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Thanks to everyone who entered our Win A Bookseller contest. We were blown away by the quality and depth of the entries. And the books! You told us about incredible books along with amazing stories of finding, buying, collecting and simply loving books. We will announce the winner on May 22. Thanks to the success of the contest, AbeBooks is creating this section dedicated to profiling collectors and we would love to hear from anyone else who wishes to be profiled. Enjoy these great collector profiles – but remember the books we link to are not the collector’s actual books but similar copies for sale.
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My collecting history started in the 1950s when, as a high school student, I first read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. Both electrified me, changing my world view from teenage cynicism and negativity to one of hope and optimism. More...
Number of Books: 4150
Collecting Since: 1958
First Book: The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
Best Bargain: $500 for The Lord of the Rings, 3 vols., first edition, first printing, in near mint condition.
Rare Book He'd Like to Own: Spirits in Bondage, 1919, by Clive Hamilton (psued. of C.S. Lewis)
Highest Price Paid for a Book: $3000 for Songs for Philologists, by Tolkien, now priced between $16 and $74,000 on AbeBooks
Top 3 Books in Collection:
- Songs for the Philologists by J.R.R. Tolkien and E.V. Gordon, London: University College 1936
- The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, 1st edition, first printing, London: George Allen and Unwin 1955, 1956
- In de Ban van de Ring (3 vols.), the Dutch first edition of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, Antwerp: Het Spectrum 1956.
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In 1988 Clive Cussler gave me a fine copy of his first hardcover, Iceberg. On that day I began fulfilling the quest of collecting the works of Cussler which continues to this day. Since then, I’ve developed a relationship with Cussler who has presented me with many rare and one-of-a-kind items. More...
Number of Books: 1500
Collecting Since: 1988
First Book: Cussler's Iceberg, published by Dodd Mead
Best Bargain: Clive Cussler’s Mayday, London: Severn House. A gift from Cussler himself.
Rare Book He'd Like to Own: Cussler's The Mediterranean Caper aka “The Naked Dirk Pitt." edition.
Highest Price Paid for a Book: $175, an uncorrected proof for Pacific Vortex by Cussler
Top 3 Books in Collection:
- Pacific Vortex by Clive Cussler, London: Piatkus 1983
- Mayday by Clive Cussler, London: Severn House 1977
- Iceberg by Clive Cussler, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co 1975
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In the late 1980s, I had just finished reading Mark Twain's Following the Equator and, as a avid traveler myself, was blown away by Twain's power of observation and his unique approach to describing his surroundings. I was working in Boston at the time and decided one weekend to seek out an old edition of the book. More...
Number of Books: About 3,000
Collecting Since: 1988
First Book: Following the Equator, Mark Twain
Best Bargain: To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Rare Book He'd Like to Own: Cook's Voyages, James Cook
Highest Price Paid for a Book: Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medina & Mecca, Richard Burton ($7,500)
Top 3 Books in Collection:
- The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, New York: Viking 1939
- The Moon and Sixpence, W. Somerset Maugham, London: William Heineman 1919
- Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medina & Mecca, Richard Burton, London: Longman, Brown & Green 1855
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I began collecting books in 1975 while a graduate student. I had just finished Walter Benjamin’s Illuminations and recognized myself in his essay on book collecting, Unpacking My Library. I liked books nearly the way I liked girls: loved the depth of characters, relished the thrills of dialogue, liked touching and holding books More...
Number of Books: About 2,600
Collecting Since: 1975
First Book: Illuminations, Walter Benjamin
Best Bargain: Sailor Song, Ken Kesey
Rare Book He'd Like to Own: Turandot and Other Poems, John Ashbery
Highest Price Paid for a Book: An Unforgettable Flight, Bill & Moya Lear ($950)
Top 3 Books in Collection:
- An Unforgettable Flight, Bill & Moya Lear, Reno, Nevada: Jack Bacon & Co. 1996
- Ommateum, AR Ammons, Philadelphia: Dorrance 1955,
- Opening Day, Laura Davidson, Boston: 2007
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A gentle madness, a passion, an illness, sometimes an obsession, my books threaten to take over my life. They are everywhere. They climb the stairs and stand against the wall. They sit in stacks on the floor, tables, shelves, and any other near-horizontal surface. More...
Number of Books: About 8,000 - 10,000
Collecting Since: 1965
First Book: Botanical Illustration, Wilfred Blunt
Best Bargain: A box lot of Thoreau containing serveral first editions for $15
Rare Book She'd Like to Own: Walden, Henry David Thoreau
Highest Price Paid for a Book: Tulips, Blunt/McEwen ($1,250)
Top 3 Books in Collection:
- Silas Marner, George Eliot, London: William Blackwood & Sons. 1861
- The Virginians, William Makepeace Thackery, London: Bradbury & Evans 1857 - 1859
- Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston: Philips, Sampson and Co. 1858
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My collection centers specifically around Easter Island, and more generally, Polynesia including art, archaeology and voyaging. In sixth grade, a classmate of mine drew a picture that he copied from Heyerdahl's "Aku-Aku". This drawing fascinated me and I inquired about it. He explained a little about Easter Island and its many More...
Number of Books: About 1,500+
Collecting Since: 1958
First Book: AkuAku, Thor Heyerdahl
Best Bargain: Die Osterisel, Kapitainlieutnant Geisler
Rare Book He'd Like to Own: Ostraf Paskhi
Highest Price Paid for a Book: $450
Top 3 Books in Collection:
- Die Osterinsel, W. Geisler 1883
- Die Osterinsel, W. Knoche 1925
- The Natural History of Juan Fernandez & Easter Islands, C. Skottsberg 1920-1956
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