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Title: ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter, Nicolas Barker ISBN: 1-884718-05-1 Publisher: Oak Knoll Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 1995 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The first book a collector should read
Comment: Carter's book is not dated for me, but timeless. He has a droll and elliptical way of deflating the fatuous inclinations of book dealers. Yes, there is no index, and it is tough to find exact terminology sometimes. But this book is not a mere reference book, it is meant to be read and enjoyed and instruct you in the "what", but also the "why" and "how". Carter, in his manner and wit, shows a *way* of approaching rare books which I think is very healthy. His skewering of the term "mint condition" and his hilarious description of "issue mongers" have me revisiting this book for momentary pleasure again and again. I started in used books in a store about 8 years ago and when I was hired, my boss put this book in my hands. I have always appreciated that gesture. Any collector should find both pleasure and knowledge in this tome.
Rating: 5
Summary: Subtle, accurate and funny, and indispensable for collectors
Comment: One of the earlier reviewers -- a history grad student -- noted that this book is "outdated and unorganized." Both of those claims are inaccurate. I'm a manuscripts curator by profession, and this text is certainly not outdated. Book knowledge, and the subtleties of collecting and discriminating among important texts, are the highest priorities of John Carter's book, and he imparts those things with great skill. Several reviewers also criticize the lack of an index or table of contents. Folks, it's an encyclopedia; each term has its own heading, in alphabetical order! The book IS the table of contents and the index. This book was required reading for the "Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography" calss when I first attended Rare Book School in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1998; I'm sure it still is.
It's important for historians (grad student or no) to familiarize themselves with this terminology. "All the terms and abbreviation in the book can be found on the Internet," notes the aforementioned grad student. Whoa! The great hulking trash barge that is the Internet does indeed pull up search terms for all of Carter's entries, but I don't trust them to be accurate. Many book-collecting terms are highly subjective ("first edition," for instance) and I'd never rely on an unvetted digital source for an accurate description if I knew nothing of the subject. You can trust John Carter's book. It should be handy on the bookshelf of every bibliophile. You'll find yourself reaching for it a lot. -Dan Lewis, Ph.D., Curator of the History of Science, the Huntington Library.
Rating: 4
Summary: Almost great
Comment: Very informative, well written, witty and interesting. A good read for a reference book. Lack of an index keeps it from being a great book.
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Title: Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions by Bill McBride ISBN: 0930313062 Publisher: McBride Pub Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Book Finds: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books by Ian C. Ellis ISBN: 0399526544 Publisher: Perigee Books Pub. Date: 06 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Selling Used Books Online: The Complete Guide to Bookselling at Amazon's Marketplace and Other Online Sites by Stephen Windwalker ISBN: 0971577838 Publisher: Harvard Perspective Pr Pub. Date: 05 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book-Hunter in the 21st Century by Nicholas A. Basbanes ISBN: 0805051597 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company Pub. Date: 06 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Collected Books: The Guide to Values 2002 by Allen Ahearn, Patricia Ahearn ISBN: 0399147810 Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group Pub. Date: 08 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
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