Y’all here are creatures of culture and refinement, so no doubt you’ll be wanting to buy the people on your gift list something classy. Is there anything classier than a signed first edition book? Of course not. Imagine finding out your friend’s favourite book, and giving them a signed first edition as a very special Christmas gift!
Here’s what you’re looking for. You want a book that is:
1 – signed by the author.
2 – in fine condition. Fine is the correct term to use, but unread or very fine are also seen. No rips, no rubbed spots. No mildewy smell. And especially no brown dots or stains (mildew aka mould aka mold). These spots show that mildew has a firm hold on the paper and will only spread. Even specialist rare-book libraries can’t fix mildew
3 – if it was issued with a dust jacket, the dust jacket is present, and is in fine condition
4 – a first edition. This term book-dealer short hand, what’s actually the desirable form is the first printing. Modern books often have a number line on the back of the title page: 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 is a full number line, and means this is a first printing. When it goes in for a second printing they will knock off the 1. For a third printing, they knock off the 2.
Who to buy from? Many experienced dealers belong to (in the U.S.) the AABA, Antiquarian Booksellers Association of American. In the U.K., it’s the Antiquarian Booksellers Association, and so on for other countries.
ILAB, International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, will also help you find rare books and dealers.
Find AABA member dealers here. If there’s a title you know you want, you can search all the members’ stock at once, on the front page. To find dealers in your town, click at the top of the front page on Find Members, then click your state on the pull-down menu at the lower left, and fill in your town, or the nearest large town. You can also click on Specialization, if there is a particular subject area you are looking for. These days, sadly, many dealers have closed their bricks-and-mortar stores and operate only online.
Online buying: Abebooks, Alibris and Biblio cater to the used and rare book market. Amazon, too.
Abe is my personal favourite. I’ve bought and sold books through Abe (Advanced Book Exchange) for years, and prefer it far and away to the others. Mostly because of their Advanced Search, which allows you to narrow your search down to a very specific copy.
Abe lists the inventories of thousands of independent used and rare dealers, worldwide. I’ve never had a bad experience with them. Once I ordered a quite expensive signed presidential biography from a dealer on Abe. It didn’t show up, didn’t show up, didn’t show up. I contacted him, and he sent another copy right away.
A word of warning, as you comb through shelves and online descriptions: you might come across a book marked ex-library. It will have the usual library stickers on it, or maybe just the sticker residue. This is a less desirable book, seldom worth much, unless it is an extremely rare title. Check carefully for the library’s DISCARD or WITHDRAWN stamp. Without this, it might have been stolen. Unfortunately, there is a brisk trade in stolen books.
There are many, many different categories you can choose to collect in.
Fine leather bindings are a glorious thing to collect, if you have deep pockets. Deeply crappy, falling-apart ones from the Victorian era abound and are worth very little. Good-condition ones are scarce and expensive.
There is a category called old paper, meaning maps, leaves, photographs, postcards and ephemera.
Single pages (called leaves) can be very collectible, if they have a desirable map or illustration. Leaves of illuminated manuscripts can often be had for as little as $100. The more red, blue and gold colouring, the higher the price.
If you come across the word incunabula, or one of its variants, it means a book from before 1500AD, which is accepted as being the dividing line between written manuscripts and printed books.
Ephemera are very collectible. These are printed matter that wasn’t really meant to last past its original use. Auction posters and newspapers, for instance.
To get started collecting books, this is your best printed text: ‘ABC for Book Collectors’, 8th edition, by John Carter and Nicholas Barker. 2004.
Online sources of information:
Abe has a wealth of information on collecting. Also the ILAB website, under Library. And ABAA.
Any questions? Happy to answer them. Will be out most of today, but back about 5pm.
Photo: Jameslwoodward. Custom binding of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Half-leather and marbled paper.
