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| Title page from Volume I of an Earl's Edition of the works of Benjamin Disraeli |
When I was eight years old and
the family hired movers to help us relocate, my father’s personal library was
catalogued and found to number over 5,000 volumes. I inherited a portion of
these in 1989, and donated some to Casa Loma, whose library shelves—believe it
or not—were filled with wooden replicas. (I discovered this while mounting an exhibit of 20th century wedding gowns at the famous location.) I have carefully stored many of the remaining books, displaying and enjoying them by rotation.
Recently, feeling the press of post-holiday excess and frightened by an episode of Hoarders, I attempted a purge of my 19th century book collection, but instead, I ended up adding to my library of second, third, and special edition classics. As I reacquainted myself with these cloth-bound beauties—running my fingers through deckled, slightly yellowed pages, and lifting the occasional translucent sheet to gaze at hand-colored illustrations—I fell in love all over again. The marbled endpapers of one volume alone reawakened my passion for such literary treasures.
Recently, feeling the press of post-holiday excess and frightened by an episode of Hoarders, I attempted a purge of my 19th century book collection, but instead, I ended up adding to my library of second, third, and special edition classics. As I reacquainted myself with these cloth-bound beauties—running my fingers through deckled, slightly yellowed pages, and lifting the occasional translucent sheet to gaze at hand-colored illustrations—I fell in love all over again. The marbled endpapers of one volume alone reawakened my passion for such literary treasures.
Alison Hoover Bartlett, author
of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, (a fabulous read) believes
“the allure of any book is in large part sensual.” Indeed, the thingness of books has appealed to
collectors long before digital technology threatened to make bound paper obsolete.In a dedicated search for first
editions, collectors and bibliomaniacs often overlook later edition classics,
but these are often the very books with the most decorative covers, as
publishers were often more willing to cover the extra cost of decorative
bindings once a particular title had become a sure thing.
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