Rare Books
Rare Books - Rare Books are almost always also used books. Rare means there are only a few for sale, if ever, or there are only a few items in existence at all.
For books there are a few different reasons, why they can become rare:
1. Only very few were produced
2. The book is old and most copies have gone lost.
3. There are copies of the book in existence, but their owners do not want to sell them.
Contents at a Glance
The word 'rare'
very uncommon
scarce
The rare, used and collectible book market divides into three relatively clearly defined categories:
- reading copy
- antiquarian
- modern first edition
.
Book Finds - Ian C. Ellis
How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books
Includes information on first editions and reader's copies, auctions and catalogs, avoiding costly and common beginner mistakes, strategies of professional "book scouts," and buying and selling on the Internet.
Ian C. Ellis has been working as a book dealer for more than 20 years, haunting bookstores around the world. He currently specializes in science fiction and mysteries.
Book Finds, 3rd Edition: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books
I bought this book as I was starting into book collecting. But with about 4 months of intensive collecting and study under my belt, I found it not to have too much new or really useful information. Is is, however, very well written and engaging enough that I read the entire book. If you are starting at a slower pace than I did or if you are just thinking about becoming a book collector this is a fine place to start. It has chapter-length overviews of all the important realms and activities of book-collecting. The only weak-spot, but an important one, is in the area of internet books. In being about 2-3 years behind, it is not an adequate introduction to the range of online resources available to the new collector.
Most useful was a list of "1001 more-or-less collectible books" listed by author at the back. (Lacking years of experience, such lists are critical for my reference). This is a useful thing to have around at book sales and the like (along with a good guide to first editions) although not especially wieldy as provided. I found that I finally photocopied the entire section in half-size and ended up with a more useful 5-6 page foldup that I could carry in my pocket. Note that this last section is NOT a price-guide and is not especially discriminatory... for many authors their rarest first book is listed along with much less collectible later works (and since the listings are alphabetical by title, rather than chronological by publication date, you will not be able to use it for parsing-out "first books".
Overall a useful starting resource but one that you will rarely use once your collecting becomes a more serious affair. -- Daryl Anderson (Trumansburg, NY USA)
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 07/12/2009) 
List Price: $15.95
Used Price: $7.27
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Used and Rare Books
Travels in the Book World - Lawrence Goldstone and Nancy Goldstone
The Goldstones are expatriate urbanites who fled jobs on Wall Street to live and write in the Berkshires. With a sense of adventure and fresh beginnings, they relate how they revived their life together and discovered the wonders of old books. Soon they were visiting used and rare book shops and auctions in the remote towns in the region, as well as in Boston, New York, and even as far away as Chicago. Along the way, the reader learns about the lore and minutiae of old books. As the authors flirt with collecting modern first editions, readers are treated to some of the fascinating stories of modern literature and get the insider's view of the arcane ways experts identify a first edition and decide what makes a book valuable. Readers also meet intriguing book sellers and collectors and others who inhabit the world of books. All in all, a delightful education in the book arts; recommended for public libraries. -- Paul A. D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., Me.
Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World
This is a fun read by the Nick and Nora Charles of book collecting. This was their initial book on the subject, a labor of love, and their enthusiasm is contagious. Their books that follow are good, but not as good, because they are becoming pillars of the establishment rather than treasure hunters. There is less spark to their work now, less sense of discovery, more serious, less fun.
Fortunately, for fun I can always come back and read this one again, and John Baxter's marvelously bookish A POUND OF PAPER, and of course, Dashiell Hammett's original Nick and Nora Charles. -- Richard L. Pangburn (Bardstown, KY USA)
This was the first book on Book Collecting by the Goldstones and I am glad I read them in the wrong order. I walk away liking their writing much more than I would have had I read them in the order they were written.
This book starts with a search for a nice, hardcover version of War and Peace for less than ten dollars. This leads Nancy to a used book store where she hears terms and statements that she had never heard before. The Goldstones were used to going to new book stores where if you had a choice between editions of a work, it was hardcover or paperback. They had stumbled into the world of editions and states and translations.
The book goes through the many different dealers in the NE states that the Goldstones visit, as well as visits to her Uncle in Chicago who has been buying rare books since before WWII. As the Goldstones learn about book collecting, the reader learns. This book deals in the hunt, and learning while hunting.
In each of the sections, we find what they are looking for, or interested in. Then there is the learning curve that they go through with explanations from the dealers. They learn about dust covers and their importance. They learn about the importance of the First Edition, First State of a book. You can have two different versions or States of the First Edition; this was news to me. This detailing of each hunt does not seem like the filler that descriptions of the work did in Slightly Chipped. -- Daniel E. Wickett "EWN and Dzanc Books" (Westland, MI United States)
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 07/12/2009)
List Price: $14.95
Used Price: $1.50
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