Book Finds by Ian C. Ellis [ Edited ]

[Daniel_B]

It’s surprisingly difficult to find good books on book collecting. There are many different price guides and references of various sorts (we’ll discuss some of these later), but these rarely lay out the principles that every good book collector should be familiar with.

The best general resource on the subject is Ian C. Ellis’s Book Finds: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books. As the title implies, Ellis covers nearly every aspect of collecting – from determining what to collect to repair and restoration. I’ll be returning to Ellis’s book in many of my posts and I encourage participants in the club to become familiar with it (although this isn’t required).

Daniel

Message Edited by Daniel_B on 06-22-2007 05:39 PM

[Wildflower]

My library does not have this book so I had them borrow a copy from a local college library fo me. Hopefully it will be here soon so I can check it out. It sounds very informational. I never realized how many books there were out htere on collecting books!

[Everyman]

I know these are fiction, not legitimate reference books, but do you have any opinion on how accurate the book evaluations and discussions are in John Dunning's Bookman (and now bookwoman) series? I've greatly enjoyed the books, but I've had no idea whether he was making up or exaggerating the book collecting information for literary effect, or whether his discussions are "the real thing."

[Daniel_B]

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Everyman wrote:
I know these are fiction, not legitimate reference books, but do you have any opinion on how accurate the book evaluations and discussions are in John Dunning's Bookman (and now bookwoman) series? I've greatly enjoyed the books, but I've had no idea whether he was making up or exaggerating the book collecting information for literary effect, or whether his discussions are "the real thing."

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... I saw your earlier exchange on Dunning and have heard others mention him before, but I'm not familiar with the series. If you want to give any examples of book collecting-related facts from the books for me to verify or refute, feel free.