The world of rare books

I collect books about books, specifically the rare book trade: the sellers, buyers, collectors, libraries, etc. Anyone with similar interests or should I begin a new group?

I think this group would work very well for the subject you are talking about.
I am sure many people will reply
:-))

I'd join if you did - We seem to share a Madeline Stern/Leona Rostenberg obsession...

I don't know if another group would be repetative... Besides this group there is also "books ON books" and at least one bookstore employees/bookseller group. And a sort of rare book group: "Rare, Old or Offbeat"

Just received The Art of the Book, 1st ed. It traces book illustrating from hand-illustrated medieval manuscripts to modern-day graphic novels. Fully color-illustrated. A great book even though not necessarily in my speciality.

Kingcvcnc,

Have you read the John Dunning mystery series featuring Cliff Janeway?

Recently acquired A Busted Bibliophile by George H. Sargent, one of the only edition (1928) of 600 copies.

Discovered a real rare book dealer in Asheville, NC, member of the ABAA and can't wait to get there. Where do most of you get your best acquisitions?

i just got the book A Gentle Madness, which is about people who collect books. It's a beautiful paperback, and actually much bigger than I expected. I think Basbanes writes a lot of books on book collecting.

Kingcvcnc, for books about rare books, have you tried Oak Knoll Books? Their entire catalog is my wish list.

aarti, Nicholas Basbanes has also written Among the gently mad: perspectives and strategies for the book hunter in the twenty-first century and Patience and Fortitude: a Roving Chronicle of Book People, Book Places, and Book Culture, which you might find interesting.
:-))

I collect and sell (even have a website) for a very small genre.

I also enjoy books about book scouts/hunters too. I have some of the ones mentioned and have added more to my wish list from this discussion.

One not yet mentioned is Memoirs of a Book Snake by David Meyer. My biggest problem with this book is that it's far too short! It should have twice as long.

Although not about books per se, another book I found fascinating was The Island of Lost Maps by Miles Harvey. It's the true story of Gilbert Bland and his theft of hundreds of priceless antique maps from libraries around the country. And since some of the maps were removed from priceless books, it does have a book tie in as well as the fact that the maps were spirited away from what were thought to be very secure reference rooms at very prestigious institutional libraries.

streamsong, thanks for the info!
:-))

Tell me about Oakknoll!!! I'm on their mailing list and support them regularly. Every catalogue brings more that I want.

I personally don`t care how many LT groups there are, or whether they duplicate/overlap, but just for info, I take it you all know about these groups - Antiquarian Books, Rare Old & Offbeat, the two booksellers groups, Book Care and Repair etc.

I see someone`s already mentioned Rare Old & Offbeat, but I like the name so i thought I`d mention it again !).

Other than that, good luck with this group - it seems interesting.

nickhoonaloon, the Antiquarian Books group never took off, and what we have here is apparently a misunderstanding. This group, "Books in Books", probably doesn't include "Books in Books About Books" so a discussion of "the world of rare books" might better be placed in "Rare Old & Offbeat" -- BUT, being a person who is, himself, rare old & offbeat, I also don't mind having it here. (As long as it's talk about books. The more the merrier, I say.)

Quite agree, the more the merrier.

I've got all of Basbanes' books. He's not only engaging writer but is really hooked into the book culture of rare and old and just interesting. Isn't it Basbanes that has the radio show that I see on Book TV (cSpan) every blue moon?

Another writer that delves into rare books and scholarly examination of them is Owen Gingerich, an astronomer and professor and wrote a book I could not put down on Copernicus's de Revolutionibus. He examined every extant copy, I believe and it is absolutely a fascinating read.

Glad I checked in on LibraryThing and found this spot.

Thank you Aluvalibri- I think Basbanes books are a trilogy of sorts on book-collecting, aren't they? So far I have only the one. And it's a very pretty one :-) Don't know when I'll get around to reading it, but I like that it's there on my shelf, waiting for me!

streamsong...hadn't heard of Memoirs of a Book Snake. Guess there's another one I've got to take a look at.

kingcvcnc:

looks like David Meyer has a second one called Inclined Toward Magic .....another one for my list too!

Hi!

Last week, I created a Group called Favorite Bookstores.

Would you folks who patronize Oaknoll and the book dealer in Ashville, mind adding an entry for them in there? The Subject Line should be formatted a particular way -- so it can be sorted geographically. I've got a few more to add myself.

Thanks,
WholeHouseLibrary