Why Would Anyone Want Those Old Antique Books?
If you're not familiar with the antique industry, you might wonder why anyone would be interested in antique books. Often the information contained in them is so outdated, it's completely inaccurate. Science books are almost comical, they are so inaccurate. Just read an ancient book about the universe or an ancient medical text, and you'll be flabbergasted at how little our ancestors actually knew. They had no idea how the human body really work, how the universe was formed, or how disease spread. Ancient history books almost seem like fairytales. But for the knowing few, ancient books are treasured. Some of them are invaluable to collectors. Ancient Bibles and other holy books, the writing of very famous people in history, ancient public documents; these are all highly valued and bring great prices at auctions.
Antique books are coveted by book collectors for many reasons. They give us a view into human learning and reasoning in the past. They make it easier for us to see how things that seem silly today gained their roots in the past. I remembered the report that I did in college that really blew me away. The report was about how early Americans justified slavery. It was astonishing to see how these writers justified slavery based on assumptions that slaves were not really human. In fact, they were considered animals, just like farm animals. There was a lot of detail, I don't remember now 40 years later, but to this day the report makes an impression on me because of the antique text I read for my research. The slave owners thought the bodies and brains of their slaves were so different from their own that it's pretty obvious they didn't have a clue about either. This really helps us to see how much we progressed in a hundred years. Today we have an African-American, a descendant from those very slaves, as the Democratic candidate for president of the United States. This is huge progress and I'm happy to be around to see it. Without the antique books I read in college, I would not understand the amount of progress we've all made.
But for others, it may be the timelessness of antique books that appeal to them. When you read the writings of ancient poets and philosophers you realize that people really haven't changed much down through history.
Turning to history, most of it comes from antique books, of course. Most civilizations left us their history in the form of stories and tales that made their way into books over the years. Without them, we wouldn't have any idea what our history was. Look at the pirate treasure, and the lost scrolls and the mummies and everything else about history that is being found today. It all comes from antique books. Just think of the laws that govern people and how they have evolved. The only reason we know any of this, is because of antique books.
On top of all of this antique books are connected to real people who lived hundreds of years ago. Reading one can be like getting into a time machine and going back into the past. Knowing that a book is hundreds of years old, allows us to wonder about the person who wrote it, the people who've owned it, the meaning they got from it. Who touched it, who read it, what did it mean to them? Knowing the books people read is probably the best connection you'll ever have with them.
So who might be interested in antique books? It takes someone who enjoys history and connecting with the past. People who like to transport themselves back in time, so that they feel that they are in the shoes of the writer. These people can be fanatical about books. Many auctions have separate showings for books. Antique books and antique toys and antique furniture, probably don't all appeal to the same buyers. So there is a separate crowd of buyers looking for antique books. Many libraries specialize in historical books, and they're always buyers. University libraries and large legal libraries are always looking for antique books. Religious organizations are always looking for old Bibles and religious texts. There are also many private collectors looking for something unique that no one else has. While there are some in the antique business, who shy away from books because they feel it's not as exciting as a piece of 18th century Victorian furniture or a 200 year old piece of jewelry, there is still a huge market for antique books that are prized by collectors.
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Trading Antiques can make an wonderful hobby and a great business. Hordes of excited people are finding the joys of the antique business ever year. Get a head start with Rob Gormly's exciting eBook " Ka~CHING How to Buy and Sell Trading Antiques ... Just Like They Do On TV!" or learn more about the antique business on our blog.
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by: RobGormly
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