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Rare & Antique Books

Cosimah2o

Active Member
Anyone else collect Rare books ?? Anyone else purchase Antique and Collectible books often ??
>>> By the way, the antique and rare books have subtly different connotations .

As would tell us an antiquarian bookseller, The term “antiquarian” encompasses the ordinary second-hand book . By contrast, the term “Rare” connotes something definitely valuable, for example, the scarcity of copie or by its substantive importance, that is, the significance of the book's contents....
I consider myself a pragmatic collector, that is, I collect some rare books ( first editions ) about specialized/technical subjects in different areas, that besides, were a milestone in itselfs (( very useful knowledges, btw ))
Let's say, without realizing myself, I am collecting books about the mountaineering exploits and ski exploits ( in multiple editions and in different languages) I begun to read antique books and couldn't stop :D I guess, I carry the collectors virus

There is an essay called Why Collect Books about this strange virus that you can read in part :

The world of book lovers is broken into two opposing and irreconcilable groups. The first, and much the largest, is made up of those who see books as consumables. For these people, a book is a medium that carries the author's content—and that is all. If you are a book consumer, you will never be a book collector. We have found from experience that if you do not understand the difference immediately, you never will.

Those of you who are left are the fortunate ones, and not nearly as uncommon as you might think. Although we are in the minority as regards the general population, there are still a great many of us. You might not think of yourselves as collectors, but you carry the virus. It may be latent, but be warned, it is chronic. There is no cure. The good news is that this disease, book collecting, gives pleasure and adds dimension to your life.
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The underlying reason to collect books lies in the duality of the experience. Not only do collectors take pleasure from the intellectual content of their books, but they also enjoy the process of assembling their collections.
At its most fundamental level, book collecting is an extension of the hunting-and-gathering instinct :eek: that has fired mankind's progress from prehistory .
The thrill involved in finding a beautiful first edition is palpable, even for those of us who have been involved in the chase for many years.

Why collect books? Collect them because they are beautiful. Collect them because they are valuable. Most important of all, collect them because you love them. If you are a collector, congratulations—and relax, you are not alone .
Courage Sparkchaser :rofl


 
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Anyone else collect Rare books ?? Anyone else purchase Antique and Collectible books often ??
>>> By the way, the antique and rare books have subtly different connotations .


I consider myself a pragmatic collector, that is, I collect some rare books ( first editions ) about specialized/technical subjects in different areas, that besides, were a milestone in itselfs (( very useful knowledges, btw ))
Let's say, without realizing myself, I am collecting books about the mountaineering exploits and ski exploits ( in multiple editions and in different languages) I begun to read antique books and couldn't stop :D I guess, I carry the collectors virus

There is an essay called Why Collect Books about this strange virus that you can read in part :


Courage Sparkchaser :rofl

Cosimah20
Your post gives great comfort here. :eek:
The collecting urge as you describe it is alive and well here, but has been restrained so far from breaking out into rare or collectible forms.
There are quite enough books already available, thank you, that attract our attention and cry out to be added to our shelves of more books than can possibly be read in a lifetime. Or several.
Dunno know how it happened, but I'm not complaining either.
They are nice to have. And the reward comes in being able to select one right off the shelf when looking for something new to read.
Thanks for the comfort.
Much comfort to you too. :rolleyes:

And happiness,
Peder

PS: The joy of being able to shop The Strand is a separate happiness.
 
I have Oscar Wilde's Importance Of Being Earnest (1920) and Picture Of Dorian Gray (1925), Alexandre Dumas' Count Of Monte Cristo and Stevenson's Kidnapped, both sometime in the 1940's and the second run of the original Pooh Bear book, from the 1960's.

I got all mine on ebay too
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I just happened to start looking through them one day on ebay and decided to buy some. Oscar's in particular go cheap because he's not as well know in America as say, England.





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Oscar's in particular go cheap because he's not as well know in America as say, England.
The same happened to me with some antique books sold in French-speaking countries inside Europe (( Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg )), or in Canada or even in Dom-tom...I found true bargains !!
 
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