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/)
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/) $
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)
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:
And over at BookRiot, a site epecially for readers, there is a three-month calendar of book festivals.
(https://bookriot.com/virtual-book-festivals/)
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)
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/)
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)
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/)
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/)
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/)
