What is an antiquarian book ?

The origin of the word antiquarian is derived from the word antique, which simply refers to something that is old, and from a former time. In it’s most common usage, it may refer to either a person who studies, or collects, or deals in old objects, or it may be used as an adjective when referring to the object, itself. For example, a collector of antique lamps, could be called an antiquarian, in general, or an antiquarian lamp collector, while the lamp itself could be called an antiquarian lamp.

For the purposes of this article, an antiquarian book is simply an old, or antique, book.

If you ask 100 people at what age a given object becomes an antique, you’ll probably get a 100 different answers. Exactly what constitutes old is up to debate.

When does a book actually become an antique ? I’ve seen books published in the 1950’s that were touted as being antiquarian, yet, to me that seems too current to be an antique. In my mind, if a book is still part of current, living history, then it shouldn’t be considered as being an antiquarian book. Of course, my living history would be different from the someone else’s living history, so.. the debate continues. (Of course, I have a personal bias here, because I don’t like the idea of something, anything, being classified as an antique, that was new in my own life time.)

For the sake of this essay, I have somewhat arbitrarily decided a book is an antiquarian book if it was published prior to 1923. In the year 2008, that would be about 85 years old. This date coincides with current copyright law that generally removes copyright protection from books published prior to 1923. Since the book protection is expired, I figure it must be old, and antiquarian.

That is not to say that there are no antiquarian books after 1922. There are plenty, I’m sure. For me, it would depend on it’s subject matter. For instance, a nonfiction book about astronomy would be outdated, and eligible to be called an antiquarian book; while a work of fiction would not.

A distinction must be made between books that are collectible, and antiquarian books, in general. Collectible books are not necessarily old books. First editions, signed editions, rare books, often fall far short of being old enough to be called antiques.

Antiquarian books can also be collectible books, too, for a variety of reasons, but they are also collectible for simply being antique. Like so many antiques, their value is in the eyes of the beholder. In order to understand their value, or even the desire to own any antique, per se, is not clearly understandable unless you-yourself like to have antiques.

Generally speaking, antiquarian books really aren’t practical antiques to own. They are usually delicate because of their age, and are often not really suitable for reading, per se. Mostly, they are meant to sit on a shelf, and to be relished by the owner. In some cases, they do require special handling, and environmental storage to maintain their condition, and prevent further deterioration. Obviously, this would apply expensive books.

If you own a very old book, you probably won’t sit down and read it for fear of destroying the book; they are not sturdy enough to read. I speak from experience. I have several books that are over 200 years old that I only occasionally peruse; I would destroy them if I were to sit down and read them.

Even a moderately aged antiquarian book in good condition, with sturdy binding, and pages, will wear quickly when they are opened, and read. Pages tear easily when they are approaching the 85 year old mark. A book in poor condition, such as might have been a library copy, will wear-out much faster.

Are Antiquarian Worth Reading ?

This is actually the subject of another essay in itself, however, in brief, many antiquarian books are still valuable sources of information, and enjoyment. Many of our classical fiction books are antiquarian books. They have been reprinted and repackaged into a more modern form. Many fiction works are in the Public Domain, i.e., their copyright protection has expired, so publishers are free to reprint, and sell them as new. And many have been digitized, and are available as electronic books, i.e., ebooks, for reading on your computer, and various other devices.

Non-fiction books are less likely to be reprinted, though there are many that have been reprinted. It depends on the subject matter. For example, American era history books with subjects such as history of the Civil War, or World War I, etc, would be good antiquarian history books to reprint, or recycle. Since the history of War doesn’t change; the information in the older books are just as valid as a newer book. A good example is the antiquarian book The Civil War Through The Camera, by Henry Elson. The fact is, many current history books rely heavily on antiquarian books as resources.

Generally, antiquarian books that are reprinted are meant more for general public use, rather than for students. For instance, I am a history buff, particularly American history, and American era History, but I’ll read almost anything that is non-fiction that suits my interests. In my opinion, many of these books could serve as text books suitable for students, at a substantial savings in costs, yet they are largely ignored by educators.

The Now and Future of Antiquarian Books.

In my opinion, right now, antiquarian books, are an excellent investment if they were published before 1923. Many of these books are in demand by collectors, and publishers who would like to use them for commercial such as reprinting and selling them, or producing movies, or creating ebooks, etc.

In the past, before the copyright laws were revised, new books would enter the Public Domain every day. Now, because of revised copyright protections there will be few new books entering the Public Domain, for many years to come.

This is not absolute; there will be some books entering the Public Domain, but, because of the complexity of the laws, you need to research each one on a case-by-case basis; the point is, prior to the revision of the laws, many more books would have entered the Public Domain on a regular basis, than now; that will not resume until approximately 95 years after 1923, or about 2017.

More and more antiquarian books are being digitized, and reformatted, and therefore becoming available to the general public. Digitizing antiquarian books, i.e., creating ebooks, has many advantages, such as:

1) Cost and availability. Antiquarian books will no longer be hard to find, or rare.

2) You can actually read them; they won’t be destroyed by using them.

3) Obviously, they won’t wear-out, or degrade with time.

4) They are easy to store.

5) Their information is still valuable.

6) The original printed book version can be enhanced with modern multimedia effects.

7) Readability is enhanced; and the publication can be colorful, and soundful, and printable, and bookmarkable, and searchable. It can include slideshows, and music, and video, and audio, and can include additional information and resources.

The cost of an ebook, whether antiquarian, or newer, can vary widely. There are many antiquarian books that are free. Others, while not free, are still much lower in cost than most printed books.

Of course, there are always disadvantages to ebooks. For example, you need a computer, or some kind of electronic device to read the ebook. If your ebook is designed for a computer, then you need to read it at a desktop computer, or a laptop. Unless you have a laptop, it would be difficult to sit in your easy chair and enjoy your ebook.

There are handheld electronic devices for reading ebooks. Some are designed specifically for ebooks, while others are for more generic personal devices. These are convenient because they can go wherever you go, much like a printed book. These are not portable computers, and do not have all the capabilities that a computer-based ebook has, therefore, they are only suitable for certain types of publications; for example, a fiction book would be a good candidate because it is text-only. In my mind, a major drawback is the size of the text, and the readability.

Computer-based ebook publications are better suited to books that contain multimedia enhancement capabilities, rather than text-only publications. For example, a publication with 100’s of images could include slide shows, and captions, music, videos, audio, etc. While handheld devices are better suited to text-only applications, such as novels, or news feeds, contracts, etc.

I’m sure in the future their will be an electronic device that has all the multimedia capabilities of a desktop computer, packaged in a device that can be easily accessed while you’re sitting in your favorite chair, or sitting on an airplane, etc.

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As previously mentioned, a big advantage of having an antiquarian book in an ebook format is that you can, in fact, read the book without damaging, or destroying the book. And the ebook is preserved for many years to come; you’ll never have to worry about the pages fading, or curling, or becoming damaged, etc.

I am a History Buff; a permanent Student; I love to read about history. When I read history books, I love to study the associated pictures, and illustrations, and photographs, etc. Ebooks allow this with ease; the text is easier to read, and I can jump to associated images/pictures, with captions, and then easily return to the text.

I can bookmark as many pages as I like, and return at a later time. And, I can word search the publication, and then jump directly to a desired page; a researcher, or a student would find this a valuable tool. And then, once found, the information can be easily printed; this is a very handy feature for the researcher.

The Future is heret for Antiquarian Books

The future is here, and bright for antiquarian books. I don’t think it is outrageous to predict that, eventually, every book that was ever printed will be digitized, and therefore will become readily available to anyone who has access to our growing knowledge base.

I would image that many of these books will be translated into other languages, opening-up yet another source of antiquarian books for the masses.

The computer age, and digitization and creation of ebooks has extended the life of every book ever written, and will become an important resource of the future.

Digitization of antiquarian books is the Gutenberg Press of the current era.

The End