From Publishers Weekly
Basbanes's guide to book collecting is a more practical, but no less impassioned, complement to his earlier history of bibliophilia, A Gentle Madness. He presents useful tips illustrated with charming anecdotes about the collecting habits of everyone from Winston Churchill to Umberto Eco. To Basbanes, book collecting isn't about making money, but "about gratifying a passion in a sensible way." He urges collectors to buy books that they know and develop specific areas of interest to avoid "buying blind-the most frequently committed transgression in book collecting." He insists that it is possible to acquire first-rate collections on modest budgets, and extols the virtues of select Internet sites. Particularly intriguing are Basbanes's descriptions of the most interesting collections he has encountered. Among these are the George Arents Collection at the New York Public Library, which consists of several hundred thousand objects in 20 languages on the history, literature and lore of tobacco, as well as the Jay Miller Aviation History Collection at the Central Arkansas Library, consisting of 6,000 books on flight history and 50,000 aviation journals, along with hundreds of aircraft operation manuals. Basbanes also offers some startling figures. A first issue copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, for example, recently went for $15,000. Though targeted primarily at prospective collectors, this lively book will appeal to any book lover, as Basbanes's enthusiasm is infectious.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Every page of this compendium contains real information. Basbanes tells you what you want and need to know after you have fallen in love with an area or a subject and have begun to think about amassing what you love. He explains clearly how to start, how to listen, how to search. He has no patience for those who buy as an investment only, and he is direct about that. He teaches questions to ask in libraries, of dealers, on the Web; he makes good distinctions between how the Web has facilitated some kinds of book buying as well as making clear what's irreplaceable about book fairs and book dealers. Every librarian should read this book because it illuminates the passion for books from the collector's perspective, one that parallels our own (it may even intersect it at some point). It is rich in engaging vignettes of book collecting and book collectors. It even makes the madness seem, well, logical. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Praise for Nicholas Basbanes:
"Nick Basbanes makes you love books, and the collectors he writes about, and the volume in your hands."
--Scott Turow



Review
Praise for Nicholas Basbanes:
"Nick Basbanes makes you love books, and the collectors he writes about, and the volume in your hands."
--Scott Turow



Book Description
A field guide for the modern book collector

From the author of A Gentle Madness-a book with more than seventy thousand copies in print that delighted bibliophiles everywhere-comes a twenty-first-century guide to book collecting that deals with both the traditional methods of acquisition and the electronic tools now available on the Internet.

Sharing the superb insight he has gathered from booksellers over the years, Nicholas Basbanes offers a refresher course on the fundamentals that endure, while questioning certain practices of doubtful validity. Topics include how to determine if a book is a first edition, how to spot book club editions, the importance of dust jackets, scouting the flea markets, how to work the book fairs, and the importance of handling the goods, as well as discussing less tangible issues like spotting trends and having a focus. Then he takes a long look at the pros and cons of Internet buying, illuminating how you can use these electronic tools to your advantage and making this the book no modern collector will want to be without.



About the Author
Nicholas Basbanes is the author of A Gentle Madness (0-8050-6176-2) and Patience & Fortitude. He lives in North Grafton, Massachusetts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Drawing on the superb insight he has gathered from some of the world's most notable collectors, dealers, and librarians, Nicholas Basbanes offers a penetrating consideration of the pastime as it enters an era in which everything, it seems, has become collectible, an era in which the computer has become an indispensable tool." "In 1750, when the fourth Earl of Chesterfield warned his son against the dangers of bibliomania, few would have guessed that a passion for book collecting could lead to the surprising obsessions described in this book. More inspiring, especially to today's fledgling collector, are the book collectors with the ability to place their well-trained fingers on forgotten volumes that have in them "the latent capacity to become valuable and curious." After all, what could be more fun than finding value where there seems to be none?" "For newcomers, this book presents the rare opportunity to look over the shoulders of accomplished book hunters, all with their own successful strategies, as they pursue their prey, to glean some invaluable tips from the pros. Along with conveying the thrill of the chase, their stories remind readers that good books bought shrewdly are always wise investments." Traditionalists who believe that preparation and knowledge remain the soundest foundation for success will not be disappointed by Basbanes's contention that for all the wonders of the Internet, there is still no substitute for going out into the field, meeting up with kindred spirits at book fairs, open shops, auctions, and flea markets, and learning how to "handle the goods" from people who have been there. At the same time, he questions the relevance of a few axioms that have been accepted as gospel, while explaining the timeless wisdom of others. This is a book for our time - a book that no bibliophile will want to be without.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Basbanes's guide to book collecting is a more practical, but no less impassioned, complement to his earlier history of bibliophilia, A Gentle Madness. He presents useful tips illustrated with charming anecdotes about the collecting habits of everyone from Winston Churchill to Umberto Eco. To Basbanes, book collecting isn't about making money, but "about gratifying a passion in a sensible way." He urges collectors to buy books that they know and develop specific areas of interest to avoid "buying blind-the most frequently committed transgression in book collecting." He insists that it is possible to acquire first-rate collections on modest budgets, and extols the virtues of select Internet sites. Particularly intriguing are Basbanes's descriptions of the most interesting collections he has encountered. Among these are the George Arents Collection at the New York Public Library, which consists of several hundred thousand objects in 20 languages on the history, literature and lore of tobacco, as well as the Jay Miller Aviation History Collection at the Central Arkansas Library, consisting of 6,000 books on flight history and 50,000 aviation journals, along with hundreds of aircraft operation manuals. Basbanes also offers some startling figures. A first issue copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, for example, recently went for $15,000. Though targeted primarily at prospective collectors, this lively book will appeal to any book lover, as Basbanes's enthusiasm is infectious. (Nov. 12)

Kirkus Reviews

As the subtitle suggests, a book for a narrow and often eccentric audience, with few more eccentric than the author himself.

In A Gentle Madness (1995) and Patience and Fortitude (2001), critic Basbanes chronicled the history of book-collecting and profiled a number of his peers: collectors like Umberto Eco, who owns around 30,000 volumes. Here, he delivers a how-to guide for the aspiring bibliophile. A writer whose prose would make the most exacting schoolmaster proud, Basbanes thoroughly explores all aspects of his obscure hobby: how you might peruse bins at book shows, which works of reference to purchase, how books should be cared for, how and why you should seek out a mentor bibliophile. Along the way he offers a sort of autobiography of his bibliomania, which takes him across New England and the rest of the country searching for old books. When the author describes his trips around Cape Cod, buying books and eating fried clams, it￯﾿ﾽs easy to wonder who is being converted here, or at the very least who is the intended audience. But there is something contagious about this harmless, erudite lifestyle. Of paramount important to Basbanes, it seems, is taste. In his opinion, for instance, you shouldn￯﾿ﾽt seek books just because they are old or expensive. You should grow interested in books of one sort, those that deal with certain writers or the history of science, say, and move on from there, discovering one day that you are, by design or not, among the "gently mad," as the writer dubs book collectors.

For those literati who want a window into a strange little world, read on. All others should take a pass.

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