A Journey Through Europe's Literary Treasures

From the Department of Short-and-Sweet, I just wanted to let you all know, Dear Readers, about an upcoming leg on my journey towards a better understanding of the world of rare books. For the week of 15 April I’m spending a few days in London, Paris, Geneva and probably that gem of a town, Vevey, exploring rare book shops, ordinary book shops, and any auctions or events that may be on.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, mainly because, in my experience, announcing a plan to do something applies a healthy pressure to deliver a thing - and that’s my plan: to deliver lots of useful information about collecting, visiting, and learning the world of rare books. Obviously my healthy ego means you’ll simultaneously be subjected to anecdotal diary-like opinion commentary along the way but on the upside that should give you something to laugh at.

The plan is to start by visiting the most interesting bookshops and to seek out the most interesting people there. I’m curious to know more about how much of collecting rare books is the reserve of mole-eyed boffins, how much it’s tastemakers looking to decorate their homes, and how much something in-between.

Once we have an idea of who populates this world, it’ll be interesting to start getting our heads around what are the first things an amateur should be looking for in deciding to invest in a rare book. There appears to be a huge range between the 50 Franc (or Pound, or Euro or Dollar) vintage book and the thousand-plus ones - how do we know what’s worth what? Can we expect any of them to increase in value or should we focus only on what we love?

A very good piece of advice when buying art - especially at auctions - is to make sure what you buy meets at least the first three of these hurdles: love it, understand it, afford it, see its value in its artistic context, and see it’s potential to maintain or increase value over time. Maybe the same approach applies to rare books. And on the topic of auctions, keep an eye out here for a coming-soon article listing dates and locations of rare book auctions and events around the world in 2024 - you can’t say we’re not trying to be helpful!

An eternity ago I somehow got a Masters in journalism from a little place called Columbia University School of Journalism; I promise to plumb the depths of my memories from those halcyon (and often drunken) days for skills that will yield some good articles for you.

Yours Truly,

Thomas (unedited)

Top Tip: Stay mainly sober when undertaking Masters Degrees; makes it easier to remember what you learnt.