Book collecting is the collecting 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 ...

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'' 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 librar ...

s as well as online bookstores. Large book sellers include AbeBooks, Alibris,

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 technolog ...

, 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 and Shakespeare's First Folio, books which are both famous and extremely valuable. Collectors of lesser means may collect works by a favorite author, first editions 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 woul ...

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, 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 Greek mercenary armies o ...

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 ...

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 wrote '' The Philobiblon'', in which he praised the love and appreciation of books. Philip the Good 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 print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

invented by

Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs ...

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 ide ...

, 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 da ...

that had been founded by the prominent Renaissance printer, typographer, editor and publisher Aldus Manutius the Elder. 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 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 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 Stat ...

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 offerin ...

, and 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 conside ...

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 Fre ...

. 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 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 ...

; 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 da ...

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 manufacturer ...

(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, 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 John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became know ...

. Well-known book collectors of the 20th century included Eric Quayle (

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

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 f ...

(

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 (

Victorian fiction Victorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era tha ...

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 × 160 ...

sold for $13.6 million while the

St Cuthbert Gospel The St Cuthbert Gospel, also known as the Stonyhurst Gospel or the St Cuthbert Gospel of St John, is an early 8th-century pocket gospel book, written in Latin. Its finely decorated leather binding is the earliest known Western bookbinding to ...

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, 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, 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''; 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 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

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,

, 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 editions 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 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

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. A second edition followed in 16 ...

'' (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 politica ...

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'' and '' The Odyssey''. 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'' and '' The Odyssey'' 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 of 1666. The first English movable-type printer was Caxton 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

) garnered a record-breaking $9,978,000 at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by 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 owned by Groupe Artémi ...

in October 2020. Later 17th-century folios of

'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 Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

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.

Prominent book collectors

* * John Roland Abbey * John Quincy Adams * 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 rich ...

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 le ...

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 ...

Boudewijn Büch Boudewijn Maria Ignatius Büch (14 December 1948 – 23 November 2002) was a Dutch writer, poet and television presenter. Early life Büch was born in a Catholic family. He was born in a hospital in The Hague and spent his childhood in Wass ...

* John Carter Brown * Anthony Collins * George Cosmatos * Robert Bruce Cotton *

Jules Desnoyers Jules Pierre François Stanislaus Desnoyers (8 October 18001 September 1887) was a French geologist and archaeologist. Life Desnoyers was born at Nogent-le-Rotrou, in the department of Eure-et-Loir. Becoming interested in geology at an early age, ...

* Joseph W. Drexel * Alexandre Dumas, père * Umberto Eco *

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 m ...

DeCoursey Fales DeCoursey Fales (June 1, 1888 – June 19, 1966) was an American lawyer, banker, collector, bibliophile and yachtsman. DeCoursey was born in Saranac Lake, New York. He attended Harvard University, where he developed an intense love for Brit ...

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., an ...

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 N ...

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, i ...

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. Goul ...

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 To ...

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 Militi ...

* Richard Heber *

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 Henry Edwards Huntington (February 27, 1850 – May 23, 1927) was an American railroad magnate and collector of art and rare books. Huntington settled in Los Angeles, where he owned the Pacific Electric Railway as well as substantial real estate ...

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 ove ...

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 * George Frederick Kunz * Mark Lanier * Robert Lenkiewicz * Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis * Josiah K. Lilly, Jr. * Frederick Locker-Lampson *

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 * 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 an ...

* Dewitt Miller * David Scott Mitchell * Michel de Montaigne *

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 w ...

* Christoph Gottlieb von Murr * A. Edward Newton *

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 *

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 program for specialty training of phys ...

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 *

* Francis Place * 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 ...

* Ellen G. K. Ruben *

Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz (27 July 1788 – 30 November 1874) was a Spanish lawyer who was a noted antiquarian and numismatist in the city of Cádiz, Spain. He built up a library of manuscripts and rare books and in particular was known for his exten ...

* Arturo Alfonso Schomburg * John MacKay Shaw * Martin Schoyen *

Frederick Skiff Frederick Woodward Skiff (1867–1947), was an author, noted collector, bibliophile, expert on Americana, and founder of the Acorn Club. Skiff traveled widely throughout the United States during his adult life, but is most associated with Connec ...

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 * Andrew Dickson White *

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 found ...

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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

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 Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

by the government, as many important books were

burned Burned or burnt may refer to: * Anything which has undergone combustion * Burned (image), quality of an image transformed with loss of detail in all portions lighter than some limit, and/or those darker than some limit * ''Burnt'' (film), a 2015 ...

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 dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

. From then on, book collecting began to flourish in China, particularly after the invention of block printing 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 vi ...

, such as the private

Tianyi Chamber The Tianyi Ge (), translated as Tianyi Pavilion or Tianyi Chamber, is a library and garden located in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. Founded in 1561 by Fan Qin during the Ming dynasty, it is the oldest existing private library in China. At i ...

(天一閣), the oldest existing library in China, or the imperial

Wenyuan Chamber The Belvedere of Literary Profundity (; 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. Thus some Grand ...

(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 glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

") 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 res ...

, 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, educatio ...

law, depending on the license under which the ebook was released. Ebooks acquired from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a 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 oldest digital libr ...

and many similar free collections cause no violation as they have gone out of copyright, have been released under a Creative Commons license, or else are in the public domain.

References

Works cited

External links

AbeBooks Feature Archives
Articles 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 America
An association of rare book sellers in the United States
Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers
The 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 Documents
Ten frequently asked questions, National Library of the Netherlands.
Conservation OnLine: Resources for Conservation Professionals
A project of the Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries

A librarian's choice of the best Web resources for book collectors
Collegiate Book Collecting Championship
Annual collegiate book collecting contest, promoting book collecting to the next generation
The FinePress Book Association
An association of collectors of modern fine press books
''Firsts'': The Book Collector's Magazine
Resource for book collecting, first editions, rare, antiquarian books.
The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
Resources including library of articles, glossary of terms in several languages

A book collector's choice of the best books, articles, and online resources
Paperback Revolution
Essays on paperbacks including Tauchnitz, Albatross, and Penguin Books.
Private Libraries Association
A worldwide association of booklovers and collectors
Publishing History
Includes 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