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Book Collecting


Wilfrid

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Although I have a zillion books, I have never regarded myself as a collector. I mean the kind of person who targets specific fields of literature and hunts down first editions and rare volumes. The sort of person who can get to the third floor of the Grolier Club.

Yes, I have randomly picked up some rare stuff and some signed volumes over the years, mainly inadvertently. My most valuable volume is almost certainly a 1957 novel largely pulped by its publishers for political reasons.

But oh dear, I am in it now. I was very lucky to be able to buy John Ashbery’s poetry collections, as they were published, and while he was still with us and writing. I have been doing the same with new volumes from the great British poet Jeremy Prynne.

Here’s the difference. Ashbery published with mainstream publishers like FSG and his new books were always in Barnes & Noble. Prynne has long worked with small publishers, no promotion or bookshop sales, and often in very limited editions (150 copies).

Through fascination, attention and speed (and getting to know the publishers) I have managed to collect everything he has published since 1997 (and it’s a lot).

This month I have found myself going back and hunting for the earlier work and honestly spending quite a lot to acquire it. I have no doubt the investment is superbly sound. My daughter will thank me one day.

Yes, I am a book collector. I just need to be nominated for the Grolier Club.

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8 hours ago, hollywood said:

I always wonder if heirs appreciate your obscure finds and their value.  Do you have to leave them notes to explain?  How does it all play out?  Sold off, given away, left in a Public Storage unit?

No question. I will leave detailed instructions. Assuming I don't get hit by a bus today.

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On 1/12/2024 at 1:55 AM, hollywood said:

I always wonder if heirs appreciate your obscure finds and their value.  Do you have to leave them notes to explain?  How does it all play out?  Sold off, given away, left in a Public Storage unit?

Thinking the exact same thing, we made a list of all the things we own that our inheritors might not realize are worth paying attention to when figuring out how to best cash in and spend our lifetime accumulation of "stuff".  Rare or signed books, vinyl, art, Navajo weavings and of course my 1st edition copy of Leff's "The Eclectic Gourmet Guide to Greater NYC" (should've had him sign it - or at least put his paw print).  They're just around, alongside stuff that will be worth nothing once our memories of them aren't attached.

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Much closer to the "final distribution" than the rest of you, this weighs on my mind at every turn.    Husband and I, each in our own genre, have accumulated much "stuff".   Much our son and progeny have laid claim to, but maybe much more is in that category of "you gotta understand It's history".    Listen up!    There will be one hell of an estate sale!

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