I recently
had a conversation with a well-known book dealer who’d just sold a Kelmscott
Chaucer to a collector. This put us both
in a rather giddy mood. As it should. I didn’t ask the price, but I’m guessing William
Morris’ monument to fine printing was in the high five-figure or possibly
six-figure range. But what struck me
the most was they had worked out a deal to finance the purchase over three
years. The collector was willing to stretch
his budget to the maximum for the prize.
I admire that kind of dedication as long as you don’t end up broke, your
beloved books torn from your pitiful, crying self, as you watch them carted off
to auction or a bookseller’s stock (or The Nightmare: a garage sale overseen by
your soon to be ex-wife and eagerly attended by all your former book collecting
friends).
This led
me to think about creative ways to Buy More Books Than You Can Afford and keep
them without suffering a complete financial meltdown. My suggested methods can work for many levels
of collectors from cash strapped college students to monetary titans. I have personally used most myself. There are certainly other methods, and I hope
my examples will stimulate your own financial creativity. I am especially sympathetic to the
impecunious collector who can’t live without a special book and is contemplating
radical action to make it happen. Recall even the railroad baron Henry
Huntington with almost unlimited funds bought so many books while
building his collection that he had to start offering railroad bonds in lieu of
cash to willing booksellers. The
biblio-fever runs hot at all levels.
Before we
get into specifics, let us take a moment and chant the mantra that serious book
collectors follow, “It is always easier to make more money than to find another
copy of a coveted tome.” Followed by,
“It’s not the ones you buy that you regret, but the ones you let get
away.” When you are waffling about a
purchase these maxims will steel your resolve. And if you are still wavering
remember that one of your book competitors will buy the book and they will have
it and you will not.
First,
let’s focus on the youthful but inspired collector; one who is in the budding
of book gathering with more energy than funds.
This is a precarious time in a book collector’s life. A successful start will lead to a lifetime of
enjoyment. A misstep and the frustrated
collector could turn to something cheaper but less palatable such as beer can
collecting, exercising, or social media.
Desire is
the mother of frugality in book hunting.
Frugality to save for a book can be applied at any age or level, but it
is good for the youthful collector to practice it regularly. Frugality comes in many forms, and if you
have a higher book purpose, it is amazing what can be accomplished. The crowning achievement for me in this area
was not sacrificing food, alcohol, vacations, brake jobs, or a spouse’s
Valentine’s Day present, but refraining from buying another book for thirty
days after I bought a particularly expensive example. I still stick my chest out and strut a bit
when I recall this miracle.
If one
happens to be in college and student loans are available, huzzah! Now a caveat here--we want to develop a
refined book collector not a wild-eyed bibliomaniac. Use your student loan money to first pay
college tuition and expenses. An actual
education will help your book-buying power down the road. Reserve what you can to purchase books for
your collection. And nowadays if you
fall into the right category these loans may be waived entirely. Free books!
That is always a good price. In
my own case, I happily stretched out my student loan repayment the full ten
years. Now thirty-five years later
(has it been that long?) just one of those books I purchased – a rare Gabriel
Garcia Marquez item – is pretty much worth my original loan amount. But results may vary.
While I
speak of loans, it is imperative to keep your credit score clean and your
powder dry. Don’t implode your credit
via unfettered extravagance. Credit is
your friend, and without it life can be a real challenge. Especially in book collecting. Your goal in the early years is to acquire a
credit card, use it wisely, and then get another credit card just for
books. For those who already have a
card(s), the dedicating of one card to book purchases allows more mental (if
not actual) budget space with less guilt.
Seeing book charges intermingled with groceries, vet visits, and your
kid’s braces payment can cause hesitation when action is needed. As you hopefully progress up the
socio-economic ladder, never miss payments on said card and always increase
your credit limit when you can. Carrying
a balance, possibly substantial, will be a fact of life for most collectors. Don’t neglect low interest balance transfers
when the card gets heavy. Financial
discipline is required for this but draw upon your Higher Purpose to work
through the pain.
I should
also briefly touch on other helpful credit avenues. One such is Paypal credit, associated with
Ebay but used in many book purchase situations.
This credit card hybrid currently allows a purchaser of an item of $100
or more to have six months to pay the amount back without interest. Judicious use of this option can be
particularly helpful when a payment spread over a few months makes all the
difference. However, if the item is not
paid off before the six-month deadline the total with accumulated interest
converts to regular credit card debt. The
interest rate is high enough to make a loan shark wince. The Paypal credit option can also be
particularly useful in flipping a book for a profit. My record so far is purchasing a rare Texana
item on Ebay for $4,500 utilizing my Paypal credit and selling it a couple
months later via consignment with a friendly dealer for $20,000. Not a cent of my own money was involved. You can guess where I put those profits.
My
unexpected windfall leads to the fact that advanced collectors inevitably
accumulate duplicates and encounter underpriced items with the potential to be
resold. These profits should be put into
more books, or at the very least, pay down book debt. (The books can also be
swapped with other collectors and dealers for more pertinent material.) But it is a slippery slope from collector to
scout to dealer. Almost without
exception, rare book dealers began as collectors (and a few remain so) but their
temperament has led them into bookselling as a focus, not collecting. Fair enough.
For our purposes, any excess would be plowed back into the collection
one way or another. Don’t neglect this
area. You may be surprised at what is on
your shelves that can be released back into the stream for fellow book
anglers.
Other more
unconventional ways to Buy More Books Than You Can Afford include borrowing
money from family members, like parents.
Tread carefully here. But sometimes
rare opportunities call for bold initiative.
In my early collecting days, I borrowed 5K from the Parental Account to
buy great biblio-material at the Frederick B. Adams, Jr. auction in
London. You bet I damn well repaid the
loan in short order with much sacrifice.
But then my parental credit was golden.
(Stressing what a great deal you got is also helpful in boosting their
confidence in to what to them seems a head scratching obsession. Remember, they just want to see you happy.)
Another
source for a major purchase would be to draw on your home equity line of
credit. If you have reached a
circumstance where you have a home equity line of credit congratulate
yourself. The American Dream is in
sight. Again, move carefully and
establish firm ground rules on repayment.
Securing the permission of your spouse or significant other is highly
recommended. These are dangerous waters
otherwise. For example, a surprised
spouse may demand the same amount for their own use. A tactical error here and poof, half your
needed funds are gone!
Perhaps
the finest achievement, besides simply paying cash which this essay assumes you
can’t do, is to self-finance. You’ve
saved, invested, built a small stash or a mighty amount, even with all those
fine books on your shelves, and an opportunity to buy an exceptional single
book or a collection materializes at an inopportune time – and the time will
always be inopportune. You withdraw the
substantial amount needed from your pile of retirement gold and promise to pay
yourself back with interest on a set schedule. The added interest will soothe the potential
loss of the same if you’d simply left the money alone. Write out an agreement and sign it. Post it
prominently. This will lessen the chance
of weaseling out of the deal and hopefully inspire you to work even harder to
make more money (revisit the mantra above).
I’ve heard
of other unconventional financing in the form of crowdfunding or making your
collection a non-profit entity so you can accept donations. Worth exploring, but
I was an English major so take these ruminations with a grain of proverbial
salt. You can’t fit many books in a jail
cell.
Finally,
one may encounter the rare situation when an abundance of ready money is
available, and a sigh of relief comes as your finances turn from red to
black. This can be disconcerting
admittedly. Have a nice dinner out with
your significant other and savor the moment.
But don’t kid yourself, for you are a book collector, and soon enough
things will turn red again as the fever rises and your package-toting postman
will ring not twice but many, many times.
Nota bene:
The idea for this essay sprang forth when I was brainstorming with fellow
biblio-veterans about Topics in Advanced Book Collecting. Perhaps the next subject will be “How to
House More Books Than You Have Room For.”
This seems a logical follow-up.
This essay first published in the Spring 2024 FABS Journal.
