The Book-Hunter at Home
Public-domain ebook
The Book-Hunter at Home
Language: en1,446 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Bibliomania·Humour·Essays, Letters & Speeches
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #22716.
About this book
Allan’s The Book‑Hunter at Home is a practical treatise on the art and business of collecting printed works. The author opens with a gracious acknowledgment to the readers who have encouraged his efforts, then proceeds to a preface that explains the motivation for issuing a second, revised edition in 1921. The contents map a collector’s journey, from “Adventures among Books” and the construction of a personal library, through care and preservation, to arguments for specialised collecting, while interspersing anecdotes of missed bargains, serendipitous finds, and the perils of hesitation. The text is peppered with detailed footnotes, contemporary price updates, and three illustrative plates that together give a vivid picture of early‑twentieth‑century book‑trade life.
Written in a conversational yet erudite tone, the work reflects the genteel, self‑referential style of Edwardian bibliophilia. Its humor and occasional self‑deprecation appeal to readers who relish the minutiae of provenance, market fluctuations, and the personal narratives that accompany each volume. Collectors, antiquarian booksellers, and anyone fascinated by the cultural bonds forged through shared bibliophilic pursuits will find Allan’s reflections both instructive and warmly engaging.
The opening · free to read
Madam,
It would be churlish indeed were I to send this book into the world without some acknowledgment of the share which you have had in its making. Indeed, I feel that you are chiefly responsible for it: without your encouragement, your active help, your patience with me at all times (at which I marvel constantly), it would never have arrived at completion. Truly it is your name, not mine, that should appear upon the title-page; for although mine may have been the hand that penned the words, certain it is that yours was the mind that guided my pen throughout. It is to your sympathy, your judgment, your excellent taste, that I am indebted for every good thing that I have penned; and where I have put down aught that is trite or insipid, it is due to my own natural obstinacy in refusing, or carelessness in neglecting, to defer the matter to your better judgment. Thus it is only right that whatever praise may be bestowed upon this book should be accorded to you; my shoulders alone must bear the censure of the discerning reader.
I am, Madam, your very dutiful, and loving husband, THE AUTHOR.
In placing this second edition before his fellow book-lovers, the author would like to take the opportunity of thanking the numerous correspondents who have written to him from all parts of the world. In truth book-collecting establishes a bond between its devotees that is effected by no other pursuit.
The first edition was put forth only after much hesitation, and with a good deal of fear and trembling: that a second edition would ever be required was unthinkable. But since the book has so obviously been the means of bringing pleasure to so many, the author feels that it is his duty to bring this second edition 'up to date,' to make it as perfect as his poor skill allows. Accordingly the volume has been revised throughout, a number of additions have been made, both to the text and in the matter of footnotes, and the prices of books have been amended according to present conditions. Three illustrations have been added. QUALITY COURT, July, 1921.
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