This companion sets out to provide in one comprehensive volume much of the essential information required by those who sell antiquarian and secondhand books and by those who buy them. It has been compiled with particular attention to the needs of those who do not have ready access to all the necessary reference sources. The entries - some four hundred and fifty in all - include explanations of many technical terms used in the description of books. Printing illustration, and binding are all covered as are many features of book trace practice. Thirty specially commissioned longer articles provide important studies of the main aspects of the world of antiquarian books. For example, Anthony Rota contributes an introductory article on Bookselling in a Changing World, Henry Woudhuysen writes on Bibliography, Mirjam Foot on Fine Bookbinding, David Chambers on Book Collecting, Robin de Beaumont on Victorian Books, and Lord John Kerr on Book Auctions; all the contributors are authoritative specialists in their various fields. Antiquarian Books includes bibliographical references in the text as well as useful appendices a comprehensive index, and text illustrations. The book is intended primarily for the dealer in antiquarian and second-hand books, but will be of interest to everyone with a professional or personal interest in the subject.

This directory is a handy on-volume discovery tool that will allow readers to locate rare book and special collections in the British Isles. Fully updated since the second edition was published in 1997. this comprehensive and up-to-date guide encompasses collections held in libraries, archives, museums and private hands. The Directory: Provides a national overview of rare book and special collections for those interested in seeing quickly and easily what a library holds Directs researchers to the libraries most relevant for their research Assists libraries considering acquiring new special collections to assess the value of such collections beyond the institution,showing how they fit into a ‘unique and distinctive’ model. Each entry in the Directory provides background information on the library and its purpose, full contact details, the quantity of early printed books, information about particular subject and language strengths, information about unique works and important acquisitions, descriptions of named special collections and deposited collections. Readership: Researchers, academic liaison librarians and library managers.

First published in 1992, this volume recognises that it is not unusual, when practising librarianship, to come across small to medium collections within the library, which, because they are different from the main collection, are outside the librarian’s experience or are a new type of material not properly managed or exploited. Therefore this volume contains chapters on a range of materials which are united by a certain rarity in the experience of most librarians. It is aimed at those who need to know how to progress from scratch with a collection, but not necessarily to take it into complete specialization. There is information about characteristics of each type of material as well as guidance for their management. Lists of further reading are provided and a note of some important collections.

The Colbeck collection was formed over half a century ago by the Bournemouth bookseller Norman Colbeck. Focusing primarily on British essayists and poets of the nineteenth century from the Romantic Movement through the Edwardian era, the collection features nearly 500 authors and lists over 13,000 works. Entries are alphabetically arranged by author with copious notes on the condition and binding of each copy. Nine appendices provide listings of selected periodicals, series publications, anthologies, yearbooks, and topical works.

Paperback Quarterly, Journal of the American Paperback Institute, Spring 1980, Volume 3 Number 1, contains: "Interview with Michael Avallone," by Michael S. Barson, "Alfred Hitchcock: Dell Paperbacks," by Billy C. Lee and Charlotte Laughlin, "The Plantation Novel: Paperback Genre of the 1970s?" by Christopher D. Geist and "The Mike Shayne Caper," by Bernard A. Drew.