Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining

whatever books are of interest to a given individual collector. The love of books is bibliophilia, and someone who loves to read, admire, and collect books is a bibliophile. Bibliophile book collecting is distinct from casual book ownership and the accumulation of books for reading. It can probably be said to have begun with the collections of illuminated manuscripts, both commissioned and secondhand, by the elites of Burgundy and rance in particular, which became common in the !"th century. #citation needed$ %uke &hilip the 'ood of Burgundy appears to have had the largest private collection of his day, with about si( hundred volumes. )ith the advent of printing with movable type books became considerably cheaper, and book collecting received a particular impetus in *ngland and elsewhere during the +eformation when many monastic libraries were broken up, and their contents often destroyed. There was an *nglish antiquarian reaction to ,enry -III.s dissolution of the /onasteries. The commissioners of *dward -I plundered and stripped university, college, and monastic libraries, so to save books from being destroyed, those who could began to collect them. Book collecting can be easy and ine(pensive0 there are millions of new and used books, and thousands of bookstores, including online booksellers like 1bebooks, 1libris, 1mazon, and Biblio.com. 2nly the wealthiest book collectors pursue the great rarities0 the 'utenberg Bible and 3hakespeare.s irst olio are, for e(ample, both famous and e(tremely valuable. 4ollectors of average means may collect works by a favorite author, first editions of modern authors, or books on a given sub5ect. Book prices generally depend on the demand for a given book, the number of copies available, and their condition. There are associations that collectors may 5oin. The ine &ress Book 1ssociation is aimed at collectors of modern fine printing, and produces its 5ournal,Parenthesis, twice a year. The &rivate 6ibraries 1ssociation covers modern fine printing too, but is much more general in its outlook and produces a quarterly 5ournal, the Private Library.
Contents
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! 'enres, themes, and interests 7 &rices

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8 4ondition 9 3ources " 1ntiquarian book collecting ".! &rominent book collectors : Book collecting in 4hina :.! Terminology ; -irtual book collecting < 3ee also = +eferences !> urther reading !! *(ternal links

Genres, themes, and interests[edit]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. ?ou can help by converting this section to prose, ifappropriate. *diting help is available. (December 2009) There are millions of books, so collectors necessarily specialize in one or more genres or sub-genres of literature. 1 reader of fiction, who en5oys )esterns, might decide to collect first editions of@ane 'rey.s novels. 1 lover of modern *nglish poetry might collect the works of ) , 1uden. 1 4alifornian who prefers non-fiction might look for books about the history of the 3an rancisco Bay 1rea. Individual interests may include0

1 particular author or genre or field of study Ascience, medicine, history, etc.B 1 particular illustrator 1ward winning books Books as 1rt Bindings andCor Book design. The 'rolier 4lub has since !<<9 been interested in the D... study of the arts pertaining to the production of books...D. 4omic books and 'raphic novels 4over or dust 5acket art irst editions ore-edge paintings Illustrated books

Incunabula0 books printed before !">! 6imited editions 6ocalC+egional interests /arginalia /iniature books The publisher andCor printer ine press books &rivate press books 3mall presses &aper, parchment, or vellum 3eries &hotoplay editions 3igned books0 inscribedCsigned by an author or illustrator 3pecial editions, similar but not always the same as limited editions. 3tages of publication0 advance review copies, galley proofs

+elated collecting interests include collecting bookplates, autographs, and ephemera.

Title page of 4olman.s The Comedies of Terence, !;:"

Prices[edit]
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. 1s with other

collectibles, prices rise and fall with the popularity of a given author, title, or sub5ect. Because of the huge number of books for sale, 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.

Condition[edit]
Further information List of used boo! conditions 1s with other collectibles, the value of a book ultimately depends on its physical condition. ?ears of handling, moving, and storage take their toll on the dust 5acket, cover, pages, and binding. Books are sub5ect to damage from sunlight, moisture, and insects. 1cid from the papermaking process can cause the pages to develop brown spots, called fo"in#E gradually turn brown, called tannin#E and ultimately crumble. 4ommon defects include general wearE 5acketCcover edge wear, scratches, and tearsE the previous owner.s written name, Bookplate, or labelE soil and stainsE dogeared pagesE underlining, highlighting, and marginaliaE water damageE torn hinges, endpapers and pagesE and pages, illustrations, or whole signatures free of the binding, or missing entirely. 1 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 coc!ed, or shelf$coc!ed. If the covers bend in or flare out, usually from rapid humidity changes, a book is bo%ed Abent like a drawn bowB. Thick hardbound books also tend to have their pages sag downward in the middle even if they are sitting level on a shelf.

Sources[edit]
Few books are readily available from bookstores and online. /any bookstores specialize in out-of-print, used, antiquarian, rare and collectible books. 2nline booksellers, including 1bebooks,1libris, 1mazon, and Biblio, encourage other stores and individuals to sell books through their websites, and charge a commission. 1ntique and collectible stores may have a few books for sale. /a5or auction houses sell quality collectible books, and local auction houses may sell books by the carton. Thrift shops and second-hand stores commonly have book

sections. 2ther sources include estate, yard, garage, or rummage salesE and charity fund-raisers.

Anti uarian book collecting[edit]

1ntiquarian book collecting may be roughly defined as an interest in books printed prior to !=>> and can encompass interest in !=th, !<th, !;th, !:th, and !"th-century books. 1ntiquarian book collectors are not e(clusively interested in first editions and first printings, although they can be. *uropean books created before !9"" are all hand-written and are therefore one-of-a-kind historical artifacts in which the idea of DeditionD and DprintingD is irrelevant. There is also an interest among antiquarians for books beautifully made with fine bindings and high quality paper. or many books printed before about !;;>, the first edition is not always obtainable, either because of price andCor availability. 6ater editionsCprintings from an era of interest are still often desirable to the antiquarian collector as they are also artifacts.

The beginning of &aradise 6ost from a !;7> illustrated edition. Fot a first edition but desirable among antiquarians.

or e(ample, a first edition of &aradise 6ost A!::;B by Gohn /ilton can fetch equivalent to a down payment on a house. ,owever, the first illustrated folio edition of !:<<, 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 /ilton lived. There were many editions of 1le(ander &ope.s translation of The Iliad and The 2dyssey. The first edition of !;!"-!;7> is worth a small fortune whereas slightly

later !<th-century editions are a lot less e(pensive but still garner premium prices. The Gohn 2gilby !;th-century translations of ,omer.s The Iliad and The 2dyssey garner hefty prices, but not as much as the first edition of the &ope translation. This may be in part due to a significant number of copies of 2gilby.s first edition probably perished in the 'reat ire of 6ondon of !:::. The first *nglish movable-type printer was 4a(ton in the late !"th century. *ditions of his books from the !"th century are virtually unobtainable. 2ccasionally, !:th-century editions similar to 4a(ton.s books appear among antiquarian book dealers and auctions, often fetching very high prices. The last 3hakespeare irst olio of !:78 Afirst edition of the collected works of )illiam 3hakespeareB garnered a record-breaking "." million in 7>>:. 6ater !;thcentury folios of )illiam 3hakespeare.s works can still fetch about the price of a small house but are more readily available and relatively obtainable, whereas almost all e(tant copies of the irst olio are owned by libraries, museums or universities and thus are unlikely to appear on the market. or the antiquarian collector, how a particular book.s production fits into a larger historical conte(t can be as important as the edition, even if it may not be a first edition. 1lso 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 DprovenanceD, can markedly affect the value of a copy, even if it is not desirable per se. or e(ample, a copy of a less-important !<th-century book known to have been owned by -oltaire would achieve a value many times its stand-alone market value, simply because it was once in -oltaire.s possession. &revious owners of books often signed their copies or labelled them withBookplates, 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 Aoften as a gift from the author with a written dedication to the recipientB are known as 1ssociation copies.#!$

Prominent book collectors[edit]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. ?ou can help by converting this section to prose, ifappropriate. *diting help is available. (December 2009)

Gohn +oland 1bbey 4lifton )aller Barrett#7$ 4hester Beatty

)illiam Thomas Beckford /artin Bodmer Boudewi5n BHch 1nthony 4ollins 'eorge 4osmatos +obert Bruce 4otton Gules %esnoyers Goseph ). %re(el 1le(andre %umas, pIre Jmberto *co Gohn *velyn %e4oursey ales Ian leming #8$ ,enry 4lay olger 'eorge III *dward 'ibbon +obert ,arley, *arl of 2(ford +ush ,awkins +ichard ,eber ,enry II of rance ,arrison %. ,orblit#9$ 1rthur 1. ,oughton, Gr.#"$ ,enry *. ,untington Thomas Gefferson Gerome Kern 'eoffrey Keynes Gohn /aynard Keynes 1leksey Khludov 'eorge rederick Kunz +obert 6enkiewicz Gosiah K. 6illy, Gr. rederick 6ocker-6ampson 1ntonio /agliabechi 1lberto /anguel ,. Bradley /artin#:$ )olfgang /enzel %ewitt /iller /ichel de /ontaigne

G. &ierpont /organ 1. *dward Fewton riedrich Fietzsche 4harles Fodier 3amuel &epys 4harles %yson &errins 3ir Thomas &hillipps rancis &lace 1braham +osenbach 6essing G. +osenwald GoaquLn +ubio y /uMoz Gohn /acKay 3haw /artin 3choyen rederick 3kiff 1dam 3mith )alter ). 3tone Thomas ). 3treeter 6evinus )arner 1ndrew %ickson )hite

Book collecting in China[edit]

The history of book collecting in 4hina dates back over two millennia. 1n important effort to collect books in 4hina was made during the early ,an %ynasty by the government, as many important books were burned during the Nin %ynasty. rom then on, book collecting began to flourish in 4hina, particularly after the invention of block printing during the early Tang %ynasty, with both imperial and private collections blooming throughout the country. ,owever, the systematic study of book collecting began only during the Ning %ynasty.

!erminology[edit]

4angshulou A4hinese0 Dbook collecting towerDB0 library, such as the private Tianyi 4hamber AB, the oldest e(isting library in 4hina, or the imperial )enyuan 4hamber AB, where the works collected in &i!u 'uanshu were reposited

Gin(iangben A Dheadscarf bo( editionDB0 ancient pocket edition Giupingzhuang A Dold paperbackDB or Giushu A Do