Collecting Antique Books

Just like collecting other antiques, collecting antique books requires a great deal of knowledge because not every old book is valuable. While some people aren’t even aware of the value of the books on their bookshelves, others are extremely disappointed to find out that what they thought was worth a fortune is virtually worthless. The first rule in collecting antique books is therefore learning to distinguish between old and antique books.

Why Some Old Books Are Only Old and Others Antique?

Antique book market is pretty much all about demand and supply. Books that are rare and highly sought after automatically have a higher price because there are many collectors who want them and are willing to pay thousands of pounds to acquire a copy. But if there is little or no interest in a particular book, it won’t be worth a lot no matter how old it is. There are, however, a few things that allow the collector to distinguish between old and antique books with a high degree of certainty:

Remember to pay attention to the condition! Antique book in a poor condition typically isn’t worth much regardless of the edition and rarity, of course if you’re not dealing with a book or manuscript that is hundreds of years old.

Buying Antique Books

Every once in a while an exceptionally valuable book is found at the most unusual places such as someone’s attic, a basement, flea market, etc. But in most cases, antique books are bought in specialised bookshops, from antique dealers, at auctions and more recently on the Internet.