THE BRITISH
RARE BOOK SOCIETY

8 CECIL COURT • LONDON WC2N 4HE

info@rarebooksociety.org

BOOK COLLECTING FOR BEGINNERS

This is a course designed for those who have perhaps dabbled in buying old books but not gone further, who perhaps have always liked the idea of collecting books but have been deterred by a lack of confidence, or a lack of trust, or who have perhaps been daunted by the jargon. It will teach you how to set out the ground rules for your collecting. It will tell you where to look for books, how to buy from bookshops, from bookfairs and over the internet. It will warn you of the pitfalls. It will explain the the basic terminology and the protocols. In short, it will give you the kind of expertise that most collectors have had to acquire the hard way, the slow way and the expensive way - by trial and error.

The fee for the course is anticipated to be in the region of £150 - £200 and is expected to be available from mid 2005. A full syllabus will be posted on this page as soon as possible.

The course will be broken up into several separate units, each of which will include some kind of assignment, piece of coursework, or element of active participation - and each of which must be successfully completed before moving on to the next unit. There will be a final test at the end to ensure that the lessons have been satisfactorily assimilated. Any help you may need will be available either from a Rare Book Society administrator or direct from the writer of the course by e-mail correspondence.

The course will be delivered by means of password access to hidden areas of the website. To see how this works, simply use the password - interested - to access the details of how to register page. You will be kept informed and notified as soon as formal applications begin to be processed.

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