A Beginner Bibliophile's Little Survival Guide

Getting started in book collecting can be exciting but also intimidating. What should you collect? Which theme should you choose? Which period should you focus on? How do you read a descriptive listing? Where can you buy antiquarian books, and how do you avoid buying mistakes? This survival guide for beginner bibliophiles answers all these questions.

The First Rule: Collect What You Love!

Beginner bibliophiles are often tempted to collect everything. Some colleagues will tell you that you need to focus on a theme, a period, or even a particular publisher. And they will be right! But buying on impulse, to begin with, will work just as well (click here to discover our collection) to spark the beginning of a book-collecting adventure! Either way, there are two types of collector, who often tend to overlap.

The Collector of the Book as an Object

The first is the collector interested in the object itself - its binding, its provenance, its illustrations, its paper. He seeks to complete his collection by referring to a bibliography, articles and books on his favourite subject. This type of collector will tend to focus on a period or a theme (for example, First Editions).

The Thematic Collector

The second type of collector is one interested in the ideas, themes or concepts that books represent. He will tend to want to collect around an idea or an intellectual content (for example, Literature). His bibliographical references will then be more specific and may require more personal research, or asking specialist dealers for bibliographic guidance.

If You're Still Unsure...

In any case, every collection is unique and reflects an incomparable path of thought. Each object in the collection, connected to the whole, reflects a fragment of the collector's personality. As the German philosopher Walter Benjamin put it: "One does not collect books in order to read them, but to define oneself through them".

If you are still hesitating over the choice of theme, period, or "idea" to collect - a conversation with booksellers (do not hesitate to contact me!) or with other bibliophiles can only help you! Never forget that within a few years, you can own an exceptional collection on a subject that no one had ever collected before. Building a fine library is thus not just a matter of price, but a journey through the evolution of your knowledge on a particular subject... A subject which may, later on, evolve along with your life and perhaps lead you to sell part of your collection in order to acquire items on your new favourite theme.

Where to Buy Your Antiquarian Books?

There are four main places that make the antiquarian book market work: bookshops, auction houses, book fairs, and the internet. Each has its own value and should be used wisely.

Bookshops

Bookshops allow you to acquire books whose quality you can be certain of. It is also the best place to learn, since you can consult as many books as you wish and ask your questions at the same time before deciding on a potential purchase. Moreover, it is worth saying, you can always decide to return your purchase within the regulatory limits imposed. In my case, since this is for now an online bookshop, you can always ask me your questions by email, request a video appointment, or come to the address where my books are stored to consult them.

Auction Houses

Auction houses are probably the place where you can find the best deals, but they are almost certainly also the place (along with the internet) where you can make the worst mistakes - both in terms of quality and monetary value. It is often said that one should not start collecting books with a speculative mindset: this is true. But it would still be a shame to pay more for a lower-quality book than what you could find at a bookshop or a book fair. Finally, you can still learn things at auction previews: the sale's expert is always present, and often enjoys discussing with fellow bibliophiles. Do not neglect this aspect either.

Book Fairs

Book fairs allow you to meet booksellers from a whole region, an entire country, or even - for the most prestigious ones - from all over the world. Naturally, it is at these fairs that you will have the chance to find absolutely unique books, thanks to their provenance, their binding, or their rarity, that will complete your library. It is also an opportunity to open your senses to new horizons and thus expand your collection with books that may not even have crossed your mind before. Or, it may be the occasion to find that rare gem you have been hoping to get your hands on for ten years. To keep up with these events, simply follow SLAM (Syndicat national de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne) and ILAB (Ligue Internationale de la Librairie Ancienne).

The Internet

Finally, there is the internet. A terra incognita just twenty years ago, it is today a major driver of the antiquarian book market - both wonderful and terrible at once. Some books, once considered rare, are no longer rare at all, and this has strongly affected booksellers around the world. All the more so since today, anyone can offer their books for sale online: you will find books of every quality there, sometimes with completely absurd prices and descriptions. These are therefore, in most cases, purchases to avoid. Prefer sites reserved for professionals (SLAM, ILAB, Livre Rare Book, MareMagnum, AbeBooks...) or booksellers' own websites like this one! Also prefer booksellers displaying an affiliation with SLAM, ILAB or IOBA (Independent Online Booksellers Association). The first two require sponsorship and guarantee professional expertise and ethics. The third requires an audit of expertise and ethics via the website provided by the bookseller.

How to Read an Antiquarian Book Description

Among most booksellers, descriptive listings for antiquarian books follow conventions established in the 19th century. Today, you will often see some liberties taken with these conventions, but one way or another, they still relate back to this old way of doing things. This allows everyone to look for specific information at a single glance. You will find this same description on the books offered on this site.

This listing is generally presented in two distinct parts:

1. This part concerns the description of the book and is presented as follows:

   1. SURNAME First name. Title of the book as it appears on the title page.
   2. Place of publication: Publisher, date of publication.
   3. Format of the book (for example: Octavo, 200 x 150 mm), number of pages (for example: 300 pp.). A neutral technical description of the book (without mentioning defects), starting with the boards, then the spine, any doublure, and the edges (name of the binder if indicated).

2. The next part contains the bookseller's personal comments, moving from the most general to the most specific:

   1. Information about the edition (for example, whether it is a first edition), the text, the author, the illustrations
   2. Type of paper (if it is a limited deluxe edition), provenance (if there are annotations or ex-libris indicating provenance from a notable collection), type of binding (for example, a 16th-century Lyonnaise binding), defects (torn pages, abrasions on one of the boards, rubbed spine, etc.)
   3. General bibliography for the work

A few additional points to know:

• 1 leaf becomes f. in a listing, 2 leaves become ff.
• 1 page becomes p. in a listing, 2 pages become pp.
• A mention in square brackets indicates that it is not printed on the page. For example, [3] ff. indicates that there are 3 unnumbered leaves, and [HUGO Victor] indicates that the author's surname and first name are not given on the title page.
• Personal comments may sometimes include bibliographic references, other than the general bibliography at the end of the descriptive listing, and these are indicated at the end of the paragraph.

To go further, I can only recommend that you get hold of Anne Lamort's excellent book "Tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur la Bibliophilie Sans jamais avoir osé le demander", which will make a good first book to help you navigate your first steps as a bibliophile. Otherwise... you can read my next articles!

Learning to Assess the Condition of an Antiquarian Book

Whatever the medium through which you wish to acquire your next antiquarian book, you will need to read the descriptive listings carefully. Whether in a bookseller's catalogue or at a public sale, be as alert to what is described as to what is not. If a description does not mention that it is a first edition or a contemporary binding, it is probably because it is not.

Pay close attention to how the photographs are taken - they can sometimes show a major defect very discreetly without it being described in the listing. This is, unfortunately, still a common practice at public sales. If you have any doubt at all, never hesitate to ask for additional photographs or information about the condition of the book that interests you. With a bookseller, you can be certain that the defect will be specified in the listing.

Taking Your Research Further

The more specialised you become in your choice of collection, the more demanding you will become about the choice of books to collect but, above all, the more you will know the true rarity of each book you seek to complete your library.

To do this, you will need to acquire a few bibliographies to know the exact collation (that is, the number of pages) of the books, when the first edition dates from, as well as other quite interesting elements to know. If you are not sure which is the right bibliography to acquire, do not hesitate to contact your bookseller, or myself, for help.

Your research should not stop at simple bibliography. Getting hold of general works on the history of books will allow you to place your collection back into its historical context (do not hesitate to visit my reading recommendations). Subscribe to bibliophile magazines: I can only recommend the Bulletin du Bibliophile or Art & Métiers du Livre. Finally, do not hesitate to search for and read articles, for example on ResearchGate, where you will find numerous articles available for download or, failing that, to request from the researcher who published them on the site.