Recently, a headline in the Observer caught my eye: ‘The Rarefied World of Rare Book Collecting Is Not a Dying Art’. My first thought was, is rare book collecting really rarefied?  The article opens:

In this age of Kindle and Nook, when used book stores are rapidly disappearing and real estate is at a record premium, one might assume that the world of rare book collecting should be declining as cemetery plots fill up.

Actually, I’ve never made this assumption. If anything, I’ve thought the opposite: that changes in publishing (most obviously, the growth of digital and the decline of bricks-and-mortar bookstores) are building the print book into a coveted and prized item.

When I read a book on my Kindle, I connect to the writing at a certain level. But if I decide I really love that book, I must then purchase a print copy for my shelf. Whether I buy the book from a bookstore or order it online, once I have it in my hands the connection to the writing surges. I would go so far as to say that after a lifetime of being a bibliophile, I love my print books more than ever because I truly value them now that there is an ‘other’ type of book in the mix that is not tangible, that does not have that wonderful ink-and-paper smell, that does not comfort and cheer me with its very presence in my home.

The Observer article explores some of the rare books that are exciting collectors. Did you know that the first print-run of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (UK) numbered a mere 500 books? Today, one of those books can change hands for as much as $40,000. Older books, however, are the most valuable; in 2014, for example, a first-edition J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye was bought $23,750.

Reasons for collecting rare books vary from status symbol to financial investment (i.e. Bill Gates’ $30.8 million purchase of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci) to actually wanting to read the book. As one collector told the Observer: ‘It is a crime to sit a book on a shelf and not read it. A book isn’t a museum piece. There is wisdom in the pages.’

Clearly, the price tag associated with very-rare-book collecting impedes many people from getting involved. But given that print books themselves are becoming rarer year on year, perhaps this is a world that can open up to people. Who is to say what will be rare in a decade or twenty years? Perhaps a modern book bought in your local bookstore will become rare someday – and therefore coveted.

If you are passionate about printed books, you can begin collecting books you love right now – new and old – and all you need to do is take good care of them and keep hold of them. Then, someday, you have a legacy to leave behind. Perhaps your library will be worth some money; perhaps not. But certainly it will give you a lifetime of pleasure in the spirit of Jorge Luis Borges: ‘I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.’