The danger of being a book collector is that a bookshelf can grow quite quickly. You pick up an illustrated travel book, and then a tattered poetry anthology, and then a regional history book because the binding is so intriguing. Each of those books may well have been a good read. However, until you begin to see a common thread between the books, you haven’t really started to collect them in the truest sense of the word. Having a point of focus will give you a way of justifying your purchasing decisions as well as allowing you to recognize the nuances between different editions, publishers, and bindings.
Begin with what interests you, rather than what may appreciate in value. Perhaps you want to collect all the works of a single author, or all books published by a specific publisher, or illustrated books, or regional historical accounts, or pocket-size books, or books with striking dust jackets, or books that tie in with a certain era. Your focus should be narrow enough to guide you in selecting one book over another, but not so narrow that there’s no variation. If you say you’re interested in “old literature,” you will find that most anything fits. On the other hand, if you choose to collect “English-language editions of maritime novels, 1940–1980,” you’ll have clear guidelines while still allowing for comparative studies of authors, covers, printings, and publishers.
Test out your idea before fully committing to a theme by checking out what kinds of titles come up. Try a few different booksellers, search the libraries, and look through your own shelves. See if you can find enough of these books to satisfy you, and if they’ll vary in price and condition. If you decide to only collect rare first editions, your collecting will likely prove frustrating. If, however, your focus includes later printings, reprints, book club editions, and various illustrated versions, you may have a much wider range of opportunities to explore the content of the title page, copyright page, number line, binding, and dust jacket without having to rely on the acquisition of rare books.
Try creating a one-sentence focus for your collection and then apply it to five different books you might consider acquiring. Say, for example, your theme is: “Classics of detective fiction, with original dust jackets and distinctive cover design.” As you look at each of the five titles, ask yourself whether the book fits within the confines of your theme. What’s the genre of the book? Are the original dust jackets intact? Are they original to that specific printing? Does the cover design complement the rest of the collection? Some books might be wonderful but don’t belong in your collection. That doesn’t mean they’re worthless, just that your collection has direction.
Make sure your collection isn’t so tightly focused that you lose the fun of browsing. Rather than deciding to collect only one edition of a book, you could allow for different printings that showcase a changing publisher imprint, altered cover art, changed paper stock, or a different size. You could also acquire related books with inscriptions or bookplates. In both cases, keep your provenance notes meticulous and accurate. These additions will broaden your collection without making it disjointed.
Jot down your focus in the front of your collection journal. As you continue to add books to your collection, periodically check back to your goal. Take a note of each book’s author, title, publisher, date, edition or printing, binding, condition, provenance, where you found it, and why you added it. Eventually, your notes will help you decide if your focus was appropriate. Good focus in your collecting will allow you to compare books more easily, think critically about what you’re buying, and understand how adding a book is either increasing or decreasing the depth of your collection.
