These are annotated links to sites relating to rare books and book buying and book history. You might also take a look at my page on bibliophilic organizations.
. . . no dearness of price ought to hinder a man from the buying of books, if he has the money that is demanded for them, unless it be to withstand the malice of the seller or to await a more favourable opportunity of buying. --Richard de Bury, Philobiblon (1345), chap. 3 (From the E. C. Thomas translation, 1909, p. 19, online at the University of Virginia e-text archive.)
Libraries are like Forrests, in which not only tall Cedars and Oaks are to be found, but Bushes too and dwarfish Shrubs; and as in Apothecaries Shops all sorts of Drugs are permitted to be, so may all sort of Books be in a Library: And as they out of Vipers and Scorpions, and poisoning Vegetables, extract often wholesome Medicaments, for the Life of Mankind; so out of whatsoever Book, good Instructions and Examples may be acquired. --William Drummond, "Of Libraries" in The Works of William Drummond of Hawthornden (Edinburgh, 1711), p. 223. Quoted by James Fenton, "Shakespeare, Stage or Page" in The New York Review of Books, April 8, 2004, p. 57.
For a classic if more depressing and often telling evaluation of book collecting, rare books and librarians, read Randolph G. Adams's "Librarians as Enemies of Books" (maintained online by Philip McEldowney).
These are some associations that work towards promoting booksellers and ethical standards within the trade. Some also promote networks for buyers to find books from their affiliated dealers. (Additional networks listed below.) Google's version of Open Directory has a List of Associations
NB: Networks devoted to buying books are listed below.
It's easy to get stuck with goods when buying from less reputable dealers. It's also frequently difficult to return items bought from dealers outside the major associations. I buy with greater confidence from the ABAA or ILAB, although even OLBA is starting to make a mark.
Dec 2004: The terrain has changed as Bibliofind was taken over by Amazon, bookselling associations became more active, and ABEbooks came to dominate the independent bookselling association. (Oddly, because of search "noise" and questions relating to reliability, eBay seems to be most useful for printing artifacts like type or lithographic stones, rather than good rare books.) Since about 1998, the most interesting development has been meta search engines that search across the networks. Potentially, these free search engines will allow the growth of bookselling networks outside the biggies. It remains to be seen what will happen.
There are many bookselling networks out there. This makes no attempt to be comprehensive. Indeed, it omits "networks" like eBay and Half.com (now an eBay subsidiary).
Let me note here for the record, an interesting network of library sales online: Library Book Sales.org
Some auctions, both online and offline. Although dated, American Book Prices Current keeps a list of auction houses.
The best places for more information are the websites of:
Links that I need to fit somewhere someday.
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