Book Collectors As Book Readers
I have always believed that we become book collectors through being avid book readers. There may be rare exception to this but for the most part, we love reading - everything about reading, actually. We love the way words paint images in our minds of places and situations we may never experience in our lifetime. We love the way some authors manage to put words together in ways that are lovely and evocative. We love the style of certain authors - the way they speak to our experience of life - to reflect or enhance life. We love the very feel of books in our hands - the nice weight to hardback and leatherbound books and the easy heft of paperbacks. I love to read the latest book published by favorite authors (I just finished the latest by John Irving and Margaret Atwood and Elizabeth Kotstova). I read voraciously. The first book I remember reading clearly is a book of Edgar Allen Poe stories - at age 5. Mom used to read to us from 101 Famous Poems and I love The Raven so she bought me a book of Poe stories. What a thrill! I still remember the terror (sweet terror) of the Pit And The Pendulum (which I recently reread and found much in it to amaze me still...). My memory is primarily of the darkness and the Pendulum swinging closer - ever closer... the rest of the story was a pleasant surprise these many years later.
One of my favorite types of book are (primarily) first editions which have been signed by the author. I just love them. Some of my favorite authors are Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams - even Stephen King... I have books signed by them all, Now if I could only manage to get hold of a signed F. Scott Fitzgerald (among many I'd love to have...) - to be able to hold it - how wonderful!
There are always new contraptions designed to make reading easier... It seems even holding a book long enough to read it cover to cover is tiring to some of us - and may be impossible for others... I have found a contraption that should actually be a boon to such folks. Check it out and let me know what you think. Here is a link. Enjoy!
Fine Books & Collections Returns to Print
I just received an email from Fine Books and Collections (they have been a favorite of mine for years...). When I first subscribed, I ordered many back issues as well and I remember clearly the day I received my magazines in the mail. I spent the next two days engrossed in the rich content and learned a lot! The email read:
"February 1, 2010, Durham, NC. Fine Books & Collections magazine, which targets collectors of rare and collectible books, will return to a regular print schedule in April 2010.
The magazine had suspended its bi-monthly publication schedule in November 2008, but published an edition in Fall 2009. Based on very positive results, the publishers will return the magazine to print on a quarterly basis. The annual subscription price will be $25.
In announcing its plans, the magazine said it would continue its monthly e-letter online and its very popular blog. According to associate publisher Kim Draper, the web site has grown tremendously in the past year, having just topped 50,000 monthly visitors.
"We don't hope to achieve as much readership in print, but we do think print has a certain charm and value that is impossible to obtain online," says Draper. "It remains a conundrum why collectors of print love reading online, but we are delighted to be able to serve both needs."
The online editor, Rebecca Rego Barry, will also serve as editor of the print edition. According to Barry, the content of the magazine will be a collection of some material used online as well as new features, columns, and resources that will not appear online. "We are intrigued with the idea of archiving some of our best online stories in a print format, but we will also be offering readers new content in each issue. It was a formula that worked very well for us with the edition we published last fall."
The magazine said that it plans some operational changes to make publishing more affordable, most notably that it will not process any subscription without a valid email address. According to Draper, "When we looked at our operation, we realized that contacting people via the postal service was just too expensive. We plan to handle all renewals and communication efforts via email, so there's really no point in having a subscriber with whom we can't communicate."
Writers in the upcoming print edition will include Nicholas Basbanes and Joel Silver, two stalwarts of the book collecting world. The magazine will continue its annual directory of booksellers started last fall that featured more than 700 book-related businesses, and it will add a feature called Biblio/360, an annual guide to classes, societies, fairs, and symposiums related to book collecting."
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