"Lamp and Books" Linda Mann 1996 (Posted with permission. Copyright Linda Mann. Available at Linda Mann Art Gallery)

Tips on Book Collecting The first and foremost rule of collecting is to collect what you like. Since collecting is a totally optional pursuit, a hobby, it should be governed solely by what gives you pleasure. The number of book collecting categories is virtually endless and if you can think of it, there are probably people out there collecting it.

Just as one example, I was amazed to discover when I published the Frank Spearman books and people started contacting me, that there is a book collecting category of "railroad fiction". Jack Barefield, whose review of the Frank Spearman books appeared in "The Railroadiana Express", is a serious collector of this category. He tells me he has about 150 different titles!

Incidentally, there is no necessity that you collect only first editions or books in fine condition. You will read this frequently in books on book collecting and you will hear it all of the time. It is not true. These are issues that pertain only to the investment potential of your collection, i.e. to the dollar value of your collection, and to the pricing of books you may purchase. Whether this is or isn't of any concern to you is completely optional.

A book collection can in fact become an excellent investment, as anyone who purchased Ayn Rand first editions in the 1960's and 1970's can tell you. Last year I purchased an Ayn Rand collection for about $18,000 that I doubt the collector had paid a total of $3,000 or $4,000 for over the years.

If you are interested in the investment potential of your collection, there are some rules to follow. Buy first editions - and if you don't know what those are for your category, then you must find out. The identification of first editions in many, many categories is of course known. Someone else has likely done the work for you. But there are categories where it is not known - and then you must do the work! (I have had to do this for Nevil Shute, for example). But this can be part of the fun.

Second, buy the best condition you can find and constantly try to upgrade the quality of your collection. Reselling or swapping your lesser quality copies for better copies can help finance the upgrade process.

Very serious collectors will also try and obtain, apart from the obvious first editions, variations, other editions, foreign editions, signed copies, etc. Such collections can become known and "named": for example, "The John Doe Collection of Such-and-Such". When you, or your heirs, decide to sell or donate your collection, it will generate considerable excitement in the trade. The major auction houses will be interested and will feature its sale with a fancy catalog and dealers and collectors from around the world will likely attend or bid. In this environment, the condition and rarity of the items you have collected is of paramount importance.

But, again, this need not be the governing principle of your collection. If you just want to find all of the very best books on the violin written before 1920, you may not care what they are "worth". Your budget, in any event, may impose some limitations. However there are many instances of skillful and persistent collectors who have built impressive collections on very modest budgets.

It is a common misunderstanding that scarce, rare, or old books are necessarily worth a lot of money. This is not true and it is among the first surprises for new collectors. The corollary misunderstanding is that very recent books cannot be worth a lot of money. There are two vital additional factors to determining the value of a book. The first, already discussed, is condition. A very old, very rare book in terrible condition may be worth very little. Many of them in fact are worth nothing at all, i.e, they are worthless. On the other hand, some very recent books in superb condition can be worth a great deal.

The other key factor is demand. If no one is interested in a book, it has no value, regardless of its age or condition. Keep in mind that millions and millions of books were published in the 19^th century and earlier. Many of these books, especially from the 19^th century, are still around. Most of them, by any objective standard, are worth very little; some nothing at all.

On the other hand, some very recent books are worth a great deal. If collectors are pursuing it, if the demand is great, and the supply small, some of these books will sell for $100's or more. This is most common for the first book of an author, who has since developed a loyal following. The first book of an author usually has a very small first printing.

Good examples of this phenomenon are Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October and Sue Grafton's "A" is for Alibi. Fine copies of the first printing of Clancy's book can sell for as much as $1,000 and it was published as recently as 1984!

Another surprise in store for the beginning collector is the value placed on dust jackets. Of course the value of dust jackets only pertains to modern books. Dust jackets did not start commonly appearing on books until the turn of the century. But it was probably predictable that the most seemingly peripheral part of the book, and the part that many readers would damage or even throw away, would become the most desired by collectors.

There is another reason why as much as 80% of the value of a modern first edition can reside in the dust jacket. The look of the books themselves is often dull and uninteresting. The dust jackets are usually the most interesting part of the look of the book. There are even a growing number of collectors who pursue the dust jackets of certain designers and illustrators. I know someone who collects the dust jackets of George Salter. I know him because he came to me for an early Atlas Shrugged dust jacket - designed, of course, by George Salter.

Questions? - E-Mail FredWeiss@papertig.com