Preserving and safeguarding a collection of signed books

Preserving and safeguarding a collection of signed books requires careful attention to various factors, including environmental conditions, handling techniques, and storage methods. Whether you’re an avid reader, a bibliophile, or a collector of rare and signed editions, ensuring the longevity and condition of your cherished books is essential. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to …

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The Timeless Allure: Collecting Nancy Drew Books

Since her debut in 1930, Nancy Drew has captured the hearts and minds of readers young and old. The teenage sleuth, with her uncanny ability to solve mysteries, has become a literary icon and a beloved character in American literature. Over the decades, the enduring popularity of collecting Nancy Drew books has remained steadfast. In …

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The etiquette of asking for an author’s autograph!

There was an extremely entertaining article by Geoff Dyer in the online edition of the New York Times Sunday Book Review last weekend  exploring the satisfactions, quandaries and anxieties involved in seeking an author’s autograph. A must read for collectors of books signed by the author! The Etiquette of Autographs

Books Authored and Signed by American Presidents

By David Thoreau

In recent years there has been a growing audience for books authored and signed by American Presidents. This article explores some of the most common books authored and signed by modern American presidents.

One of the earliest American presidents to author a book was Thomas Jefferson and his only full-length book known as Notes on the State of Virginia. Originally written in 1782 and published anonymously in Paris, Notes on the State of Virginia contains Jefferson’s political philosophy interspersed with geographic descriptions of the State of Virginia. Signed copies bearing Thomas Jefferson’s autograph are known to exist but are exquisitely rare.

More recently, Calvin Coolidge gained notoriety as a syndicated newspaper columnist after his career in politics. His autobiography was published in 1928 and copies bearing the inscription “Cordially Calvin Coolidge” in blue ink occasionally appear on the autograph marketplace.

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Is book signing just plain weird?

If you’re a passionate collector of books signed by the author you may be interested in this piece in the Independent, UK which takes a sympathetic look at the “book signing chore” that modern publishing demands of popular authors. Excessive success, however, can also be a burden. There’s a shocking story about Stephen King signing …

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Are you a booksigning junkie?

There’s a wonderfully funny confessional article by Emily Grosvenor in the Publishers Weekly today. If the following snippet sounds familiar…then check out the full article!

I am a compulsive author-reading attendee, an obsessive reader and fan. People like me are the reason publishers send authors on book tours. Writers are my celebrities. I track news of them like other people follow Angelina Jolie. I sign up for e-mail alerts to keep abreast of their book tours. And when the writers I read go on tour, I am there.

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Signed by author…long distance!

There’s a fascinating article in the New York Times on line edition this morning about a revolutionary device which may turn the collection of signed books on its head! It talks about a device called LongPen which Margaret Atwood, the Canadian novelist, devised in 2004 so that she could sign books with a touchpad in her home, which in turn conveyed her handwriting to an autopen in a distant bookstore. You can read the full story by following the link below…

A Book Signing With the Author a World Away
By JOANNE KAUFMAN
Published: December 17, 2007
With his recent conviction and sentencing, the media baron and author Conrad M. Black has turned to a device called the LongPen to help him hold book signings from afar.

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