I think this is an excellent idea, too. However, rather than a "kind of
Wikipedia bio-bibliography", why not use Wikipedia itself?
Someone has already started it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_book_and_manuscript_collector
s
There are also entries some book-collecting terms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_collectinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminated_manuscripthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Foliohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Buryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Serriffe
Wikipedia is far from perfect (see my blog post on bookmarks, for an
example)
http://blog.myfinebooks.com/2006/07/bookstore_podca.html
but it gets better over time. Plus, it has the advantage of a bunch of
volunteer and paid programmers who keep it working. And there's nothing
wrong with starting small and then building an entry over time, as
circumstances allow.
One could create a "book collecting literature" category and then populate
it with the titles and synopses of the various books being discussed here.
Scott
**********************************
P. Scott Brown, Editor
Fine Books & Collections magazine
http://www.finebooksmagazine.com
Blogging at http://blog.myfinebooks.com
PO Box 106
Eureka, CA 95502
tel. 707.443.9562
fax. 707.443.9572
*********************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Exlibris [mailto:EXLIBRIS@MAIL.ECW.NAME]On Behalf Of John Windle
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 10:24 AM
To: EXLIBRIS@MAIL.ECW.NAME
Subject: [EXLIBRIS] Another title, and a suggestion
Has anyone yet mentioned Herbert West, the bookseller from Hanover New
Hampshire whom I met in London in the mid-sixties when he was buying for US
institutions? A warm and friendly soul (to me at least, a neophyte bookshop
clerk) he
gave me a copy of "An Impecunious Amateur Looks Back..." 1966 and I went on
to
read "Mind on the Wing" and "Sunny Intervals" -- I think there may be some
other titles too.
Here's an idea -- what we are creating here is a kind of bibliography of
booksellers' and collectors' memoirs (Dibdin is the first of several who
could
count as both -- look at The Lincoln Nosegay) and it would be most
interesting to
bring together the expertise and experience of all those interested to
create
a kind of Wikipedia bio-bibliography where each of us could choose to write
and/or add comments to the description of each book -- not only on the
contents
but also personal reminiscences of the writers we have known and references
to other accounts of them and their works. It would be a Sheila Markham
"Book
of Booksellers" in reverse (and when will that excellent book be reissued I
wonder?).
I have no idea how difficult this would be to create and manage but if
someone has the technical know-how and the ability to set it up it would be
a
fascinating offshoot of the combined knowledge, wisdom, and experience of
this list
-- and different countries could create their own versions. What a
contribution to the history of book collecting and selling that might be.
Perhaps we
could get the Grolier Club to host it in some way.
Best wishes to all,
John Windle
John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller,
49 Geary Street, suite 233,
San Francisco. CA 94108. USA
Tel: (415) 986-5826 Fax: (415) 986-5827
Cell: (415) 244-8256
To view our stock go to: www.johnwindle.com
John Windle, Proprietor: email: johnwindle@aol.com
Chris Loker, Partner: email: clokermail@aol.com
Alexandra Chappell, Assistant windleassistant@sbcglobal.net
Open Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat by appointment or chance
WHEN SEARCHING FOR BOOKS GO TO www.ILAB.org OR www.ABAA.org FOR RELIABLE
DESCRIPTIONS, PROFESSIONAL VALUATIONS, NO ADDITIONAL FEES OR COMMISSIONS,
AND
GUARANTEED BUYER PROTECTION
Member Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America (ABAA)
http://www.abaa.org/
International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB)
http://www.ilab-lila.com/
Buy with confidence when you buy from an ILAB bookseller