Percy H. Muir (1894–1979)

Now very largely outdated, though there is still some useful advice in here about reference books, getting to know booksellers, collecting what you like and not what other people tell you to collect, not thinking of books as investments, &c. And some amusing bits: many of the areas Muir suggests as "under-collected" in the 1940s are now decidedly the opposite, for example, and he has a lot to say about the potential rise of "talking books" and other alternative modes of reading which look much different today. Written in Muir's typically no-holds-barred style, which makes for very engaging reading, but does come across as a bit preachy. Certainly a book worth looking into for its ideas about book collecting at a time very different to our own.… (more)