Book Description

Published to mark the centenary of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, this is the first book to map out the history of the rare book trade in the twentieth century - the end of this period broadly coinciding with the end of an era in traditional bookselling and the arrival of the Internet. Twenty contributors describe and explain the ways in which booksellers acquired their stock and sold books to customers, bringing to life the personalities in this most individualistic of trades; and offer many insights into changes in taste and fashion in book collecting, during what was also a formative period for many of the world's most important research libraries, especially in North America.