Rare Book Collector

Thomas Jefferson

The third president of the United States was a book collector, assembling thousands of volumes. Thomas Jefferson’s early books were consumed in a fire at his parents’ home, while he sold many books from his rebuilt collection to the Library of Congress after its books were destroyed by the British during the War of 1812.

• Monticello’s Books & Letters At his library at Monticello, Jefferson continued to assemble books and papers. The book room here holds reproductions of many volumes once part of his collection, while the original books and manuscripts can be found at:
  • The Thomas Jefferson Papers at The Library of Congress
  • The University of Virginia’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
  • Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive at The Massachusetts Historical Society

Jefferson’s filing table, drawers and chair where he catalogued rare books, manuscripts and letters are on exhibit at Monticello. The president was meticulously organized, but his filing order became lost after his death.

Software to Catalogue Rare Books

Book dealers use computer programs to catalogue their stock. Descriptive information such as publisher, date and edition are easily called up as well as where the book was purchased and cost. Rare book collectors can also use this software.

• BookHound
• BookTrakker
• HomeBase

Bern Dibner, Rare Book Collector

Bern Dibner was a scientist and collector specializing in books about science and technology. He also founded the extensive Burndy Library.

• The Burndy Library on The History of Science and Technology at The Huntington Library: This collection used to be part of M.I.T., but is now in the process of being moved to The Huntington Library in San Marino, California.

• The Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology: The Smithsonian Institution’s The Dibner Library is named after Bern Dibner. The 35,000 rare books and 1,800 manuscripts in this collection can be searched online. In 1955, Dibner published Heralds of Science about the most important science and technology books in the history of Western development. The Dibner Library also has an online exhibit based on this book.

Rare Book References

Books about books such as Dibner’s are important to rare book collectors. In fact, book collectors usually end up with a collection of reference books as well.

• American Book Prices Current
• McBride/Publisher: Portable Resources For Every Booklover Since 1979
• Oak Knoll Press: Specializing in books about books, Oak Knoll Press sells many books about collecting.

Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach

Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach was a famous rare book collector and dealer. In 1954 his home in Philadelphia was converted to The Rosenbach Museum & Library to house his collection as well as his brother’s fine and decorative art.

• The Rosenbach Museum & Library: Some of the authors represented here are Lewis Carroll, Cervantes, Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, James Joyce, Bram Stoker and Dylan Thomas. The institution is also famous for their June 16 Bloomsday celebration with readings from Joyce’s Ulysses.

At their website you can view online exhibits and highlights from the permanent gallery. The museum also has lectures, courses and a rare book conservation program.

Protecting Rare Books

It is important to remember that books are made of natural material. They should not be kept in enclosed spaces such as plastic bags or storage containers because high humidity causes mildew to grow. One should also realize that ultraviolet light from television sets and electric lights is harmful as well as sunlight.

• The Library of Congress Preservation: Care, Handling and Storage of Books