INTRODUCTION

A large part of the trade in antiquarian books is conducted by catalogues, whether printed or on-line, and books offered in shops or at bookfairs will usually be accompanied by a written description. The requirement to provide some sort of description is implicit in clause 1a 'Description and disclosure' of the ABA's Code of Good Practice which states that members are responsible for the accurate identification and description of books offered for sale. Cataloguing styles vary considerably, but all catalogue descriptions will contain some or all of the following elements, not necessarily in this order:

Once again this year in June and July 2013, the Institute of English Studies in the University of London will run the London Rare Books School (LRBS), a series of five-day, intensive courses on a variety of book-related subjects to be taught in and around Senate House, which is the centre of the University of London's federal system. The courses will be taught by internationally renowned scholars associated with the Institute's Centre for Manuscript and Print Studies, using the unrivalled library and museum resources of London, including the British Library, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Senate House Libraries, and many more.

All courses will stress the materiality of the book so you can expect to have close encounters with remarkable books and other artefacts from some of the world's greatest collections. For full details see the London Rare Books School website.

Manuscripts are unique items, though many of them are similar and share general characteristics. A hard and fast set of regulations, which few will follow and others will not understand, has, therefore, less relevance for manuscripts than printed books and allows me to present my remarks more as an essay than a formulary. Much of what really matters is, in truth, predetermined by the honesty, integrity and sense of self-mortification in the cataloguer and the degree with which he seeks personally to attain perfection in terms of accuracy and straightforwardness. But such considerations have not always faced down earnest legislators in the past.

The Book Collector is the only printed journal in the world dealing with book-collecting, but it is much more than that – a bridge that joins together collectors, librarians and booksellers, and all who are interested in books, to have, to read, to enjoy in any way.

Published quarterly, The Book Collector (http://thebookcollector.co.uk/) publishes authoritative articles on subjects from medieval libraries to modern first editions, collects news and reviews of auctions, publications and trade catalogues, bibliographies and checklists, private press books, exhibitions and much else.

With the advent of the Internet anyone with a computer and a few books can set up as a rare bookseller, and it's occasionally difficult to tell who is an expert, who is a casual hobbyist, and who is an Internet scammer. Here are a few simple reasons to buy from an ILAB bookseller from Tom Congalton of Between the Covers Rare Books:

1. High Standards
Individual bookseller members are admitted to their national organizations, and to ILAB through a process of sponsorship, investigation, and the vote of their peers, after they have demonstrated expertise, excellence, and experience as rare booksellers.

An Interview with ILAB President Arnoud Gerits in the Hong Kong Economic Times 

If you decide to spend money on books and built a collection: collect what is of interest to you, what your heart tells you, what you like, what you love, what gives you pleasure and satisfaction, what is meaningful or significant to you.

“Books? Why would I want to own a book? They take up space and gather dust, they're a pain to carry if I move; oh, and I can always get the text from the Internet...”

Well, at the moment, you often can; but it may not always work like that.

British printing paper sizes and their nomenclature have varied over time. Not all authorities agree on every particular, but the table below represents a consensus view of the names and sizes most commonly cited in the post hand-press period.

The following list of author bibliographies was originally developed for the Modern First Editions course at the London Rare Books School, so the emphasis thus far is on authors whose careers belong wholly or in part in the twentieth century.  Authors from earlier periods will be added over time.

This is very much a collaborative effort.  Please contact the ABA Office ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) with any omissions, corrections, updates or suggestions.

It’s a nice coincidence that printing with movable type was being introduced in the same century as European travellers were setting out to explore Africa and the New World.  The three areas first discovered and hence written about in sub-Saharan Africa were west Africa – the Guinea coast; the Congo – an area extending for some considerable area around the mouth of the Congo river; and the Land of Prester John – Abyssinia or Ethiopia.  (Prester John was to the Europeans of the middle ages a fabulous Christian monarch ruling somewhere in the East.)