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Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century
 
 
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Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century [Hardcover]

Nicholas A. Basbanes (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

Basbanes's guide to book collecting is a more practical, but no less impassioned, complement to his earlier history of bibliophilia, A Gentle Madness. He presents useful tips illustrated with charming anecdotes about the collecting habits of everyone from Winston Churchill to Umberto Eco. To Basbanes, book collecting isn't about making money, but "about gratifying a passion in a sensible way." He urges collectors to buy books that they know and develop specific areas of interest to avoid "buying blind-the most frequently committed transgression in book collecting." He insists that it is possible to acquire first-rate collections on modest budgets, and extols the virtues of select Internet sites. Particularly intriguing are Basbanes's descriptions of the most interesting collections he has encountered. Among these are the George Arents Collection at the New York Public Library, which consists of several hundred thousand objects in 20 languages on the history, literature and lore of tobacco, as well as the Jay Miller Aviation History Collection at the Central Arkansas Library, consisting of 6,000 books on flight history and 50,000 aviation journals, along with hundreds of aircraft operation manuals. Basbanes also offers some startling figures. A first issue copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, for example, recently went for $15,000. Though targeted primarily at prospective collectors, this lively book will appeal to any book lover, as Basbanes's enthusiasm is infectious.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Every page of this compendium contains real information. Basbanes tells you what you want and need to know after you have fallen in love with an area or a subject and have begun to think about amassing what you love. He explains clearly how to start, how to listen, how to search. He has no patience for those who buy as an investment only, and he is direct about that. He teaches questions to ask in libraries, of dealers, on the Web; he makes good distinctions between how the Web has facilitated some kinds of book buying as well as making clear what's irreplaceable about book fairs and book dealers. Every librarian should read this book because it illuminates the passion for books from the collector's perspective, one that parallels our own (it may even intersect it at some point). It is rich in engaging vignettes of book collecting and book collectors. It even makes the madness seem, well, logical. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
The first documented use of the word bibliomania in English came in 1750 when Philip Dormer Stanhope, the fourth Earl of Chesterfield and a wily politician with a gift for turning a memorable phrase, sent a haughty letter to his illegitimate son, then away at school, to warn of a consuming diversion that should be avoided like the bubonic plague. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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9 Reviews
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4.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars An Indispensable Resource for Any Serious Book Collector, Sep 9 2003
By 
Janefpl (West Orange, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century (Hardcover)
In "Among the Gently Mad," Basbanes declares, "the more you read or read about reading, the more you will uncover about other books." And, the more, it seems, you will get to know an ever-expanding circle of people who collect and/or sell books. All their stories are here...what they collect, how they collect them, how much they spend and on and on until the value of this book is almost hidden under their weight.

However, if you are serious about book collecting, "Among the Gently Mad" is a tremendous resource. Reading between the lines of other book collectors' stories, you will find out which web sites, bookstores, dealers, book fairs, organizations and other sources can help you fill out your collection. By the way, this is not just a book for those who collect rare books. An antiquarian book is simply described as any book that is worth more now than when first published. Basbanes's first rule of collecting books is to focus on subjects that hold your interest and, in fact, your collection should contain books you actually want to read. If you are gently mad, that is "taking delight in the pleasant touching of books long coveted," this book is an indispensable tool to fulfilling your own madness.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, Sep 8 2003
This review is from: Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century (Hardcover)
In rapturous, elegant prose, the author envelops the reader in his consuming passion for books and the people who love to collect them; as the hours flew by while I curled up with Basbanes, I assuaged my guilt at forsaking mundane tasks with the right-on lines that end the book's first chapter: "... a sentiment that I confess I savor on a daily basis: Books are not Life, But then what is?"
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5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful reading, as always, July 6 2003
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This review is from: Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book Hunter in the 21st Century (Hardcover)
Reading Basbanes is like engaging in a long, relaxed conversation over coffee in your living room with a very knowledgeable friend. In this third volume of his slightly rambling but always fascinating and well-informed discussions of books, book collectors, booksellers and dealers, and all the periperal subjects they engender, he combines advice on bibliophily in the age of the Internet with reminiscence on how collecting used to be done, and what the old and the new still have in common. As a small-time collector of limited resources myself, I enjoy reading abut the fabulous collections built up by those who not only have money to spend but also the intelligence and passion to add value to what they hunt down and acquire by adding to the accretion of knowledge. In fact, as Basbanes makes clear, becoming personally involved with books and other "stuff" is what separates collectors from mere accumulators. In fact, I find I have also become a collector of Nick Basbanes. . . .
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