Looking After Your Books, Francesca Galligan (ISBN 978-1-85124-627-4, Bodlean)

This book was a tip from the newspaper I read. The author is deputy head of rare books at the Bodlean libraries, university of Oxford. The background and passion for books of the author is the strong point of the book and in my opinion the reason to read this book. A book by a book lover for book lovers. The author gives tips about how to care for your books, what to do in case of damage and so on. She also gives insights into how you can approach your books as a collection and to start thinking about collecting to make your collection more complete. I found this a refreshing approach as it also is a way to think about making room for new books by getting rid of old books, something most book collectors struggle with. There is never enough space for all the books, nor enough time to read them all and still there are always reasons not to part with a book. There is a chapter on useful ways to give your books a new life if they are not valuable money wise. She also discusses how to best mark your books as your property and what to do with books that have the names of previous owners in them. Better to leave the names in and not to do damage by trying to remove the names. The only reason to remove a name is the expectation that a book will bring more value if it is unmarked but a damaged book is also less valuable. The ‘ideal’ situation is if the previous owner was someone famous, then the name written in the book could make the book more valuable. The main message is that unless you see your books as an investment that can be turned into a profit the thing that matters is to treat your books with care and respect. If you want to make notes go ahead but don’t use a book to stabilise your table. I found this an enjoyably little book that was remarkably light-hearted yet respectful in tone, not matching the stereotype of a professional book collector. Heart warming for people who love books, others will simply not get it, I suspect.