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The Book Collector is a London-based journal that deals with all aspects of the book.[1]

It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritage policy, from medieval libraries to modern first editions. It has run series on Unfamiliar Libraries, Literary and Scientific Autographs, Author Societies, Bookbinding, Contemporary Collectors, Bibliophiles, and many other subjects. The editor is James Fleming.

History

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A precursor to the Book Collector was the Book Handbook, issued serially in nine parts in 1951.[2]

The Book Collector was launched by the novelist Ian Fleming[3] in the same year, 1952, that he wrote the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale.[4] This has been discussed at the TLS.[5]

The journal has had only four editors since it was founded. After the death in 1965 of John Davy Hayward, the friend and muse of T. S. Eliot, it was edited for fifty years by Nicolas Barker, sometime publisher and first head of conservation at the British Library.[6][7] He gave a presentation on the history of The Book Collector at the Caxton Club in 1998.[8]

On fifty years of its publication Thomas Tanselle noted, "for over a half-century now, THE BOOK COLLECTOR has been demonstrating --to experienced book people and to newcomers alike--the reciprocal relationship, the inextricable connection, between bibliophily and scholarship."[9]

In 2015 James Fergusson, founding obituaries editor of The Independent, 1986–2007, was editor until 2018.[10] The current editor is James Fleming.

Essays about book collecting by Geoffrey Keynes in the Book Collector have been published in a compilation volume.[11]

Highlights

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Some articles of particular interest include "Our Literary Banquet," a fantasy banquet for bibliophiles with place settings (2021);[12] "National Trust Libraries"(2005);[13] "In Search of Missing Copies of Shakespeare's First Folio"(1994);[14] “The Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana”(1989);[15] "Russian Bookbinding from the 11th to the Middle of the 17th Century;"[16] and a series on the Biblotheca Thuana.[17]

In 1967 The Book Collector published a special issue on the November 4, 1966 Floods of Florence.[18]

In 2023 the winter issue was devoted to the history of Printing and the Mind of Man.[19]

Publication

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The Book Collector publishes four times a year in March, June, September and December. Each issue consists of 192pp and is sent to subscribers by airmail, where appropriate. Subscribers also have digital access to every issue of The Book Collector, as printed, since its first appearance in 1952 and to its predecessor Book Handbook, which was published in twenty-eight numbers between 1947 and 1951. There is no restriction for libraries and other institutions on the number of digital users. The Book Collector's website holds its complete archive, indexed.[20]

Podcasts

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The Book Collector produces Podcasts at Soundcloud.[21] Episodes include: "Ian Fleming: A Personal Memoir" by P.H. Muir, read by Rupert Vansittart; "Portrait Of A Bibliophile XVI: John Ruskin 1819–1900" by James S. Dearden; and 'Scribes in Ice and Darkness' by Fergus Fleming.

Publication details

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  • The Book Collector, London, The Collector Ltd, 1952, ISSN 0006-7237

See also

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References

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  1. ^ (2010). Book Collector, The. In The Oxford Companion to the Book. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 Aug. 2024, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606536.001.0001/acref-9780198606536-e-0665.
  2. ^ Horrox, Reginald, ed. (1951). Book Handbook: an illustrated guide to old and rare books. Bracknell. Retrieved 23 November 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Fergusson, James. 2017. "Ian Fleming & Book Collecting [Special Issue]". The Book Collector 66 (1): 11–214.
  4. ^ British Library (2003), The pleasures of Bibliophily: Fifty Years of The book Collector: An Anthology, British Library; New Castle, Del. : Oak Knoll Press, ISBN 978-1-58456-097-5
  5. ^ J.C."The Agent's Secret". TLS. Times Literary Supplement no. 5946 (2017): 36.
  6. ^ Barker, Nicolas (2002). "Fifty Years On." (fifty years of The Book Collector). The Book Collector 51 (no 4): Winter: 481-489.
  7. ^ Barker, Nicolas (2003). The Pleasures of Bibliophily: Fifty Years of the Book Collector, an Anthology. Edited by Nicolas J. Barker. London: British Library; New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press, 2003.
  8. ^ "Nicolas Barker at the Caxton Club", Chicago. 1998.
  9. ^ Tanselle, G. Thomas. 2003. “Fifty Years On: Bibliography Then and Now.” The Book Collector 52 (4). Winter: 459–70.
  10. ^ "News & Comment." The Book Collector 67 (no 3) autumn 2018: 535.
  11. ^ Keynes, Geoffrey Sir, 1887–1982 (1972), "To Geoffrey Keynes: articles contributed to "The Book Collector" to commemorate his eighty-fifth birthday", The Book Collector, ISBN 978-0-903482-00-4{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Fleming, James. 2021. "Our Literary Banquet." The Book Collector 70, No.2 (summer): 210–213.
  13. ^ Purcell, Mark and Caroline Shenton.2005."National Trust Libraries."The Book Collector 54, no.4 (spring): 53–59
  14. ^ West, James Anthony (1994). "In Search of Missing Copies of Shakespeare's First Folio" The Book Collector 43, no.3 (autumn): 396–407
  15. ^ Marmor, Max. "The Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana" The Book Collector, 38, no. 3 (Autumn 1989): 1–23
  16. ^ Klepikov, S.A. (1961). "Russian Bookbinding from the 11th to the Middle of the 17th Century. The Book Collector 10 4 (autumn): 408–422.
  17. ^ Lloyd, L.J.(1947). "Books from the Library of Jacques-Auguste de Thou." Book Handbook: 1–2; Kinser, Samuel (1966). "The Sunderland Copy of Jacques-Auguste de Thou's History of His Time The Book Collector 15 no 4 (winter): 446–453; Kinser, Samuel (1968). "An Unknown Manuscript Catalogue of J.A. De Thou." The Book Collector 17 no 2 (summer): 168–176.
  18. ^ Muir, Percy H, John Carter, and Nicolas Barker. 1967. The Book Collector: A Special Number on Florence. London: Collector.
  19. ^ Fleming, James. (2023). "Printing and the Mind of Man." The Book Collector 72 no.4 (winter): 619-623.
  20. ^ The Book Collector Launches Complete Digital Archive Fine Books and Collections. 25 February 2020).
  21. ^ The Book Collector. Soundcloud
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