When appreciation for the written word evolves into passion, the next logical step is to collect first and rare editions. Modern Book Collecting is recognized as the definitive introduction to book collecting, with key information for both novice and veteran collectors about starting and maintaining a book collection.Focusing on books that are now most often collected - the works of late-nineteenth and twentieth century writers - Robert Wilson details what is collectible and how to make choices, how to build an author collection, how to care for books, assessing physical condition, and much more. A comprehensive list of twentieth-century author bibliographies is especially valuable, and appendices listing up-to-date sources of rare book dealers, and Wilson's choices for the fifty most important American books published in the post-war period, round out Modern Book Collecting as a thoroughly enlightened guide. (51/2 X 81/4, 288 pages, b&w photos, illustrations)