No. 36: Introduction to Book Collecting

24-28 July 1995

This course is aimed at persons who spend a fairly substantial amount of time and money on book collecting, but who feel isolated from the national (and international) antiquarian book community. Topics include: the rationale of book collecting; developing relations with dealers; buying at auction; bibliophile and friends' groups; cataloging possibilities; preservation and conservation options; tax and other financial implications; what finally to do with your books; and the literature of book collecting.

1. How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Useful. 2: Very useful, and it's always fun to reread ABC for Book Collectors. 3-4: Very useful. 5: The pre-course readings were useful, but the amount of material was excessive. 6: They were minimally useful. 7: The required reading alerted me to everything related to collecting that I was isolated from. Therefore my main worry -- that I would be unable to focus on the vast amount of new information I would be exposed to -- ceased to exist. I knew I would be enthralled! 8: Traister was good, and very amusing. Peters introduced me to the lingo and showed me what to watch for. 9: I had read them years ago and was pleased to have a reason to go back to them. 10: Good, although tough to get through in time for the course. 11: Good idea, found them useful. 12: Interesting, but not directly relevant. Worth reading as ancillary to the lectures.

2. Did your instructors prepare properly and sufficiently to teach THIS course?

1: I believe there needs to be somewhat more structure to the course and perhaps a more detailed syllabus. Also on the first day this should be gone over in detail and the class opine on what subjects appear to be slighted and which ones overemphasized. 2: Yes -- yes. 3: Instructors were fully prepared. The course material and distributed papers will be filed where they can be found easily. I will find them most useful. 4: Yes. 5: The instructors were extremely knowledgeable and were very well prepared for the course. The materials will be useful. 6: The syllabus wandered too much -- a more logical sequence would have been preferable. 8: Useful talk, useful handouts. 9: Most definitely -- on both questions. 10: Yes and yes. 11: Most useful. 12: Yes.

3. Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?

1: Yes. 2: Yes, except that many of the names only mentioned were unfamiliar to me. 3: Just right. 4: Yes. 5: Yes. The course provided useful information to collectors on all levels. 6: Essentially yes, but there were too many anecdotes. 7: Yes. 8: Over my head, but everyone was kind, just the same! 9: Yes. 10: Very much so. 11-12: Yes.

4. If your course had field trips, were they effective?

1: Yes. 2: N/A. 3: The Electronic Classroom was the only field trip and very useful in explaining the Internet. 4: The trip to the Electronic Classroom was very informative. 5: We visited the Electronic Classroom for a demonstration of the Internet. This was most interesting and useful. 9: Great hour and a half in the Electronic Classroom. 10: Yes. 11: Good idea to get to use the Internet.

5. Did the actual course content correspond to its RBS brochure description and Expanded Course Description? Did the course in general meet your expectations?

1-3: Yes. 4: I felt the course corresponded very closely to the course description and was extremely worthwhile. It fully met my expectations. (With the experience of the instructors it could not have been otherwise.) 5: The course content corresponded exactly to the description in the brochure. 6: Yes. 7: Yes. I now understand that I can find out anything about my books and how to go about doing this. This is why I enrolled. 9: Yes on both counts. 10-12: Yes.

6. What did you like best about the course?

1: The context, the dialog between instructors and students during class and also such dialog after class, at meals, during breaks, &c. 2: 1) The two instructors discussing topics conversationally. 2) Seminar format -- students introducing personal knowledge and experiences. 3) The anecdotal material was fascinating! 3: I enjoyed the anecdotal comments to really explain some of the course content. The two instructors worked well together. 4: Hearing how WB goes about collecting and organizing his collections, catalogs of his collections, and other records. The tax implications of disposal of collections was very interesting and important. 5: The instructors and my fellow students were nice people to meet. 6: The sharing/pooling of knowledge by both instructors and by all the students. 7: In no order, the kindness of the instructors in dealing with a person of no expertise, the intelligent explanations of the instructors in relaying information they have known forever, the general feeling of warmth. 8: The intense literary talk, the language of books, and of the clear intent to be helpful. 9: The anecdotes from both instructors and the meaty parts of the course, ie, tax, dealer, and collection cautionary notes. 10: 1) The relaxed atmosphere which encouraged questions. 2) Handouts. 3) Visit to the Electronic Classroom. 4) Fellow classmates. 11: It was fun as well as informative. 12: Actually, what I thought I'd like the least -- tax rules and regulations (including appraisals). It is all quite pertinent (frighteningly so) to my job, and the sessions devoted to this subject increased my knowledge quite a bit.

7. How could the course have been improved?

1: See 2, above. Also, I believe the portion devoted to tax matters needs to be reduced even more. Also, at the end of every day, ask the group if members have questions that haven't yet been adequately addressed. 2: A brief identification of people mentioned for the ignorant like myself. 3: I can't imagine. 4: Given the time limitation of one week, it's difficult to imagine how the course could be any better. 5: The information on taxes should be reduced by about one half. 6: Less digression from the syllabus. 8: A trip to the rare book room. I had visited this earlier in the year. It was impressive in its scope and in its care of its treasures. 9: Keep one instructor from stepping on the other's lines. 10: Additional time spent on book collecting and the Internet (World Wide Web) and also search methods in libraries. 11: More time for connected foundations -- that sounds like a gold mine. 12: The course occasionally strayed too much into anecdotal matters and became a tad discursive -- interesting stuff, but perhaps better left to discussion during breaks, or over drinks? I would like to have seen more emphasis upon the literature of collecting.

8. Any final thoughts?

1: I sense there were some practical matters that less experienced collectors might have liked to have covered -- buying in shops vs by catalog vs at book fairs vs at auctions, how to get on dealers' mailing lists, the usefulness of AB Bookman's Weekly, &c. All my comments should betempered by the fact that I missed one day. 2: I think I tend to agree (partially) with the thought that Friends and Close Friends of BAP ought not to be given preference when there are too many applicants for a particular course. I would highly recommend this course to any collector at any level. I learned what kind of a collector I am, and how to change my collecting habits for greater enjoyment of my collection and possibly better utility of it for its future. 3: Reading the Peters book was really important for me as a basis of the course. I readily understood all the lectures and it was certainly more meaningful to come prepared. I learned a lot from the course, but it opened the door to much more. I intend to be a collector instead of just buying books I want -- collecting with a purpose is the goal. The future looks exciting. 4: The course is well worth the time and money. The opportunity to get perspectives from other collectors in the course, as well as from our instructors, was very valuable. 6: Read a longer and more varied reading list. 7: I am still obsessed, but am looking forward to an intelligent obsession, thanks to you. 8: Do it if at all possible, but only if you are serious. 9: The course, the lectures, the breaks, the physical arrangements are all superior. Such a total immersion I found very informative, exciting, and just plain interesting. I'll come again, if there's a course I'd like to take. 11: I certainly will tell my friends how much I enjoyed it. 12: Concerning preference given to BAP friends -- although obviously a beneficence, I'm a little uncomfortable with this: it's good to retain loyal students, but it's also good, I should think, to attract new ones as well. It is a tough choice.

Number of respondents: 12

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