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Articles - October - 2024 Issue

Four Book Collectors and Sellers Share Their Passion for Collecting

- by Michael Stillman

Everyone is a Collector.

Everyone is a Collector.

The world is filled with readers who love books and who are sort-of collectors in that they place the books they have read on their shelves and keep them there, perhaps forever. Still, they may not think of themselves as book collectors despite the love that makes it hard to part with those treasures. Maybe it's time to become a true collector rather than a de facto one. This is a field where there are knowledgeable people willing to help you share their passion.

 

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the American Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABAA), AbeBooks, the world's largest online book selling website, has put together a group of four short interviews with book people. They will give you a feel for the excitement of intentionally collecting books rather than just accidentally so. One of the great things about book collecting is that everyone can pick their own particular niche in the field. There is no one size fits all. In fact, it isn't limited to official “books,” as many people collect other forms of paper as well, documents, manuscripts, letters, posters, maps, etc.

 

The four booksellers and collectors who share their stories are Lisbet Tellefsen, Rebecca Romney, Obediah Baird, and Walter Reuben. Lisbet Tellefsen is an Oakland-based collector and community archivist. She has been collecting virtually her whole life, with the focus shifting from pop culture to posters, Afro-Cuban culture, and black LGBTQ culture. Rebecca Romney has been involved in the book trade most of her adult life, now as a co-founder of Type Punch Matrix. You may have seen her as the book expert on TV's Pawn Stars. Obadiah Baird is one of the co-owners of The Book Bin. His specialty is science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Walter Reuben, logically, is the proprietor of Walter Reuben, Inc. His specialty is films and old Hollywood ephemera.

 

You can hear their messages and better experience the excitement of book and paper collecting for yourself by visiting AbeBooks.com. Click here.

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Posted On: 2024-10-01 04:39
User Name: keeline

I would say "Everyone CAN BE a Collector."

Not all are. Probably in terms of percentages, fewer members of the post-Baby Boom generations are collectors now.

When I managed The Prince and the Pauper Collectible Children's Books from 1988 to 2000, we had many who came in and claimed emphatically that they were "not a collector." There is one view of a collector that is a person who spends large sums on their books or other items.

But when these non-collectors are looking for something and it has to be a particular format or artist for illustrations, and it is not readily available, they have quietly swerved into the collector classification, even if they are not willing to admit it.

And when a non-collector is trying to find something that admitted-collectors are also looking for, they have to compete with them or accept that they probably won't get what they are looking for unless they have the kind of luck that wins the lottery once every year or two.

The same applies to condition. When the non-collector wants nice copies of books from decades before that are no longer in print, this is also part of the realm of the collector.

We often joke that if you have more than five of some class of something or have spent more than double the price of a new copy available now, you are a collector.

But many are just readers and use libraries and library apps to read what they want. They don't try to keep that which they read because of expense and space considerations. I see others who claim they buy books, read them, and sell or give them away. It seems too expensive to be believed but I have to take them at their word on a claim like this.

Thee are some groupings of books that are accumulations and others that are collections which are curated to achieve a level of completeness from some aspect and upgrade over time.

When universities have book collection contests among students, there is usually both a descriptive bibliography requirement as well as an essay on what ties the components of the collection together.

One of the interesting things about acknowledging that one is a collector is the realization that one is not alone. Suddenly you discover communities and realize that you are not the only one who likes a certain kind of book. These can be the people from whom you can learn but will also compete with when it comes to obtaining the more scarce items.

Sometimes we think about collecting things. But I am also interested in collecting both information and the acquaintances and friendships along the way. These can be from fellow collectors and booksellers. This weekend I'll be in Sleepy Hollow for the Nancy Drew Sleuths convention where about 150 fans of that and similar series will gather for presentations, activities, and books.

As much as I like book fairs and have some conversations with booksellers I know or ones that seem to be handling my field, it is hard to converse with the fellow shoppers. Part of this is that they are busy shopping for the rare find. But another part is that it is considered bad form to converse in someone's retail space lest you take business from the person who paid for that space. There are not as many receptions for collectors to meet. That is where bibliophile societies and book clubs can offer opportunities.

James D. Keeline

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b><center>Heritage Auctions<br>Rare Books Signature Auction<br>December 15, 2025</center></b> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633. <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Edgar Rice Burroughs. <i>Tarzan of the Apes.</i> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> F. Scott Fitzgerald. <i>Tender is the Night. A Romance.</i> <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Bram Stoker. <i>Dracula.</i> Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897. <b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> Jerry Thomas. <i>How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…</i>
    Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
  • <b><center>Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!</center></b>
    Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000. <b>Bonhams, Dec. 8-18:</b> Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • <center><b>Sotheby’s<br>Book Week<br>December 9-17, 2025</b></center> <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Francesco Colonna. <i>Hypnerotomachie,</i> Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Nausea. <i>De principiis dialectices Gorgias,</i> and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 17:</b> Billon. <i>Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur,</i> Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000. <center><b>Sotheby’s<br>Book Week<br>December 9-17, 2025</b></center> <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000. <b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.

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