Where is the Next Generation of Book Collectors? Dolly Knows. It Starts with Readers.
- by Michael Stillman
Dolly Parton (photo from imaginationlibrary.com).
It is the age old question of the book collecting field – where is the new collector? It is at times a rhetorical question, more a statement of fear for the field, that books will be overwhelmed by newer forms of technology, from movies to TV to the internet. Who needs this almost 600-year-old technology? And yet it goes on, as generation after generation takes up reading, with some becoming collectors. How does this happen?
Reading is different from viewing. Viewing presents an entire story prepackaged. It is all created for you. Reading, on the other hand, requires you to interpret the words, create the images yourself. It requires imagination. However, with many more technologically exciting choices available, how do you get books in children's hands so they can imagine for themselves? Here is one person who is doing it, and perhaps not an obvious choice. It is Dolly Parton, known as one of the greatest country music singers and performers, along with being an actress, children's books author, and skilled businesswoman (as attested to by her Nashville theme park “Dollywood”). Behind all the fame is a woman dedicated to getting books into the hands of children, in America and now Canada, the U.K. Ireland and Australia. One in seven children in the U.S. age 0-5 receives free books from her Imagination Library, delivered free from Dolly and her numerous supporters.
Dolly Parton comes from rural Sevier County, Tennessee. She was one of twelve children who grew up in a tiny home. Her family was poor, but she probably didn't know it, certainly didn't let it set her back. Based on her songwriting and singing talent, she became a star, first just in country music, but later in other forms of popular music, film, etc. She made a lot of money, but rather than just accumulating it all for herself, she branched into numerous charitable causes, her Imagination Library being at the top.
It began in Sevier County in 1995. By 2000, it spread to other communities. They had mailed out 1 million books. That was then. The Imagination Library has now mailed out 280 million books through its local organizations and it just keeps growing. Dolly's inspiration was her father, whom she said was a very smart man, but never learned to read. “Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission,” she explains on the Imagination Library's website. That kids would call her “The Book Lady” made her father prouder than that she had become a big star.
Book collectors grow from book readers. Book readers grow from children who have books. Few if any people have put more books in the hands of children than Dolly Parton, even if most people know her just as a singer and actor. It is people like Dolly Parton who are creating the next generation of collectors. She understands the importance of books for children to succeed later in life.
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
