Taste & Technique in Book Collecting; now reprinted with an Epilogue

Private Libraries Association, London, 1970 enlarged reprint of 1949 second edition. Cloth, 8vo, 23 cm,. xiv, 242 pp. This is a reprint of the 1949 second edition of this classic work, expanded by the addition of a substantial epilogue: namely, the presidential address delivered to the Bibliographical Society in 1969, in which John Carter cast a reflective and not invariably respectful eye on the trends, conditions and personalities of the intervening twenty years. Carter also provides a new preface and some pages of Corrections & Notes. The volume as a whole offers a "somewhat philosophical" account of the cycles and patterns in book-collecting over the 100 years or so from about 1840, in the UK and in America, and an examination of then current methods and technique. There are interesting discussions of "Rarity" and "Condition" and a subtle and amusing analysis of the forces which determine the state of the market. Elegantly written. Chapter-titles: Roxburghe to Rowfant; New ideas and new methods; Ashburnham to Britwell; Buxton Forman to Kern; Depression and revival; Patterns in book-collecting; Reflexions on the present state of book-collecting; The education of the collector; Tools and terminology; Bookshop and auction room; Rarity; Condition. Corners slightly bumped, otherwise near Very Good in used dustwrapper.