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 [...]

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

The American Guide Series is a collection of books, magazines and pamphlets published between 1937 and 1941. Meant to educate and attract, the series was put together by The Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) which provided government funding towards writing and publishing initiatives during the Great Depression. Each publication in the American Guide Series included background [...]

We look at many, many, many books in a day as part of the AbeBooks marketing team. They go as far back as ancient times, long before the printing press, and I see books from centuries ago every day. So it should come as no surprise that very often I end up reminded of the [...]

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 [...]

There’s a lot of talk of wild things around the office here, today, and talk of curdmudgeons and cantankerousness, love of animals and children. Maurice Sendak, who has passed away at age 83, had a notable effect on books, and people who love books, like us. A famously blunt, outspoken and excitable grump, he always [...]