Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2025 Issue

Trending Now - Books

The reports of books' death have been greatly exaggerated. This is no doubt a difficult time for many booksellers, particularly smaller ones and those in the business of selling high-priced classics. Very old books in Latin which almost no one can understand don't have as much appeal to younger generations. What that does not mean is that books have no such appeal. The reality is very different, the trend being the opposite.

 

Architectural Digest published an article online on December 13 last entitled Book Clubs, Book Bars, and BookTok: Examining Why Everyone Suddenly Wants to Be Perceived As Well-Read, by Sydney Gore. The subhead is From the sexy librarian aesthetic to bookshelf wealth, immersing in the literary world has never been more on trend. What is leading an exclusive publication such as Architectural Digest to make such a claim?

 

Ms. Gore explains that despite underfunded libraries and book bans, “reading remains a beloved pastime for so many Americans during these unprecedented times.” She cites several examples. There is the Booktok phenomenon on then hugely popular (and maybe soon to be banned) Tik Tok website and its Booktok subset. It quite literally has millions of visitors who go there to hear other readers describe books they have read. Its audience is primarily younger, mostly women, and avid readers. They may not be reading “great books,” it's more light romance novels, but they are reading books, as opposed to glued in front of a TV set like many older people.

 

Then there is the “bookshelf wealth” phenomenon. This involves stylishly arranging bookshelves to be aesthetically appealing. The shelves aren't limited to displaying books, but books are an essential ingredient. While aesthetics are important to bookshelf wealth, it is not supposed to be all about pretty looking covers but also about books the owner has read or at least have some particular meaning to that person. They should say something personal about the owner. It is somewhat reminiscent of the trend for important people being interviewed at home for TV appearing in front of a bookshelf. The books are meant to illustrate the intelligence and seriousness of purpose of the speaker.

 

The author also cites the rise of book clubs. She is speaking particularly of New York, where some of these clubs also list celebrities as members. Of course, book clubs are nothing new, but these are in-person events that are bringing young people together rather than just older, retired book collectors. Then there are online book clubs too that also draw in notable people. The author asks rhetorically, “If you’re not an active member of a book club are you even relevant?” Online book club Library Science features cover images of numerous popular recent books, but among the covers is Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. The great writers of an earlier generation are not totally irrelevant after all.

 

Other trends include the appearance of book bars, sort of gathering places for bibliophiles to talk while enjoying something stronger than coffee, with snacks or even a meal. Gore asks another rhetorical question, “What could be better than getting buzzed on books and booze? Now that’s what I call paradise.”

 

What is particularly reassuring about the current trend is the rejection of those that only appreciate the exterior aesthetics of the book, with no regard for its substance. It has no use for fake books, those with pretty covers but literally nothing inside, no pages. Color coding, shelves with red books or blue books is rejected. Books by the foot wouldn't make the cut. Jordan Santos of Seen Library opines, “It [the trend] makes me happy to think that people can be influenced to buy more books instead of more things they don’t need.” Ryan McCarthy, founder of Spencer's (a spa that displays books), says “If a perception of being well-read is what it takes to get good books back into the hands of the people, then so be it. Engaging in good literature is engaging in good literature… I think the net-net is all positive.”

 

Here is something that jumps out at me from reading this story. It is the absence of even a mention of electronic books. E-books became the rage a decade or so ago and are very popular for their convenience and accessibility, but claims that they would completely replace physical books were unfounded. It turns out people still want physical books. Everything in this article is centered on things that involve physical books. A little while back, Vermont State University's President announced that all physical books would be removed from their libraries, everything becoming digital. The uproar from students and faculty was so great that the plan had to be scrapped and the President resigned. This is a message for libraries that keep paring their physical book collection to support their electronic editions. E-books are fine as a supplement to physical books, but not as a replacement.

 

There is also a message for those in the collectible book trade. The people described in this article may not think of themselves as book collectors, but many effectively are and others are becoming such. People usually collect things that are a part of their lives, and as long as physical books play a part in our lives, they will be collected. It may require an updating of inventory, but that is part of the process all merchants face. Book collecting is not dying, it's just evolving. Booksellers need to evolve too.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
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