Tag Archive: 0collecting

I suppose I had always been attracted by the idea of having my own bookplate, so when my parents asked me what I would like for my 30th birthday (back in 2005), I suggested having one made. Likewise, I have always been attracted by wood engraving, and so I approached Simon Brett to see if […]

[This blog previously featured an image of the nave of Exeter Cathedral by David Iliff, which has now been removed.] Last year, I was delighted to be able to join the Grolier Club, America’s oldest bibliophilic society. Every year, the Club runs an exhibition for new members, an opportunity for other members, and the wider […]

If you’re on the mailing list, you may have already seen our latest list of recent acquisitions,which includes everything from Anderson’s Cook in the original wrappers (c.1785), to one of the earliest books to be printed in Russian Braille (1886). One of our favourites is…

This is something I have been thinking about for a while.  Antiquarian booksellers are always concerned with rarity, and look books up to see who else has a copy, either currently for sale, in a library somewhere, or perhaps offered once at an auction.  Obviously, just because you find another copy, doesn’t make it the […]

By 1919, all low-value coins in Germany had vanished, due to a shortage of metal, a shortage which gave rise to a printed phenomenon known as Notgeld, or ‘emergency money’.  Neil MacGregor explains: ‘as there was no longer an effective national currency for the lower denominations, every town and city had to make its own.  […]

Princess.  Composer.  Book collector.  Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723­–1787), Frederick the Great’s younger sister, was all three.  She studied the keyboard and was an enthusiastic organist, and her musical soirées were attended by artists and intellegentsia from across Europe.  But ‘Amalia’s greatest significance to music lies in her musical library, a collection of incalculable value.  […]