The Art of Collecting Books

Helpful tips on starting your own collection

Jay Rohfritch, owner of Good Books in the Woods bookstore, does his research before investing in books to collect. (Courtesy of Jay Rohfritch)

Collectors are everywhere: from stamps to baseball cards to ceramic figurines. Most people have an affinity of some kind for some thing. When the bug bites, it is difficult to walk away from that rare item, even if it forces you to adjust your personal economic policies.

When it comes to book collecting, the purpose is no different. It should be an enjoyable lifelong expedition. Having fun collecting is the first piece of advice from Jay Rohfritch, owner of Good Books in the Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.

“It’s supposed to be fun. Collect what you enjoy collecting,” he said. “Don’t let anyone tell you what to collect.”

Information that tells if a book is a first edition. (Courtesy of Jay Rohfritch)

Rohfritch, along with being a bookseller, including rare and antique books, is a collector. He has learned the art of collecting books from personal experience and from others. He said the best way to start collecting books is like anything one plans to do: just start.

“Buy some books. See how it feels. You will either catch the bug or you won’t,” he said.

He added that there are two reasons collectors collect: for the sheer joy of collecting, or for the sheer joy of collecting and making a return off of their investment. For those in the former camp, he said that pretty much anything is collectible. For the latter, he advised book collectors to be decisive in their purchasing opportunities. Decisive in buying and not buying.

As a bookseller and a collector, he has perused through collections that seem professionally tailored and those that seem haphazardly assembled. The difference between the two comes down to one thing.

“The collectors I respect are decisive. They see a book. They want it. They buy it,” he said. “Don’t buy crap. The crap collections are people who are wishy washy and indecisive. They say, ‘Let me come back in a week. Let me think about it.’ They have inferior collections. It’s better to slightly overpay for a book then not get it at all. The more decisive you are, the more success you will find. That’s like anything.”

Jay Rohfritch, owner of Good Books in the Woods bookstore, researches possible book finds on the Internet. (Courtesy of Jay Rohfritch)

Condition Matters

When it comes to slightly overpaying, a book collector should know why they are slightly overpaying. There are subtle things to look for when making such a purchase. Such as the printing and the condition of the book compared to when it was printed.

“If you want to collect 20th-century fiction, don’t buy a book without a dustjacket. It’s just not worth it,” he said. “Don’t buy a second printing if you can afford the first. The difference in value between the first and second printing is vast.”

If a collector is looking for a valuable book from the 20th century, it needs to be in hardback along with a dustjacket that is in good condition (or the best condition possible). When it comes to 19th-century books, almost none of the books had dustjackets, so buyers shouldn’t worry about that. In juxtaposition, many of the 20th-century’s science fiction works were first printed in paperback. The book itself, though, still needs to be in the best condition possible for its value to be high.

“If it’s fiction and modern literature, then condition is everything. Absolutely everything,” he iterated. “The dustjacket can be 90 percent of the value. If you don’t have that. Whoopy do! Nonfiction is more forgiving about defects. For fiction, it’s almost at a psychotic point. But in general, condition matters.”

Supply and Demand

Rohfritch said the value of a book, whether in great condition or not, is based on the simple economic principle of supply and demand. If a book is rare and in demand, then the value of that book will be high. If a book is rare but there is no demand, then that value will solely be in the eye of the beholder.

For example, Rohfritch recalled a time when a local buyer was accumulating a comprehensive book collection on the city of Houston. The buyer, who had conducted his own personal research on what was worth buying and what was not, had built an extensive library. He was eyeing first editions, signed copies, and rare items. When he was done, he sold it to a local university library. He wound up making a profit off of the sale.

A common avenue collectors choose is via author—typically, their favorite author. Rohfritch said he runs into people like this rather often.

“We’ve run into collectors who collect all of them except the most expensive ones. That’s not too useful if you want to get any money out of your collection,” he said. “If you want money, you need the author’s most famous book and in the best condition you can possibly afford.”

He added that having the author’s most famous or important work in the best condition possible is key when considering selling a collection. It leverages the buyer against the seller, otherwise it is vice versa.

“If you want to sell, don’t let me cherry pick,” he said. “If you say it’s all or nothing, you better have the author’s most important book. If you have the author’s third most important book, I’m probably walking.”

Rohfritch suggests that collecting an author’s work is not always about collecting all of their works. He said some works, even from famous authors, aren’t worth buying. For example, he mentioned that Ernest Hemingway’s “Across the River and Into the Trees” was hated by critics and did not sell well. There is plenty of supply, but no demand.

Cover of the first edition of Ernest Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea." (Public Domain)

“Go after the masterpieces,” he said. “The easiest to obtain from Hemingway is ‘The Old Man and the Sea.’ The first run was 50,000 copies. It’s easily obtainable because it’s a masterpiece and because it’s Hemingway. Find the best you can find. Then go to the next one, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls.’ Find the nicest copy you can afford. Then ‘A Farewell to Arms.’ That had a smaller print run because he wasn’t as famous. Most collectors of Hemingway will skip the first one, ‘The Sun Also Rises,’ because it’s harder to find and it becomes more expensive.”

The Hemingway method is merely a way to plan one’s collection. This is an ideal method for collectors looking to sell their collection. For those looking to keep their collection and constrict their financial output, Rohfritch recommends buying other materials from the author, like their periodicals, which are typically less expensive than the books. He further used Hemingway as an example since he was a journalist before becoming a full-time author. Even when he became a book author, his work often showed up in magazines.

“The true first printing of ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ was in Life magazine,” he noted.

Ask for Help

There are various ways to go about starting a collection or creating a valuable personal library. From favorite authors to favorite genres, searching for books is, in a way, like seeking hidden treasure. You need to know the best places to look. Used bookstores, thrift shops, estate sales, and, of course, the Internet. Rohfritch has another piece of advice for potential collectors, before they march out in search of books.

Jay Rohfritch, owner of Good Books in the Woods, bookstore checks out a book. (Courtesy of Jay Rohfritch)

“I would recommend talking to someone like me,” he said. “You can walk into my bookstore and talk to me. I’m a generalist on fiction and nonfiction. I can help you focus your collection. Some find that more fun than trying to focus their collection all on their own, but some don’t find that fun at all.”

Formulating a plan of attack may be the best way to begin, but it isn’t completely necessary. Some collections start with haphazard purchases and for good reason. In fact, it’s for the best reason.

“My personal collection is pretty haphazard,” he admitted. “I think most collectors start that way. When I go on buys, I know which books are financial mistakes for the collectors, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing; the collector was having fun.”