Stability is most important when choosing a pair of bookends

 One's eyes can marvel at the look of a handsome pair of bookends, but don't forget that a bookend's job one is to provide stability to a line of books.  From the BestReviews article "Best Bookends":

Bookends offer a great deal of support provided they’re designed to be stable. A large, top-heavy bookend won’t offer as much support as a smaller one with a wide base and lower center of gravity. It’s important to make sure the bookend can’t slip. Some come with a slip-resistant bottom for more friction.

 (https://bestreviews.com/best-bookends)

A basic definition of "first edition"

 Often, you will find that book shopperrs concentrate their efforts only on first editions of their topic of interest.  A first editions is more desireable to the collector than later printings of the same book.

... first edition means the first printing of a book. Edition and printing can be used fairly interchangeably in talking about collectible books, especially in regard to modern fiction.

 {https://www.biblio.com/book-collecting/basics/how-to-identify-first-editions/)

Wisdom and booklovers

In The Philoblon, a book by the mediaeval bibliophile Richard de Bury, chapter 15 speaks of the advatages of the love of books.

In this chapter, de Bury again argues that the love of wisdom and the love of books are one and the same. "In books we climb mountains and scan the deepest gulfs of the abyss"

 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Philobiblon)

A basic list of furniture to consider for your home library

 Furniture.com, a furniture store, explains items for shopping for home library furnishings*.

When shopping for home library furniture, most people go straight to bookshelves. While you want plenty of shelving in the right dimensions to store and display your favorite reads, other pieces also make this room a more comfortable place to relax. Our collection can furnish home libraries from top to bottom.

Armchairs and ottomans with bold patterns or leather upholstery add style while creating a cozy spot to read. Students and readers with scholarly interests may prefer a good office chair and sturdy desk. For a place to put an essential reading lamp, consider an accent table.

 *The original article quote includes links to their various products for sale.

(https://www.furniture.com/shop-by-room/home-library)

How to clean non-leather books

 Always respect the 'fragility' of books; they deteriorate over time.. their construction and materials are susceptible to the conditions and handling they are under.  Biblio, a book search engine, provides a list of cleaners; the article, at this time of writing, applies to non-leather books.

A good rule of thumb is this: Surface dirt can always be safely removed, if it’s removed by the least-abrasive means possible. 

 (https://www.biblio.com/book-collecting/care-preservation/cleaning-books/)

The small, yellowish blotches some used books have is called "foxing"

When shopping for used/ rare books, one sometimes comes across a usually old book with small yellow brown spots or blotches on the book's paper.  

The Victorial and Albert Museum of art and design offers considerations on the ownership of a foxed book:

The cost of neglect and poor quality repairs is high. Because books are not usually decorative objects in their own right, and thus not displayed, there is often a resistance to the cost of professional conservation.

Damp conditions in your home library would encourage mold growth, and will cause iron contaminants to rust.

(http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/caring-for-your-books-and-papers/)

Ship your books with confidence with these considerations

The UPS website has an informative article on all things book shipping.  Individual books, volume shipments and more valuable books are considered.  Check out their great tips before shipping your own collectibles!

(https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/knowledge-center/article.page?kid=art16c6c695d0c)

Book Club Editions are great for inexpensive reads

Book Club Editions (often specified on the book's jacket) or "Reader's Digest books" are one of the least costly purchases for books, and can be a good read for many collectors.  They also may be used for decorative puposes or to lift a low mattress.

Book collectors will need to know how to identify these books aimed at the general population.  MyWingsBooks, a bookseller, has a webpage with information and pictures to help you see whether the new or used book is one.

(http://mywingsbooks.com/coll-terms/bce_.shtml)

Monetarily, most ex-library (ex--lib) books are not valuable; but they are readable

 Ex-lib books are often discarded from libraries and picked up/ purchased by booksellers for sale.  However, some collectors buy them at low prices, and read them; others use them for research or specialty book collecting.

Over on an eBay community forum "gtb-books", a book scout, comments:

‎02-09-2013

Former library books are seldom worth anything money-wise, unless they are very old, and in very good or better condition.  Otherwise they are just reading copies.  Collectors usually want pristine  firsts [first editions], especially of more recently published works.

(https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Booksellers/Ex-Library-Books/td-p/2738919)

Help your young bookworms take care of books

 Although The Book Bug blog is written to schoolkids, their pair of free bookmarks on taking care of books should work with all reading children.  You can download them at the Teachers Pay Teachers website.

(https://mrsnthebookbug.blogspot.com/2012/02/book-care.html)

An historical look at the tools writers have used for the written word

 The American Writers Museum, from Chicago, IL US, has a virtual exhibit called "Tools of the Trade."  It examines the tools that have made writing possible through the years, and includes a history of the typewriter audio slidehow and pictures typewriters and other writing instruments.

(https://americanwritersmuseum.org/exhibits/temporary-exhibits,virtual-exhibits/tools-of-the-trade/)

Definition of "collection" applied to a book collection

 Merriam Webster's Unabridged Dictionary defines collection, which includes (for book collecting purposes): 

col·lec·tion noun, often attributive \ kə-ˈlek-shən  \

inflected form(s): plural -s

2  : a number of objects or persons or a quantity of a substance that has been collected or has collected often according to some unifying principle or orderly arrangement: such as

a  : an assembly of objects or specimens for the purposes of education, research, or interest

<the magnificent collection of trees — Edmund Wilson>

 Origin of COLLECTION

Middle English collectioun, from Middle French collection, from Latin collection-, collectio, from collectus (past participle of colligere to collect, amass) + -ion-, -io -ion — more at COLLECT

“collection,” Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/collection. Accessed 2/26/2021.

(https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/) $

How to tell a book's publication from it's copyright date

 New Media Rights, which provides legal services, educational resources, and public policy advocacy for creators, entrepreneurs, and internet users, explains the difference between a book publishing date and book copyright date.  For collectors, a book's copyright page is usually found on the verso of the title page.

... the copyright date that you see on the inside of the book jacket likely coincides with the date of formal registration or the date that the work was finished and submitted to the publisher.

The author of a work has a copyright to the work as soon as it is created. All s/he has to do is “fix the original work in a tangible medium of expression,” meaning either putting pen to paper or just saving a word document. 

An author can either retain their copyright, or assign it to a publishing company.

 (https://www.newmediarights.org/book/copyright_date_same_publication_date)

Many book fairs will take place around the world -- both traditional and virtual -- throughout the year

 The number of virtual book fairs have grown on the internet over the last year.  2 Seas Agency, with offices in California and Europe that sells foreign rights worldwide or into specific territories according to their clients’ needs, has a 2021 calendar of international book fairs.  They will keep it updated as more events might go online.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of these events have been happening either virtually or were cancelled altogether.

At the time of writing (late December 2020), there is still a lot of uncertainty about when, how, or even if these events will take place in 2021.

(https://2seasagency.com/international-book-fair-calendar/)

The American Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) is sponsoring the ABAA California Virtual Book Fair; it is to be held online on March 4-6, 2021.  For their fairs webpage go to:

(https://fairs.abaa.org/)

And over at BookRiot, a site epecially for readers, there is a three-month calendar of book festivals.

(https://bookriot.com/virtual-book-festivals/)

Clean a large bookcase in 15 minutes

 Bookcases come in many shapes and sizes and materials; finding the right way to clean them can be a chore in itself.  Real Simple's website has an artlcle on how to clean and organize a large bookcase quickly with the right supplies.

(https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/dusting-polishing/speed-clean-big-bookcase)

Serious book collectors generally avoid cheaper-produced book club editions

Learn how to identify Book of the Month Club and other book club editions of titles you may be shopping for.

The basic definition: A book club edition (BCE) or book of the month club edition (BOMC) refers to a book printed by a “book club” with cheaper materials than the original publishing house, and is generally not worth much to the serious collector.

 (https://www.biblio.com/blog/2010/11/can-you-identify-a-book-club-edition/)

Some book collectors care for rare books from the 1400's, termed "incunabula"

 Incunabula are the earliest printed books; they roughly cover the period 1450-1500.

Abebooks, a large search engine, has a dedicated webpage about what they are to the book collector:

The term Incunabula (also incunable or incunabulum) refers to a book, pamphlet or other document that was printed, and not handwritten, before the start of the 16th century in Europe.  The first recorded usage of the term incunabula came in 1639 when the noted bibliophile Bernhard von Mallinckrodt issued a pamphlet to mark the bicentenary of the advent of printing by movable type titled De ortu et progressu artis typographicae (“Of the rise and progress of the typographic art”). 

It was within this pamphlet he used the phrase prima typographicae incunabula, “the first infancy of printing” to describe books printed before the date 1500.

 (https://www.abebooks.com/books/rarebooks/gutenberg-printing-press-incunable/incunabula.shtml)

Do you have a pressed flower in your book? A letter? It's "ephemera"

 The Ephemera Society of America shares a long webpage on the term's definition with pictures and text covering a wide variety of ephemera.

Precious primary source information . . . that is what the ephemera world considers its bits and bobs of vintage (and current), usually paper items. Much of it was likely expected, back in its day, to be briefly useful then discarded. Today s auch items which have survived the vagaries of time often reveal things we might not otherwise ever learn.

 (https://www.ephemerasociety.org/definition/)

Good news for collectors of paperbacks is acid-free pages

 Increasingly, book publishers are using acid-fee paper in their paperbacks.

A savvy book shopper might look for the infinity symbol (the horizontal “lazy 8″) often found on the copyright page of contemporary books with a statement that acid-free paper has been used. 

 (https://www.biblio.com/book-collecting/care-preservation/preserving-paperbacks/)

Many book collectors insist on having fine condition dust jackets or covers on their books

  Generally speaking,  a hardback book's dust jacket is an asset when shopping; the price for a book is higher if it has a book jacket in fine condition.  A tear or other problem on the jacket lowers the price of the book; many used books sell with no jacket, which reduce a book's value significantly.

According to Bibio, 

 Once intended to be temporary and disposable protection for beautifully bound books, dust jackets have become–in some ways–more valuable than the books they protect.

Biblio, a book search engine, also has helpful articles on book collecting.

(https://www.biblio.com/blog/2015/04/a-brief-history-of-the-dust-jacket/)

(https://www.biblio.com/blog/2020/10/how-do-i-find-a-specific-book-cover/)