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Book Collecting: Personal Rewards and Public Benefits. a Lecture

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Book Collecting: Personal Rewards and Public Benefits. a Lecture DOCUMENT RESUME ED 260 436 CS 209 225 AUTHOR Barlow, William P., Jr. TITLE Book Collecting: Personal Rewards and 'ublic Benefits. A Lecture Delivered at the Library of Congress (Washington, DC, December 7, 1983). The Center for the Book Viewpoint Series No. 11. INSTITUTION Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8444-0470-5 PUB DATE 84 NOTE 24p. PUB TYPE Viewpoints (120) -- Speeches/Conference Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Books; *Interests; *Literary History; Publications; Recreational Activities IDENTIFIERS *Book Collecting; Book Preservation ABSTRACT Containing a lecture given at the Library of Congress by a book collector specializing in the works of the eighteenth century printer John Baskerville, this pamphlet describes the personal rewards and public benefits of book collecting. The lecture first discusses the "true collector," collecting books printed by John Baskerville, and collecting American book auction catalogs. It then examines three factors involved in the growth of book collections: extension, opportunity, and rationalization. In addition, the lecture describes the role of the collector in preserving books, in the development of significant book collections, and in the scholarly use of materials. (EL) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** OA INPAPIEVIIIII OP moan= ommolift userrun OP INPUCATION EDUCATIONAL 114SOUNCES ONIONMATION CENTER IENICI YTItsdocomnt Ms Awn manNocd et mowed horn the Lorton of ofoorosoo Porno Ions d %/:) ' Idmof chomps Iwo bow made lo ...wove r4N ropoduction *ANY loom of vow of oS a wood in dos dock. ...1. mow do no Poom000l foooom °Nicol NM Ownen of oldie, C) BOOK COLLECTING: Personal Rewards Public Benefits elL...." A lecture delivered at the Library of Congress on December 7, 1983 by William P. Barlow, Jr. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS SEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) LIBRARY OF CONGRESSWashington 1984 2 The Center for the Book Viewpoint Series No. ii LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Barlow, William Pusey, 1994 Book collecting, personal rewards and public benefits (The Center for the Book viewpoint series , noI I) I Book collectingAddresses, essays, lectures 1 Library of Congress11 Tme III. Series. Center for the Book viewpoint senes ,i i 1987 B25 1984 002'.075 84-17105 ISBN o-8444-047o-5 (alk paper) Copyright C 1984 by William P Barlow, Jr This booklet pnnted on permanenildurable paper 3 PREFACE THE CENTER FOR THE BOOK in the Library of Congress, which sponsored William P. Barlow, Jr.'s lecture on book collecting, was created by Act of Congressin 1977 to stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The history of books, reading promotion, and the role of books in contemporary society are its three major interests An informal, voluntary organization funded primarily by private contributions, the Center for the Book brings together members of the book, educational, and business communities for projects and symposia. Drawing on the collections and specialists of the Libraryof Congress, it also sponsors publications, exhibitions, and eventsthat enhance books and reading in our society The Engelhard Lectures on the Book, supported with funds contributed by Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, consist of public talks that consider books in their many roles asphysical objects, as exemplars of the graphic and typographic arts, as a collecting field, as transmitters of ideas, and as influences on society. William Barlow's talk, the ninth in the series, is the first one to deal directly with book collecting It was presented at the Library of Congress on December 7, 1983 Mr. Barlow is a certified public accountant who has his own firm in Oakland, California. As a collectorhe spe- cializes in the eighteenth-century English printer John BaskervilleHe also has one of the largest and most significant collections of book auction catalogs in private hands Drawing on his own collecting experiences, Mr Barlow succinctly describes his personal motivations and pleasures, he also pinpoints some of the major benefits to scholarship of private collecting. It is a pleasure to present his observations to a wider audience and to acknowledge the support of Mrs Charles W Engelhardin making this series possible JOHN Y.COLE Executive Director The Center for the Book 5 BOOK COLLECTING: Personal Rewards and Public Benefits j tiUST OVER thirty years ago, I bought my first collec- ble bookIt was the edition of Milton's ParadiseLost and Paradise Regain'd printed by John Baskervillein 1758, and it not only started my book collection buthas shaped it ever since I am not the first collectorto present an Engelhard lecture, everyone who has precededme has been a collector of books But my predecessors have discussedthe book as a physical object or as an object useful for the transmission or preservation of informationI will discuss the bookas a collectible object To some this may seem a trivial subject Toothers it may seem a subject somewhat removed from thean- nounced purposes of the Center for theBook To me it is, above all, a subject that is very difficult topresent. I hope that before I have concludedit will be evident that book collecting is neither trivialnor outside the purposes of the center But I think I should explain whyit is such a difficult subject for me if only in self-defense. There is a species of book generally classifiedby anti- quarian book dealers under the heading "books about books," which is supposedto be distinct from a related classification called "bibliography," although thedistin- guishing characteristics are not always clear Thespecies includes reminiscences of book dealers and bookcollectors, collections of essays allegedly ofinterest to book collectors, instructions intended to enhance a book collector's funor profit, and books designedto encourage noncollectors to collect 5 6 Although desmbed as "book., about books,'' these are really "books about book collectingI am always amazed that so mans of these books are published and even more amazed that they are sold But the most astonishingthing is that they are written! thecollecting experience, it has always seemed to me, is so personal that it is both painful to write about and impossible to communicate Nevertheless that is what 1 hale been asked to do, and I am going to do it in the same manner most "booksabout books" are writtenI will describe my own experiences as a book collector and hope thatsomething universal may emerge As I said earlier, my collecting began with the purchase of a set of Baskerville's Milton just over thirty years ago Although itis true that this was the firstcollectible book Ipuce hosed, it did not cause mycollectingIt can more accurately he described as the catalyst which exposed my latent collecting instincts and at the same time established the nucleus of ins. personal collection I am a firm believer in the principle that book collectors are, hi st of all, collectors and,secondly, collectors of books A person who simply accumulatesor feelscompelled to accumulaterare and unusual objects is not a truecollec- tor, although this compulsion is invariably present inthe collectoi Some years ago this library's greatest benefactor,Lessmg Rosenwald, wrote that "true collectors are only those who purchase articles because they are vitally interested in them and wish to know asmuch as possible about them." This is also a compulsion, and it is also present in the collector But the mere desire for knowledgeis not enough either, for the scholar has the, desire andfinds the institutional ownership of the objects hewishes to study perfectly satisfactory. The rare book dealer has the same thirst. but he is satisfiedwith temporary ownership of a book and the application of his knowledge toenhance 6 7 Its saie and to see that itis propel Is placed Itisa combination of the urge for acquisition and possession and the passion for knowledge that makes the true collector And although Mr Rosenwald stressed the latter and disparaged the for mer, hisnext sentence reveals that he knew the truth Fhe knowledge about the items he assemble is as importanto them as is the ownership "As important,- not "more importantThat is the true cone( for Now that Ihave dies died my purchase ofaset of Basket s dle's Milton to the level ofa psychological necessity and a scholarly imperative, letme explain what really happened I !lase always been interestedin writingnot reading, mind sou, Just writing In fact,my guiding principle has been that reading is destructive of one's personal styleof writing As a result,I became a Journalist Atage eleven, I published ms first newspaperin a single handwritten cops Iwo years later I was given a mimeograph machine and published a series ofnewspapers for ever-expanding audiencesFinally, at age sixteen,Ipurchased my first printing press a five -by -eight KelseyI was a printer After two years of printing thestationery and business cards that the Kelsey Company's advertisements promised would make ms fortune and the first fewsignatures of a book on an international languagea friend and I were constructing, my parents belatedly presented me with a book entitled (eraphtc Arty Procedures A few pages in this volume describedsome important tspef aces and their designers, including John Baskerville, the eighteenth-centurs
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