Centuries ago, book collecting use to be a hobby of elitists, but now a collectors of average means may have a book collection with works from their favorite author, first editions of modern authors, or books on a given subject. While affluent book collectors may collect books that are worth 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars that are only available from private booksellers or specialized auction houses. If you have any curiosity about starting a book collection or wonder why someone would be willing to pay over $180k for a first edition Charles Dickens book, then this is the article for you.

Guides and Articles

These are guides and articles that every newbie book collector should read.

1. The essentials of Book Collecting – Robert Lucas’ guide to book collecting.
2. Books on Book Collecting – Don’t believe this one has been updated recently, but still a good starting pointing if you want to find books or periodicals about book collecting.
3. D.J. McAdam – Book Collecting – A collection of article written by various writers on book collecting
4. Book Stealer’s Guide to Book Collecting - Pretty guide for anyone who would like to start dabbling in book collecting, but don’t know where to start.
5. Rare Finds (Book) - The Bauman’s sure know there stuff! This is a hardback book on how to start collecting rare books.
6. RBMS’s Guide to Old Books – FAQ on rare books by RBMS.
7. eHow’s Video Series Rare Book Collecting – 11 video series on how to start collecting rare books.

Periodicals

If you want to receive professional written articles about book collecting. Read these.

8. FineBooks & Collections – An periodical dedicated to book collection. The site also has a frequently updated blog about the same topic.
9. The Book Thinker – Long running newsletter that deals with book collecting.

Fairs

Fairs are a great place to start your book collecting, you can find cheap first edition to ultra expensive one of kind books at these functions.

10. Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair - the oldest and longest running antiquarian book fair in the country
11. California International Antiquarian Book Fair
12. Florida Antiquarian Book Fair
13. New York Antiquarian book Fair
14. Additional Antiquarian Book Fairs
15. The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair

Associations

If you’re really serious about starting a book collection and want to network with other bibliophiles, then maybe you should look into joining one of these.

16. Rare books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS)- Dedicated to educating and promoting interests of librarians who work with rare books and manuscripts. RBMS is part of the ACRL, a division of the ALA.
17. ABAA – Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. Contains large database of rare books as well as a marketplace.
18. ILAB – International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Includes guides, marketplace, articles, and book database more.

Stores

Ready to start you’re collection, but don’t have a rare book store around your house? Check these online book stores.

19. ChooseBooks.com – Online marketplace for used, rare, antiquarian and out-of-print books, autographs and ephemera Items
20. Livre Rare Book – Rarebook store aggregator, as of this article, you can search from over 593 rare bookshops. Available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French
21. Biblio.com Rare Books Section – One of the biggest online marketplace for rare and antiquarian books.
22. TomFolio – An international Co-op of Independent rare book, periodicals, and paper ephemera.

Databases

Want to know the price or description of a particular book, search on one of thes sites.

23. viaLibri – Search from over 20,000 booksellers worldwide.
24. Americana Exchange – Guide, resource, and periodical about rare book collection. Contains a comprehensive bibliographic database with over 2 million records from auctions, bibliographies, dealer and collector catalogues.
25. Bibliopoly – Incredibly large and easy to use database for looking up rare and Antiquarian books. Developed by Bernard Quartich (150 year old bookshop)
26. BilioFind – Amazon’s rare books database service.
27. Fadedgiant – Free book rare books appraisal website. Has over 50,000 antique books in the database

Blogs

Blogs from people that sell books or collect books for a living.

28. The Private Library - Ongoing guide on how to start your own book collection as well as rare book news and reviews.
29. Confessions of a Curator – Lynne Thomas is the head of Rare Book and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University. She blogs about the library’ collection that has a special emphasis on American pop culture materials from 19th and 20th centuries.
30. Yale Law Library – Rare Books Blog
31. Rare Finds – Blog about rare book colleting written by David and Natalie Bauman who runs rare bookstores in NYC and Philly.
32. Rare Book News – Lee Jay Stoltzfus’ blog on Rare books.Has been around since December 2004
33. PhioBiblos – Jeremy Is a Boston based bibliophile and a reference librarian.
34. Book Hunter’s Holiday – Blog run by Book Hunter’s Holiday bookshop that specializes in Dante Alighieri.
35. First Printing – Blogs about antique blogs and antique prints.
36. Biblioblography – Brian Casidy on rare book – a former bookshop owner.
37. Book Trout – Blogger and owner of Old Saratoga Books in New York, a used and rare book store.
38. Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie – Blogger Lewis Jaffe has been collecting bookplates for over 30 years and this is his blog about collecting them.
39. Lux Mentis, Lux Orbis – Random musings about rare books, fine books, and book collecting.
40. Sarah’s Books – A 5 year old and frequently updated blog about selling used and rare books.
41. The Exile Bibliophile – A blogger’s effort in book collecting, book trade, and ephemera.

Libraries with Rarebook Collections

You might not be able to purchase a first edition Tom Sawyer, but you might be still be able to see it at one of these libraries.

42. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library – Largest public rare book library in Canada
43. Library of Congress
44. Bodleian library – Rare book library at University of Oxford
45. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
46. Columbia
47. Celebrating Research – VERY comprehensive list of libraries with rare book collections.

Schools for Book Collecting

Need more guidance, maybe you should go to one of these book collecting schools.

48. California Rare Books School
49. Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
50. Rare Book School

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