The Book Collector


The Book Collector is a London based journal that deals with all aspects of the book.
It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritage policy, from medieval libraries to modern first editions. It has run series on Unfamiliar Libraries, Literary and Scientific Autographs, Author Societies, Contemporary Collectors and many other subjects.

History

An earlier series that preceded the Book Collector was the Book Handbook.
The Book Collector was launched by the novelist Ian Fleming in the same year, 1952, that he wrote the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale.
The journal has had only four editors since it was founded. After the death in 1965 of John Hayward, the friend and muse of T.S. Eliot, it was edited for fifty years by Nicolas Barker, sometime publisher and first head of conservation at the British Library. In 2015 he stepped down and James Fergusson, founding obituaries editor of The Independent, 1986-2007, took his place.
Essays about book collecting by Geoffrey Keynes in the Book Collector has been published in a compilation volume.

Publication

The Book Collector publishes four times a year in March, June, September and December. Each issue consists of 192pp and is sent to subscribers by airmail, where appropriate. Subscribers also have digital access to every issue of The Book Collector, as printed, since its first appearance in 1952 and to its predecessor Book Handbook, which was published in twenty-eight numbers between 1947 and 1951. There is no restriction for libraries and other institutions on the number of digital users. The Book Collector's website holds its complete archive, indexed.

Publication details