Bibliophiles are people who collect or have a great love of books. Typically these people search for rare books at auction houses such as the Bonhams and Christie’s, online auction sites (PFC Auctions, Sydney Rare Book Auctions, PBA Galleries), dealers (AbeBooks, Biblio), and online retailers (eBay and Amazon).
The fact is many bibliophiles have searched and found their book treasures in places such as charity shops, antique dealers, car boot sales, and flea markets.
Specialty stores such as The Strand in New York and Southex Books & Prints in Delhi, India, are also good spots to shop.
However, the best and safest bet is for one to shop in person at a dealer who offers a lifetime money back guarantee of authenticity, says expert. That way you can visually see any defects for yourself and insure against buying a fake.
Moreover, one cannot afford to ignore doing the necessary leg work that is involved in primary research.
Search engine Bookfinder.com, owned by AbeBooks, offers a rough guideline of what a book is worth.
There is also the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association where information on book collecting can be sourced. In addition, the ABA occasionally holds talks and seminars that provide a wealth of information.
Yvad Billings, Readers Bureau, Fellow
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