r/BookCollecting • • 1h ago

💭 Question 'Collect' or read; what would you do?

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• Upvotes

I was SO happy to find this full set, as he is one of my favorite authors and some of these stories have not been translated elsewhere.

Also, I love his use of language, but - I have always been inherently skeptical when it comes to translated books. This particular translator was early, and took it straight from Russian, unlike many other early Russian 'translations' where the English was derived from the French translation.

Anyway, I get a little ways into Vol. I and I hit this! The aficionado of antique books in me is lit up with joy, but the Turgenev fan is devastated!

What would you do?


r/BookCollecting • • 2h ago

💭 Question Finding old, original Broadside Ballads - Any help?

1 Upvotes

I've got a small collection of antique literature, including old letters, magazines, etc. My passion is traditional English folk music, and I'd love to find some original, 19th or 18th-century printings of Broadside Ballads.

Does anyone know how I might find them?


r/BookCollecting • • 3h ago

💭 Question Approximate year?

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2 Upvotes

Hello, all! This weekend, I found what seems to be an early edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I’ve done some looking around but am having a hard time confirming the age of the book, so I’m hoping someone here will have some more insight. I’m confident it is NOT a first print edition, as it has green end pages and a 5 line colophon. It did not come with a dust jacket so I don’t have any info there. It does refer to the oompa-loompas as “pygmies” so it was before that change. Based on a few resources I’ve found, I think it might be a third-ish print from the first year of publication? Can anyone confirm or help me pin down a print date? Thanks so much in advance for any info/help!


r/BookCollecting • • 7h ago

💬 General Appropriate to donate this book to my local library?

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0 Upvotes

I just ordered this book knowing it wasn’t new, and this book came out around 2012. However I’ve noticed this weird substance which I can’t rub off with a makeup remover wipe, only was able to slightly clean the remains on the inner book jacket. I don’t actually like to collect books (despite the name of this subreddit), however do you think it’s acceptable to donate to a library? I can’t even tell what it is…


r/BookCollecting • • 11h ago

💭 Question protective sleeve slippage unsolvable

2 Upvotes

How do you stop paper-backed Mylar dust-jacket covers slipping up and down while reading, without using tape?

I protect my hardback dust jackets with library-style Mylar sleeves with paper backing, fitted by folding rather than using adhesive.

The issue is that the entire covered dust jacket slides vertically against the hardback boards while I'm reading. The paper backing doesn't seem to provide enough friction to prevent this.

Has anyone found a reliable, non-adhesive way to stop this happening? I'd prefer not to attach anything directly to the book or original dust jacket.


r/BookCollecting • • 15h ago

📦 New Acquisitions The Challenge of Chance - this is a record of a series of experiments in telepathy. It reminds me of the start of Ghostbusters!

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9 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting • • 19h ago

📕 Book Showcase I have no one to freak out with me about these!

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643 Upvotes

I found a complete six edition pocketbook collection of Shakespeare plays from 1813 and I’m OBSESSED! I’m an English teacher but I don’t have anyone to who’s equally as excited about these as I am :( geek out with me!


r/BookCollecting • • 20h ago

💭 Question What's this along the spine crease? Doesn't seem to be anywhere else and It's an old copy

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2 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting • • 20h ago

🏆 First Edition 1st Ed Profiles of Nehru

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3 Upvotes

I came across this book and cannot find another record of a 1st Edition anywhere. Some second editions same year. Looking to see how I can determine how many first editions were printed. Is this a true "rare" find, or just a odd book with little collectability?


r/BookCollecting • • 21h ago

📅 Events A portion of the current Folio Society collection at my favorite local used bookshop. The owner has hundreds more volumes squirreled away.

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91 Upvotes

As of yesterday (10/17/2026), this is the stock on the floor at Words to Live By, a used bookshop in Moorhead, MN.

The owner is planning a "Folio Event" in mid-November (I believe 11/13/2026?). She did one of those last year, during which she pulls far more Folio editions from her storage unit and back-rooms and puts them all on the floor at once. Multiple drool-worthy Limited Editions and sets are in the mix.

I have spent way too much money here, lol. My shelves are overflowing.


r/BookCollecting • • 21h ago

💭 Question To keep or not to keep Everyman's dust jackets?

0 Upvotes

I've just started collecting them and was wondering what you do?


r/BookCollecting • • 22h ago

💭 Question $75 well spent

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17 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting • • 23h ago

⌛ Rare Books Rare Iranian Arabic-Farsi Quran C. 1985 printed in Tehran, Iran

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5 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📦 New Acquisitions Not actually books (Wide Angle)

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7 Upvotes

But the Quarterly Film Magazine “Wide Angle”. I found these together in a rack on the street in front of a bookstore. It was their $3 section. I bought them all - 18 copies.

They are really cool esoteric film essays and interviews. But the cool thing was they are signed inside by Antonia Lant who turns out was an NYU Professor.


r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📦 New Acquisitions Fanfare for a Witch by Vaughn Wilkins.

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11 Upvotes

Snapped this 1954 edition up for 50p last night.


r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.©1987 Graphitti Designs. Leather bound slip cased 1st Limited Hardcover Edition . No Dust Jacket as issued

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13 Upvotes

r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Today's library book sale haul

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34 Upvotes

The Gone With the Wind is pretty neat. It's a library copy from 1936 that was last checked out in 1954.


r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Wings of Fire collection

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22 Upvotes

Tried to post on Wings of Fire Subreddit but it was taken down because it was ‘Low Effort’ :(


r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Warehouse Sale Haul

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16 Upvotes

A local independent bookstore chain had one of their occasional warehouse sales today, with books heavily discounted. Although I'm low on storage space and trying to cut back on accumulating books (ha!), I still brought home these seven. It's a mixed bag, but nothing that would be surprising to anyone who knows my tastes. You'll notice that I lean toward books about language, and I was especially thrilled to find books about international languages.

  • Henry M. Hoenigswald, Language Change and Linguistic Reconstruction (Second Impression, 1961).
  • L. Frank Baum, Ozma of Oz (Copyright 1907, but a post-1935 Reilly & Lee printing).
  • Interlingua-English: A Dictionary of the International Language Prepared by the Research Staff of the International Auxiliary Language Association under the Direction of Alexander Gode, Ph.D. (1951, opened to the title page because the cover is nondescript).
  • Rev. Eugene O'Growney, Simple Lessons in Irish; Giving the Pronunciation of Each Word, Parts I–V (1912).
  • The Pursuit of Grouchiness: Oscar the Grouch's Guide to Life (First Edition, 2019).
  • Eliphas Lévi, Le clef des grands mystères (1971).
  • Pierre Burney, Les langues internationales (1re édition, 1962).

r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase Happy birthday Alan Garner

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20 Upvotes

Alan Garner, the English author and folklorist, turns 92 today.

Amongst his most recognised works are the 'Alderley Edge' trilogy (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, 1960, The Moon of Gomrath, 1963*, Boneland, 2012*) and The Owl Service (1967) which won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British author. It was later adapted into a successful TV series in 1969.

'Conciousness is on the move. Something is at work in the world: a general recognition of the crisis of the spirit, of the banal and shoddy, in human affairs. It is universal and it must be met'


r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📚 Book Collection Complete collection of signed William T. Vollmann first editions

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73 Upvotes

This is, as far as I know, every US and UK first edition of the works of William T. Vollmann. I’ve chipped away at this collection since 2009, culminating last weekend in a 20+ hour cross country pilgrimage to Sacramento to meet Bill in person, who could not have been cooler, kinder and more generous with his time for his fans.

I stuffed roughly 45 pounds of books into my carry-on bag (broke down to 19 volumes) all of which he agreed to sign for me. I am still sore days later but it was worth the damage.

Curiously, despite being an American author all of his fiction books until the mid-90s were first published in small editions in the UK. After that, it seems the publisher simply exported the US edition (besides Uncentering the Earth). Also, curiously I found the later titles to be considerably harder to find than the earlier ones.

Every single book on the shelf is signed, including all seven volumes of Rising Up and Rising Down, probably the centerpiece of my collection. I have a few doubles that are additionally inscribed to me tucked away. No remainder marks!

I suppose there are things I don’t have (galleys, small editions, etc) but I feel this is pretty close to complete, at least as complete as these sorts of things can be.


r/BookCollecting • • 1d ago

📕 Book Showcase This is my favorite book

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16 Upvotes

Hello im new to this community and reddit overall I wanted to show you guys my favorite book there is not alot of reliable books on Palo Mayombe translated to English so I really truly appreciate this 1 as it has mambos, a dictionary, recipes, sigils, and even chants thank you for your time


r/BookCollecting • • 2d ago

📦 New Acquisitions Three new finds today for my Pelican collection.

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32 Upvotes

From my local charity shop - 10p each.


r/BookCollecting • • 2d ago

⌛ Rare Books Production error or silverfish?

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2 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I recently bought the Steel Ball Run Vol1 manga and it came with this weird first page hole (photo attached). I am in doubt if this is some kind of bug infection or a collector’s edition :D

What bothers me the most is the subtle steep next to the hole, fully colored. Has anyone experienced something similar?

Thank you in advance :)


r/BookCollecting • • 2d ago

💭 Question Help me find a childhood book? Please.

3 Upvotes

Hi, I’m not sure if this is the right place to be asking this but I am on the hunt for a book from my childhood. Google has not been able to help me out and I would to be able to add the book to my current collection.

What I remember of the book:

Looking for a novel about a human kid/teen who’s mom died in a fire or accident sort of accident years ago, he has a bunch of brothers and a dad, something about Cornwall a similar name, a guy was beheaded in the first book, fantasy early 2000's maybe? There was some traveling and adventuring going on. This book used to be in the kids section at my local library. But they often would put books in there that should not have been there so it may not be a kids novel?

There was a few books maybe 3? 5? 7? I have no clue how they made but it was indeed multiples.

I want to be clear it is not a Septimus Heap book but it kinda have a some what similar vibe to it. Any ideas on what it could be. I have books from my childhood, graphic novels, manga, study articles, poetry books, and a but ton of novels both physical and digital.

The main reason I want to find this book so badly is it traumatized me since I was so young when I tried to read it. The beheading in the story freaked me out really bad. I am looking to face my trauma. 😅