Collecting Leather Bound Books

You have started your library and it's looking good but you are thinking of taking it to the next level. It's one thing to have a library full of Oprah book club books and the recent bestsellers but it's something special to have a library full of stunning leather bound books. Imagine a guest walking into your library or living room and seeing a wall full of leather bound classics. Evoking intellect, a man of travel and excitment and overall big thinker, this library upgrade may not be as difficult as you think.

You can find some cheap bookcases that still look great and begin collecting your leather books. You'll probably want a nice mix of older novels (which can be found quite inexpensively), perhaps some French or Scandinavian titles and on the bottom rows perhaps some of the classic books published by Easton Press of The Franklin Library. Start hitting your local church sales and buying every leather book you can find. You may also want to have a chat with your local bookseller. You better knows where to pick up inexpensive but great looking leather books? I started doing this about a year ago and the collection continues to grow beyond my original expectations. It becomes quite fun and fulfilling especially as you begin to learn more about the books themselves.

Now, some time has gone by and you've become a true book hound, scouring church sales, thrift shops and eBay. What's the next step to take your new passion to the next level? Auctions, not eBay but real auctions in your neighborhood. To find some great places just take a look at your local newspaper or if you have already become a serious collector then you may want to check out Americana Exchange (link below). These guys always have the best list of upcoming auctions as well as prices of great books that have already sold. They also have a wonderful collection of their own newsletters, all about great books and the people that collect and sell them.

I haven't yet mentioned one of the best fringe benefits of this hobby. Once you become more and more familiar with older leather bound books you'll get a real feel for pricing. You may just find a little nugget at a church sale that you know is worth a couple of hundred dollars but is selling for two dollars. You can either ad it to your blossoming collection or put it on eBay and use the funds to add other, more interesting titles to your library.

One final note, one way to ease yourself into this sometimes complex world is to pick a couple of authors and become experts in their works. It won't take too long before you know about all of their published works, printing points, first edition quirks and more. I have done this myself, starting with Patrick O'Brian a few years ago. Once I had all of his works and knowledge about all of his first editions (tough as he began before WW2 then changed his name) I expanded, choosing two other authors..and so on.

I am confident that you'll have a great time on your book hunting adventures and that library I mentioned at the beginning will be a long lasting source of pride and joy. have fun.