* Caxton Street, Brisbane, Australia
* Caxton, Cambridgeshire, a village in Cambridgeshire, UK
** Caxton Gibbet, a knoll near the village
* Caxton Hall, a historic building in London, UK
* Caxton Building, a historic ...
in the late 15th century. Editions of his books from the 15th century are very rare.
Occasionally, 16th-century editions similar to Caxton's books appear among antiquarian book dealers and auctions, often fetching very high prices. The last
Shakespeare First Folio of 1623 (first edition of the collected works of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
) garnered a record-breaking $9,978,000 at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
in October 2020. Later 17th-century folios of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's works can still fetch about the price of a small house but are more readily available and relatively obtainable, whereas almost all extant copies of the First Folio are owned by libraries, museums or universities and thus are unlikely to appear on the market. For the antiquarian collector, how a particular book's production fits into a larger historical context can be as important as the edition, even if it may not be a first edition.
Also of interest are books previously owned by famous persons, or personages of high stature, such as someone from royalty or the nobility. Tracing the history of an antiquarian book's possession history, referred to as "
provenance
Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...
", can markedly affect the value of a copy, even if it is not desirable ''per se''. For example, a copy of a less-important 18th-century book known to have been owned by
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
would achieve a value many times its stand-alone market value, simply because it was once in Voltaire's possession. Previous owners of books often signed their copies or labelled them with
bookplates, and it is often not difficult to identify a prominent previous owner if the provenance is well documented. Books owned by well-known individuals that also have a connection with the author (often as a gift from the author with a written dedication to the recipient) are known as
Association copies.
The American School Library is an example of a very rare multi-volume boxed set with works by many popular or famous authors. Apparently the only extant full set is owned by the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...
.
Prominent book collectors
*
*
John Roland Abbey
Major John Roland Abbey (23 November 1894 – 24 December 1969) was an English book collector and high sheriff.
Early life
He was the eldest of three sons of William Henry Abbey, a brewer, and was named John Rowland before dropping the 'w'. ...
*
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...
*
Darren Ashcroft
*
Clifton Waller Barrett
*
Chester Beatty
*
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford (29 September 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist, art collector, patron of decorative art, critic, travel writer, plantation owner and for some time politician. He was reputed at one stage to be England's riches ...
*
Martin Bodmer
Martin Bodmer (November 13, 1899 – March 22, 1971) was a Swiss bibliophile, scholar and collector.
Biography
Martin Bodmer was the son of wealthy parents born in Zurich, Switzerland, where he lived until 1948. His father died in 1916 lea ...
*
The Book Club of Detroit
The Book Club of Detroit, is a private club and society of bibliophiles in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1957, The Book Club of Detroit, is a club for book collectors.
About
The Book Club of Detroit is club whose members are book c ...
*
Boudewijn Büch
*
John Carter Brown
John Carter Brown II (1797 – June 11, 1874) was a book collector whose library formed the basis of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.
Early life
John Carter Brown II was born in 1797, the youngest of three surviving children bo ...
*
Anthony Collins
*
George Cosmatos
*
Robert Bruce Cotton
Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet (22 January 1570/71 – 6 May 1631) of Conington Hall in the parish of Conington in Huntingdonshire, England,Kyle, Chris & Sgroi was a Member of Parliament and an antiquarian who founded the Cotton library. ...
*
Jules Desnoyers
*
Joseph W. Drexel
*
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...
*
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...
*
John Evelyn
John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society.
John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...
*
DeCoursey Fales
*
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
*
Henry Clay Folger
Henry Clay Folger Jr. (June 18, 1857 – June 11, 1930) was president and later chairman of Standard Oil of New York, a collector of Shakespeareana, and founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Early life
Henry Clay Folger Jr. was born in New ...
*
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
*
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...
*
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Gould sp ...
*
Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford
Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, KG PC FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tory ...
*
Rush Hawkins
Rush Christopher Hawkins (September 14, 1831 – October 25, 1920) was a lawyer, Union colonel in the American Civil War, politician, book collector, and art patron. He was mustered out of the Union Army in 1863 but served in the New York Militia ...
*
Richard Heber
Richard Heber (5 January 1773 – 4 October 1833) was an English book-collector.
Biography
He was born in Westminster, as the eldest son of Reginald Heber, who succeeded his eldest brother as lord of the manors of Marton in Yorkshire and Hodne ...
*
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
*
Harrison D. Horblit
*
Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.
*
Henry E. Huntington
*
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
*
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...
*
Geoffrey Keynes
Sir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes ( ; 25 March 1887, Cambridge – 5 July 1982, Cambridge) was a British surgeon and author. He began his career as a physician in World War I, before becoming a doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, where h ...
*
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
*
Aleksey Khludov
Aleksey Ivanovich Khludov (23 August 1818–22 March 1882) was a Russian Old Believer merchant who amassed the richest private collection of early medieval manuscripts in Imperial Russia.
The son of a peasant, Khludov rose to become a man of c ...
*
George Frederick Kunz
George Frederick Kunz (September 29, 1856 – June 29, 1932) was an American mineralogist and mineral collector.
Biography
Kunz was born in Manhattan, New York City, USA, and began an interest in minerals at a very young age. By his teens, he ...
*
Mark Lanier
William Mark Lanier (born October 20, 1960Koppel, Nathan. "Lone Star Rising" ''The American Lawyer''. March 2004.) is an American trial lawyer and founder and CEO of the Lanier Law Firm. He has led a number of high profile product litigation sui ...
*
Robert Lenkiewicz
Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz (31 December 1941 – 5 August 2002) was one of South West England's most celebrated artists of modern times. Perennially unfashionable in high art circles, his work was nevertheless popular with the public.
*
Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis
*
Josiah K. Lilly, Jr.
Josiah Kirby "Joe" Lilly Jr. (September 25, 1893 – May 5, 1966) was a businessman and industrialist who served as president (1948 –53) and chairman of the board (1953–66) of Eli Lilly and Company, the pharmaceutical firm his grandfather, ...
*
Frederick Locker-Lampson
Frederick Locker-Lampson (1821–1895) was an English man of letters, bibliophile and poet.
Overview
He was born at Greenwich Hospital. His father, who was Civil Commissioner of the Hospital, was Edward Hawke Locker, youngest son of the Captai ...
*
Antonio Magliabechi
Antonio di Marco Magliabechi (or Magliabecchi; 29 October 1633 - 4 July 1714) was an Italian librarian, scholar and bibliophile.
Biography
He was born at Florence, the son of a burgher named Marco Magliabechi, and Ginevra Baldorietta.
Although ...
*
Alberto Manguel
Alberto Manguel (born March 13, 1948, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-Canadian anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor, and a former Director of the National Library of Argentina. He is the author of numerous non-fiction books such ...
*
H. Bradley Martin
*
Wolfgang Menzel
Wolfgang Menzel (21 or 26 June 179823 April 1873), German poet, critic and literary historian, was born at Waldenburg (Wałbrzych) in Silesia.
Career overview
He studied at the Breslau, Jena, and Bonn, and after living for some time in Aarau ...
*
Dewitt Miller
*
David Scott Mitchell
David Scott Mitchell (19 March 1836 – 24 July 1907) was a collector of Australian books, founder and benefactor of the Mitchell Library, at the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.G. D. Richardson,Mitchell, David Scott (1836–1907), ''A ...
*
Michel de Montaigne
Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...
*
J. Pierpont Morgan
*
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
*
Christoph Gottlieb von Murr
*
A. Edward Newton
Alfred Edward Newton (1864–1940) was an American industrialist better known as an author and avid book collector. He is best known for his book ''Amenities of Book Collecting'' (1918) which sold over 25,000 copies. At the time of his death, ...
*
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
*
Charles Nodier
Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier (29 April 1780 – 27 January 1844) was a French author and librarian who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the ''conte fantastique'', gothic literature, and vampire tales. His dream related writings ...
*
William Osler
Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first Residency (medicine), residency program for spec ...
*
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
*
Charles Dyson Perrins
*
Sir Thomas Phillipps
Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (2 July 1792 – 6 February 1872), was an English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. He was an illegitimate son of a textile manufacture ...
*
Francis Place
Francis Place (3 November 1771 in London – 1 January 1854 in London) was an English social reformer.
Early life
He was an illegitimate son of Simon Place and Mary Gray. His father was originally a journeyman baker. He then became a Marshalse ...
*
Abraham Rosenbach
*
Lessing J. Rosenwald
Lessing Julius Rosenwald (February 10, 1891 – June 24, 1979) was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, a chess patron, and a philanthropist.
Biography
Born in Chicago, Lessing J. Rosenwald was the eldest son of Julius R ...
*
Ellen G. K. Ruben
*
Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz
*
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (January 24, 1874 – June 10, 1938), was a historian, writer, collector, and activist. Schomburg was a Puerto Rican of African and German descent. He moved to the United States in 1891, where he researched and raised awa ...
*
John MacKay Shaw
*
Martin Schoyen
*
Frederick Skiff
Frederick Woodward Skiff (1867–1947), was an author, noted collector, bibliophile, expert on Americana (culture), Americana, and founder of the Acorn Club.
Skiff traveled widely throughout the United States during his adult life, but is most ass ...
*
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...
*
Walter W. Stone
*
Thomas W. Streeter
*
Levinus Warner
Levinus Warner, (c. 1618 – 22 June 1665) was a German-born Orientalist, manuscript collector and diplomat for the Dutch Republic in the Ottoman Empire.
Life
Levinus Warner, or Levinus Warnerus, was born c. 1618 in the principality of Lippe, ...
*
Andrew Dickson White
Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American historian and educator who cofounded Cornell University and served as its first president for nearly two decades. He was known for expanding the scope of college curricu ...
*
Harry Elkins Widener
Harry Elkins Widener (January 3, 1885 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman and bibliophile, and a member of the Widener family. His mother built Harvard University's Widener Memorial Library in his memory, after his death on the founde ...
Book collecting in China
The history of book collecting in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
dates back over two millennia. An important effort to collect books in China was made during the early
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
by the government, as many important books were
burned during the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
. From then on, book collecting began to flourish in China, particularly after the invention of
block printing
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
during the early
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, with both imperial and private collections blooming throughout the country. However, the systematic study of book collecting began only during the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
.
Terminology
*Cangshulou ( "book collecting tower"):
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
, such as the private
Tianyi Chamber (天一閣), the oldest existing library in China, or the imperial
Wenyuan Chamber
The Belvedere of Literary Profundity (; Manchu language, Manchu: ''šu tunggu asari''), Wenyuan Ge or Wenyuan Library is a palace building in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
The hall was an imperial library, and a place for learned discussion. T ...
(文淵閣), where the works collected in ''
Siku Quanshu'' were reposited
*Jinxiangben (巾箱本 "headscarf box edition"): ancient pocket edition
*Jiupingzhuang (舊平裝 "old
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
") or Jiushu (舊書 "old books"): old books published after 1911, when the Qing dynasty was overthrown
*Maobianben (毛邊本 "hairy-side edition"): uncut editions
*Songben (宋本 "Song edition") or Songban (宋版 "Song edition"): block printed books published during the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, highly valued by collectors
*Xianzhuangshu (線裝書 "thread-bound book"): thread-bound books, usually referred to those published before 1911
Virtual book collecting
Virtual book collecting can be described as collecting books in a digital format (virtually) on a computer or other electronic device. A bibliophile may acquire
ebooks
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
by downloading them or copying from borrowed media, such as CDs and DVDs. However, this may violate
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
law, depending on the license under which the ebook was released. Ebooks acquired from
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
and many similar free collections cause no violation as they have gone out of copyright, have been released under a
Creative Commons license
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...
, or else are in the public domain.
See also
*
Book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
*
Book Collectors Society of Australia
*
Book design
Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...
*
Bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...
*
Bookplate
*
Collectables
A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...
*
Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies
*
Imprint
Imprint or imprinting may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series
* "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror''
* ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film
...
*
Manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
*
Private library
A private library is a library that is privately owned. Private libraries are usually intended for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public libraries, some people use bookplates – stamps, stickers or ...
*
Tape trading
Tape trading is an unofficial method of distribution of musical or video content through the postal system, which was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. Although most commonly used to distribute and publicize limited-release musical demo tapes i ...
*
Text (disambiguation)
*
''The Book Collector'' journal
References
Works cited
*
Further reading
*Ahearn, Allen and Patricia. ''Book Collecting: A Comprehensive Guide''. New York: Putnam, 1995. .
*Ahearn, Allen and Patricia. ''Collected Books: The Guide to Values''. New York: Putnam, 2001. .
*''American Book Prices Current'' (annual, 1894/1895 onwards)
*Bernard, Philippa, Leo Bernard and Angus O'Neill, eds. ''Antiquarian Books: A Companion for Booksellers, Librarians and Collectors''. Aldershot, Hants., Scolar Press, 1994.
*Brown, James Duff. ''The Small Library: A Guide to the Collection and Care of Books''. London & New York: Routledge, 1907.
*
Carter, John.
ABC for Book Collectors'. 8th ed. edited by Nicolas Barker. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll; London: British Library, 2004. (British Library), (Oak Knoll). (a classic, first published in 1952).
*Carter, John. ''New Paths in Book-Collecting: Essays by Various Hands''. London: Constable & Co.; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934; reprinted Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries, 1967.
*Carter, John. ''Taste and Technique in Book-collecting, with an Epilogue''. Pinner, Middlesex:
Private Libraries Association The Private Libraries Association (PLA) came into being in 1956 when 18-year-old Philip Ward wrote a letter to the ''Observer'' inviting booklovers and book collectors to attend a meeting to discuss the setting up of an association whose aims would ...
, 1970 (The Sandars Lectures in Bibliography, 1947). .
*
Cella, Bernhard. ''Collecting Books: A selection of recent Art and Artists' Books produced in Austria''
*Chidley, John. ''Discovering Book Collecting''. Shire Publications, 1982; 2nd ed., 2004.
*
Connolly, Joseph. ''Collecting Modern First Editions'' (1977).
*Greenfield, Jane. ''The Care of Fine Books''. New York: Lyons & Burford, 1988. .
*
W. C. Hazlitt: ''The Book Collector: A general survey of the pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at home and abroad from the earliest period to the present ... ''. London: J. Grant, 1904 (published over a century ago, but still worth dipping into).
*Hofer, Philip, Ray Nash, Harold Hugo, and Roderick Stinehour. 1968. ''Philip Hofer as author and publisher.''
ambridge, Mass. Harvard College Library, Department of Printing & Graphic Arts.
*Jensen, Kristian. ''Revolution and the Antiquarian Book: Reshaping the Past, 1780-1815.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. .
*McBride, Bill. ''Book Collecting for Fun and Profit''. Hartford, CT: McBride/Publisher, 1997. .
*McBride, Bill. ''A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions''. Sixth ed. Hartford, CT: McBride/Publisher, 2000. .
*McBride, Bill. ''Points of Issue''. Third ed.
artford, CT McBride/Publisher, 1996. .
*Miller, Stephen. ''Book Collecting: A Guide to Antiquarian and Secondhand Books''. Royston, Hertfordshire, Provincial Book Fairs Association, 1994.
*Peters, Jean (Editor). ''Book Collecting: A Modern Guide''. New York and London: R.R. Bowker and Company, 1977. .
*Peters, Jean, ed. ''Collectible Books: Some New Paths''. New York and London: R. R. Bowker, 1979. .
*
Quayle, Eric. ''A Collector's Book of Books''. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1971; London: Studio Vista, 1971.
*Rees-Mogg, William . ''How to Buy Rare Books: A Practical Guide to the Antiquarian Book Market''. Oxford: Phaidon, 1985 (Christie's collectors guides) .
*Rota, Anthony. ''Apart from the Text''. Pinner, Middlesex:
Private Libraries Association The Private Libraries Association (PLA) came into being in 1956 when 18-year-old Philip Ward wrote a letter to the ''Observer'' inviting booklovers and book collectors to attend a meeting to discuss the setting up of an association whose aims would ...
, 1998. .
*Rota, Anthony. ''Books in the Blood''. Pinner, Middlesex:
Private Libraries Association The Private Libraries Association (PLA) came into being in 1956 when 18-year-old Philip Ward wrote a letter to the ''Observer'' inviting booklovers and book collectors to attend a meeting to discuss the setting up of an association whose aims would ...
, 2002. .
*Russell, R.B. ''Guide to First Edition Prices'', Eighth Edition. North Yorkshire:
Tartarus Press
Tartarus Press is an independent book publisher based near Leyburn, Yorkshire, UK. , 2010. .
*Stitz, Charles (editor) (2010). ''Australian Book Collectors''. Bendigo, Victoria: Bread Street Press. .
*Uden, Grant. ''Understanding Book-Collecting''. Woodbridge, Antique Collectors' Club, 1988.
*Wilson, Robert A. ''Modern Book Collecting''. New York: Lyons & Burford, 1992. .
*Zempel, Edward N. and Verkler, Linda (Editors). ''First Editions: A Guide to Identification''. Fourth ed. Peoria, IL: The Spoon River Press, 2001. .
Forbes article on book collecting by Finn-Olaf Jones, December 12, 2005
For more modern accounts, see the series of books on book-collectors, book-collecting and "bibliomania" by
Nicholas A. Basbanes
Nicholas Andrew Basbanes (born May 25, 1943, in Lowell, Massachusetts) is an American author who writes and lectures about authors, books, and book culture. His subjects include the "eternal passion for books" ('' A Gentle Madness''); the histor ...
:
*''
A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books''. New York: Holt, 1999. .
*''Patience & Fortitude: A Roving Chronicle of Book People, Book Places, and Book Culture''. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. .
*''Among the Gently Mad: Perspectives and Strategies for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century''. New York: Holt, 2002. .
*''A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World''. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. .
*''Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World''. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. .
Follow husband and wife team Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone as they search for rare and collectible volumes, and explore real mysteries in the rare-book world, in:
*''Used And Rare: Travels In The Book World''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. .
*''Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. .
*''Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. .
*''Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World''. New York: Broadway, 2002. .
*''The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World''. New York: Broadway, 2005. .
For book collecting in China, see:
* 傅璇琮、谢灼华主编,《中國藏書通史》,宁波:宁波出版社,2001.
* 焦树安,《中囯藏书史话》,北京:商务印书館,1997.
* 任繼愈主編,《中國藏書樓》,沈阳:辽宁人民出版社,2001.
* 黄燕生,《天祿琳琅:古代藏書和藏書樓 》,台北:萬卷樓圖書有限公司,2000.
* 徐凌志主编,《中国历代藏书史》,南昌:江西人民出版社,2004.
External links
AbeBooks Feature ArchivesArticles on rare books and collecting, authors, publishers, interesting characters in literature, and notable anniversaries.
A voluntary association of people who care about the past, present and future of fine books
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of AmericaAn association of rare book sellers in the United States
Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian BooksellersThe official association of rare book sellers in Australia and New Zealand
''The Book Collector''Journal founded in 1952, for "bibliophiles, booksellers, librarians and all who are interested in our literary heritage"
Information and resources for book collectors, trussel.com
''Biblionews''The Journal of The Book Collectors’ Society of Australia.
A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, by Matt T. Roberts and Don Etherington
Resource material for collectors of children's books and magazines
The Conservation of Books and DocumentsTen frequently asked questions, National Library of the Netherlands.
Conservation OnLine: Resources for Conservation ProfessionalsA project of the Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries
A librarian's choice of the best Web resources for book collectors
Collegiate Book Collecting ChampionshipAnnual collegiate book collecting contest, promoting book collecting to the next generation
The FinePress Book AssociationAn association of collectors of modern fine press books
''Firsts'': The Book Collector's MagazineResource for book collecting, first editions, rare, antiquarian books.
The International League of Antiquarian BooksellersResources including library of articles, glossary of terms in several languages
A book collector's choice of the best books, articles, and online resources
Paperback RevolutionEssays on paperbacks including Tauchnitz, Albatross, and Penguin Books.
Private Libraries AssociationA worldwide association of booklovers and collectors
Publishing HistoryIncludes book series and lists of titles in series.
Antiquarian Booksellers Association
Vintage Paperbacks blog
UBC Asian Library Rare Book Collection– A rich collection of Chinese documents and literature, as well as some rare reproductions of Japanese and Chinese paintings, from the UBC Library Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Collecting