Sunday, July 19, 2020

The Booksellers - A Documentary about Antiquarian Book Dealers

Trailer from The Booksellers

I found a reference to this documentary on the Facebook page of one of my librarian friends.  I was intrigued by the trailer and thought I would pay a few dollars to watch it on Amazon Prime Video.  I can't go to a movie theater, anyway, so I thought I would watch it in my air-conditioned bedroom.

It discussed the general demise of bookstores, but the situation is worse for antiquarian bookstores.  These are old books that are of value to collectors who are interested in the book as an artifact, not necessarily in the intellectual content.  To use an extreme example, anyone can buy a bible, but a Gutenberg Bible is a rarity and one would cost millions. 

The film didn't pay much attention to libraries with rare book collections.  Most collectors of rare books are elderly.  There is some concern that as collectors and book store owners pass on this endeavor could end.  An old is not necessarily of great monetary value.

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