Now that I've spent a week reading intensively, I thought I'd post some ruminations about book collectors and buyers.
Book buyers come in many shapes and types, like libraries. Books arrive in their homes through a variety of means and reasons. Their owners are loath to give them up. I’m always curious to know why and how people end up with books in their houses.
Some are “collectors” looking for the best copy or the earliest of an author or a title. These book collectors may purchase books from a time period, like those who buy incunabula or books of the Federalists or Founding Fathers, or medieval manuscripts. They have a topic that fascinates them and collect seriously, methodically, and thus, slowly. This type of collector often has the funds to acquire although these types of books are rarely on the market, are acquired through auctions, estate sales, and are eyed by librarians, museum curators, and the like. When I think of collectors of large, distinguished collections created by robber barons like Henry Huntington’s “The Huntington” https://www.huntington.org/library, J Paul Getty’s “The Getty” https://www.getty.edu/research/library/, or JP Morgan’s “The Morgan Library & Museum” https://www.themorgan.org/. They acquired books, sending buyers to Europe to snatch up estates of nineteenth century collectors and bring them to America. Three magnificent private collections mentioned above are just a few of today’s preeminent libraries, and museums, for researchers and the public to use and enjoy.
Ordinary people, maybe even your friends, could be collectors, purchasing books but probably not on the scale of the robber barons. These collections ultimately end up in academic libraries, special and museum libraries, or are sold through auction houses when heirs don’t want the vast number of books.
Some collectors are “completists”, those who want every book by an author or even every edition and issue of a specific title, for example every edition and issue of J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1997) aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, from each country where it was published (maybe only in English). Completists will acquire biographies and memoirs, letters and diaries by the author or writer. Their collections may look like a special collection at a library with books of commentary and criticism, serious studies, and even bibliographies or bio-bibliographies. These collectors are among the most serious. They are usually people who read their books, love the author or work they collect, and are among the most knowledgeable on the topic(s) their author writes about.
My favorite type of book buyers are “acquirers,” collecting all the books by their favorite authors; series, stand-alone titles, short stories (in collections and otherwise). These collectors often purchase books because they like the character or detective, or better yet, the writing style. They aren’t picky, they just want all the titles. They read and enjoy the books that end up in their homes. They can’t wait to read the next book in the series, the novella or spin-off story, and even those written under pseudonyms. While serious collectors, they acquire because they have a yearning for another encounter with their ‘friends,’ that is the characters in the stories.
Book buyers are also “accumulators”, those who get or purchase a variety of books and a range of authors, perhaps in a genre or genres. Accumulators probably get copies to review, copies from friends who loved the title, and best of all, after browsing at the bookstore. These books come “over the transom,” through the mail, and from friends who want a review. They accumulate books and don’t give them away very often. Their shelves bulge with copies, stuffed every which way, on top of one another, on the tops of bookcases, on any flat surface, and in every room. I’m probably more of this type of collector than any of the others although I do purchase my favorite authors’ books as they come out.
The last category is similar to the acquirer or accumulator except their collections remain smaller in number, with a wide variety coming into the house and then leaving again when read. I’m going to call these collectors “circulators”. They purchase or are given books by friends, read them, and then give them away or return them (like library books).
“Which of these things is not like the other.” Ah, Circulators are Loaners, releasing their books into the wild and hoping they find a new home. A friend of mine takes books on trips and leaves them in hotels, B&B’s and even on the airplane for the next reader and the next. Some circulator erect “Little Free Libraries” https://littlefreelibrary.org/ in their yards. For those of you not in the know, Little Free Libraries are boxes like birdhouses that shelter books temporarily with the hope that a passerby will take a look, take a book, and perhaps bring another to replace it. You’ll find Little Free Libraries in all types of neighborhoods. I’ve even found them in doctor and clinic waiting rooms tempting those waiting for an appointment. So much better than stale magazines.
I leave you with these burning questions: Which type of book collector are you? Why do books appear in your house and what do you do with them afterwards?
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