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.)

Do you need to be well-heeled to buy early bibles?

Robin Healey gives his informed view on collecting bibles and encourages interested buyers to look more closely under the covers.

Discovering a fore-edge painting is always a pleasant surprise - Stephen Foster

If you have not come across fore-edge paintings, let me first explain what they are. When I first started my bookselling apprenticeship, it was one of the first things I was told to look out for (along with interesting bookplates, and ephemera tucked into the books).

The word ‘modern’ in this context is generally assumed to cover the period from about 1880 to the present day, or from the roots of modernism to the present day, but this has been a matter of debate for many years.

Whilst exactly the same principles apply as to books printed before the age of the machine, certain special considerations arise. Many twentieth-century books have a statement on the verso of the title-leaf recording the date of the first edition and subsequent editions and impressions. On more recent books impressions are often distinguished by an ascending, descending or counterbalancing sequence of numbers on the verso of the title-page, generally beginning or ending in the number of the impression. At each subsequent reprinting one digit is omitted, so to identify the ‘first impression’ it is important to note that the sequence begins with, ends with, or includes a figure 1 (or its equivalent): this indicates the first impression - the only one that may be called a first edition without further qualification. However, this is only one example (albeit the most common) of a welter of different numbering and lettering systems used. Several guides have been issued to assist with this problem.

Unless otherwise stated, where a dustwrapper is present it should be the one in which that particular copy of the book was originally issued.

The existence of digital media may cause some confusion and apparently create grey areas, but the underlying principle of chronological precedence applies.

Dustwrappers (or dust-jackets) themselves sometimes have various impressions or states, which may or may not correspond with different issues of the book. A first impression of a book in a supplied dustwrapper will be greatly devalued if current (or indeed subsequent/future) research shows the wrapper to have been supplied from a later impression or state. The condition of the book should be examined to make sure it is consistent with the condition, or indeed presence, of the dustwrapper, and unless a coherent explanation is given, any discrepancy should be viewed with suspicion.

ABA members must mark all facsimile dustwrappers indelibly and that marking must be clearly visible in normal light. Facsimile dustwrappers may not be exhibited at ABA book fairs.