''The Book Collector'' is a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based journal that deals with all aspects of the book. It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritage policy, from medieval libraries to modern first editions. It has run series on Unfamiliar Libraries, Literary and Scientific Autographs, Author Societies, Bookbinding, Contemporary Collectors, Bibliophiles, and many other subjects. The editor is David Pearson.

History

A precursor to the ''Book Collector'' was the ''Book Handbook'', issued serially in nine parts in 1951. ''The Book Collector'' was launched by the novelist

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, 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., and his ...

in the same year, 1952, that he wrote the first

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

novel, '' Casino Royale''. In 2017, this was discussed at the TLS (''Times Literary Supplement''). The first editor was John Davy Hayward, the friend and muse of T. S. Eliot. Nicolas Barker, sometime publisher and first head of conservation at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

edited for fifty years. He gave a presentation on the history of ''The Book Collector'' at the Caxton Club in 1998. On fifty years of its publication Thomas Tanselle noted, "for over a half-century now, THE BOOK COLLECTOR has been demonstrating --to experienced book people and to newcomers alike--the reciprocal relationship, the inextricable connection, between bibliophily and scholarship." James Fergusson, founding obituaries editor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 1986–2007, was editor from 2015 until 2018. The editor from 2018-2024 was author, James Fleming. His essay, “The Price of Passion: Indexing ''The Book Collector''," illuminated the journal's history. In 2025 David Pearson, former Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries at the City of London Corporation, was appointed editor. Essays about book collecting by Geoffrey Keynes in the ''Book Collector'' have been published in a compilation volume.

Highlights

Some articles of particular interest include "Our Literary Banquet," a fantasy banquet for bibliophiles with place settings (2021); "National Trust Libraries"(2005); "In Search of Missing Copies of Shakespeare's First Folio"(1994); “The Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana”(1989); "Russian Bookbinding from the 11th to the Middle of the 17th Century;" and a series on the Biblotheca Thuana. In 1967 ''The Book Collector'' published a special issue on the November 4, 1966 Floods of Florence. In a 1997 a Special Number for the 150th Anniversary of Bernard Quaritch was published. In 2023 the winter issue was devoted to the history of Printing and the Mind of Man.

Publication

''The Book Collector'' publishes four times a year in March, June, September and December. Each issue consists of 192pp and is sent to subscribers by airmail, where appropriate. Subscribers also have digital access to every issue of ''The Book Collector'', as printed, since its first appearance in 1952 and to its predecessor ''Book Handbook'', which was published in twenty-eight numbers between 1947 and 1951. There is no restriction for libraries and other institutions on the number of digital users. ''The Book Collectors website holds its complete archive, indexed.

Podcasts

''The Book Collector'' produces Podcasts at Soundcloud.The Book Collector
Soundcloud
/ref> Episodes include: "

: A Personal Memoir" by P.H. Muir, read by Rupert Vansittart; "Portrait Of A Bibliophile XVI:

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

1819–1900" by James S. Dearden; and 'Scribes in Ice and Darkness' by Fergus Fleming.

Publication details

Additional Reading

*Hobson, Anthony. “Review: The Pleasures of Bibliophily: Fifty Years of ''The Book Collector'' eviews” ''Library'' 5.1 (2004): 73–75 *Jackson, Ian. 2013. “The Book Collector: A Personal View.” ''Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies'' 17 (1): 9–11.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Book Collector Book collecting Business magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London Magazines established in 1952 Bookbinding * Ian Fleming Library history Historians of libraries