Collector guides
Plain-language answers to the questions book collectors ask most — identifying printings, telling foxing from mould, and keeping a record you can hand on. Rules of thumb, honestly caveated, with no valuations.
How to tell if a book is a first printing
How to read the copyright page — the number line, the edition statement and points of issue — to judge whether a book is a first printing, with worked examples and the publisher exceptions that trip people up.
Read guideWhat is a Book Club Edition (and why it matters)
What a Book Club Edition is, how to recognise one, and why collectors track it separately from a trade first printing — described plainly, without value claims.
Read guideBook care basics: foxing, mould, and safe storage
Conservative, practical basics for keeping books in good condition — telling foxing from mould, sensible storage, and when to call a professional conservator.
Read guideCataloguing a collection for insurance
How to build a clear, exportable record of a book collection for insurance or estate purposes — what to capture per copy and why an export you control matters.
Read guideHow to stop buying books you already own
Why duplicate purchases happen even to careful collectors, how to check a book before you buy it — including the edition and retitling traps a barcode check misses — and what to do with the duplicates you already have.
Read guideWhat an ISBN tells you about a book — and what it doesn’t
How ISBNs work, how to read the barcode on the back of a book, why the paperback and the hardcover have different numbers, why a reprint usually has the same one, and what to use for a book printed before ISBNs existed.
Read guideWhat is the Dewey Decimal system? A guide for home and church libraries
How Dewey numbers work, how to read one and shelve by it, where to find a book’s number without looking it up, and whether a home or church library needs Dewey at all.
Read guideReaderware fields: what transfers to AllMyBooks and where it lands
A column-by-column reference for a Readerware book export: where each column lands in AllMyBooks, which columns are not transferred, and how to keep the user fields with custom fields.
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