Books on Books; Or, Books for the Book Collector; Or, Book Collecting Starter Kit

Below you will find my very eclectic recommendations for  the book lover. All the book listed have in some way influenced and inspired me at some point in my love for books, book collecting and even book selling.

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Collected Books - Patricia and Allen Ahearn
With any collectible/re-sellable niche, there are prices guides, and book collecting is no exception. There are auction records and book price compendiums, etc. But there is truly only one bible, and it is the Ahearn book. The book is not published every year, which in a way makes each edition that much more of a must-have for a book collector of any stripe. It's a massive tome and it includes much more than just a nice general survey of current prices for modern books. This should be on every book collectors shelf.

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Booked to Die - John Dunning
This book is the start of a fictional series who protagonist - you guessed it! - is a former book collector/dealer. How cool is that? And yes, he's a crime fighter that's gets the women. One thing I found a bit hilarious was when I read a product description to the tune of Dunning's series, helping to "inspire America's passion for modern first-edition book collecting." Really? No. But, this is a must-read for any lover of books. At least this first book, to get a taste. 

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Candida Hofer - Libraries
This is book porn. There's no two ways about it. Pictures and pictures of books and beautiful collections of books. Hofer is a photographer and this is a gorgeous coffee table book that centers around books. You dont need to own this one, but you should try and hunt down a copy just to look.

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Nicholas Basbanes
Basbanes write beautifully about the trade of books: book collecting, book selling, anything books. I distinctly remember reading Among the Gently Mad - it was akin to a psychological primer for me, describing what has seemingly ailed me my entire adult life (and more).

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Basbanes very lovingly describes the idiosyncrasies associated with those afflicted with bibliomania and it's many sibling ailments. His works have inspired me to take my passion with books to higher levels and I will always look back fondly to Among the Gently Mad and A Gentle Madness.

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ABC For Book Collectors - John Carter
Like the Ahearn book, this is an actual indispensable book collector's tool. Also like the Ahearn book, this is periodically updated. This book is not a price guide though, it is an actual glossary of book terms that will help the novice book enthusiast get up to speed. Every once in a while I find that I am looking up terms and I have been in the actual business for 9 years as of this writing.