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Collecting Rare Books
A grounding in the vocabulary and habits of book collecting: how editions and issues differ, why collation matters, what a binding tells you, and how to build a collection with a coherent shape.
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Rare Books
Editions, issues, states, bindings and bibliographical description.
2 questions
What makes a book rare rather than merely old?
Age alone is not rarity. Rarity depends on the size and survival of the edition, the priority of the issue, completeness of text and plates, the presence of an original or distinguished binding, and the interest of any inscription or earlier ownership. A common eighteenth-century volume may be worth little; a slim first edition of the twentieth century may be worth a great deal.
Read the full answerWhat is the difference between an issue and a state?
A state records a change made to the printing surface or setting during production; an issue records a deliberate republication of the sheets with a changed title page or imprint. Both bear on priority and therefore on value, and our catalogue entries identify them precisely.
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