Reading Copy Book Blog

It’s always useful to know about the next holy day, full moon or high tide. Cures for common ailments and crop planting charts are also handy. Almanacs have been printed since 1457 and make for a fascinating book collection. This selection of rare almanacs stretches from Benjamin Franklin to a sporting reference book still being [...]

An illuminated manuscript is any manuscript whose text is accompanied by decoration. It originally referred only to silver or gilt adornments, but came to be acceptable terminology for any manuscript with drawings, paintings or decorations such as ornate initials, borders, floral accoutrements and the like. Often the illuminations would depict a historical or rural/pastoral scene. [...]

There are truly some fantastic vintage book gems out there, in some unexpected places. What about self-defence (or self-defense, depending which side of the pond you call home)? People have, sadly, always attacked one another like big creeps, and there have been books written for ages on how to protect yourself from those creeps. But [...]

The image on the left is from an 1802 book called Histoire naturelle generale et particulière des Mollusques by Denys Montfort. The image on the right is one I came across today, from 2004, listed as original children’s book art by Tom Leonard, and called Mysterious Giant Squid. The Kraken hasn’t changed much in 202 [...]

Here, this beautiful bouquet (book-et?) is for you. I picked all dozen flowers myself.

It may sound easy-peasy, but for maximum spine protection and book-life extension, there is indeed a way to open a new (hardcover) book. Read on, readers. Turns out we may be doing it wrong. via Alfred a. Knopf

Bookbinding’s history is rooted in craftsmanship and devotion to the written word. While hand-binding is less common now, there is happily a creative minority dedicated to its preservation. These skilled artisans create custom bindings for clients, for exhibition and for pleasure. Sometimes more than one copy is produced, but no two will ever be identical. [...]

The London Antiquarian Book Fair is just around the corner. This fair is one of the annual highlights on the book collecting calendar and we urge fans of AbeBooks in the UK to get down to Olympia, and see the world’s finest rare books. It begins on Thursday 24 May and runs until Saturday 26 [...]

I love when booksellers take advantage of this feature on the site that allows users to supply multiple images for one listing. It’s an excellent way to better showcase a book – not only the cover, but also details of any damage, the copyright page, any special features of the book, illustrations, and of course, [...]

We have a Kafkaesque list of most expensive sales from April. A first edition of Franz Kafka’s Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) was easily AbeBooks’ most expensive sale at $30,000. Our list also includes a pioneering photography book with an introduction by Jack Kerouac, a book signed by Truman Capote, a history of the abolition of [...]