The Book Collector Podcast

This week book shops across the UK are opening for the first time in three months. To celebrate we have decided to share an account of an extraordinary phantom book sale. Titled, 'The Library of Count de Fortsas, 1840', this article was published in number 6 of The Book Collectors Quarterly, in June 1932. It was written by William Blades, the famous bibliographer and printer, who was born 1824 and...

All The Book Collector Podcasts are special, but this one may be more special than others. It is Mark James, reading Anke Timmerman's article relating to Joseph Banks, the famous explorer and naturalist whose death 200 years ago is being remembered worldwide. 'A Palimpsest of Naturalists: The Manuscripts of the Linnean Society of London' was published in our Summer 2020 issue, in conjunction with...

In 1966 a devastating flood swept through the city of Florence, destroying homes and livelihoods, and killing 101 people. This article from our Spring 1967 issue (which was dedicated to Florence) is a first hand account from Mario Witt, of the terrible events. Witt bore witness, not only to the destruction, but also the huge rallying efforts from the community, local and international, to rescue a...

In his 1961 obituary in The New York Times, Dashiell Hammett was described as "the dean of the 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction." And yet in our issue for Spring 1962 he was still considered an 'uncollected author'. Now Hammett is "widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time," which lends an interesting perspective to this article by Roger Stoddard. It is read by John...

'Reminiscences of a California Collector' by Ellen Shaffer is an article on Carrie Estelle Doheny, 1875-1958, who was one of America's greatest collectors and founder of the Edward Laurence Doheny Memorial Library at St. John's Seminary, Camarillo, California.

'Railway Reading' was written by Alan Walbank for our Autumn 1960 issue. In it he looks at the challenges to collectors of these yellow-backed Railway novels, the bright ancestors of the Pan, Penguin and Pelican series of the late 20th century. It is read by James Fleming. If you enjoyed this Podcast, visit www.thebookcollector.co.uk and subscribe to receive your own beautifully bound, quarterly i...

This week's podcast comes from our popular Polar issue of Autumn 2018. 'Scribes in Ice and Darkness' was written and is read by Fergus Fleming, a renowned travel writer who has penned several books about polar exploration, including Ninety Degrees North, and Barrow's Boys. This article looks at the Polar newspapers; the people behind them, and the incredible efforts they went to to publish these p...

In March 1789 The Loiterer, a weekly journal edited by James Austen, received a long letter criticising its lack of suitable and engaging content for women. The letter was signed by 'Sophia Sentiment', though the true identity of the writer has never been firmly established. In this article from The Book Collector's Spring 1966 issue, Zachary Cope looks through the available evidence to establish...

Published in our Summer issue for 2011, the obituary of Burton Weiss - the eccentric San Francisco bookseller - was written by Ian Jackson and is read here by John Windle.

‘A letter from the Lazaretto’ was researched, written and is read by Sheila Markham, the librarian at the Travellers’ Club in London. This piece, which has not yet appeared in The Book Collector, looks at quarantine conditions for 19th Century travellers, including those kept in isolation at the Lazaretto in Malta, where Lord Byron carved his name into the stone walls during his quarantine period....

Another extract from our popular Polar Special Issue from Autumn 2018. This article, entitled 'Cherry', explores the life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, who, at 24 years old, was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova expedition. Cherry's personal account of the expedition 'The Worst Journey in the World' (1922)became a classic of travel literature. This article was written...

Following the success of our podcast on the Hyde Collection, written by Donald and Mary Hyde and ready by Kate Rooksby, we have decided to follow it up with this; the obituary of Mary Hyde, who became Mary, Viscountess Eccles, following her second marriage. This obituary was written by Nicolas Barker in our Winter 2003 issue, and pays tribute to the incredible life of this legendary figure in the...

Read by Kate Rooksby, this is article from Donald and Mary Hyde, written for The Book Collector's Autumn 1955 issue.  This was the sixth entry for our Contemporary Collections series and offers a lovely example of mid-twentieth-century book collecting. Read more and subscribe at www.thebookcollector.co.uk

In this article from our Polar Special Issue from Autumn 2018, Bryan Oates reflects on the life, adventures and collections of his famous Great-Uncle, Captain Oates. The man who uttered the famous last words; "I'm just going outside, and I may be some time..." The article is written, and read, by Prof. Bryan Oates. Subscribe and access the original article, along with the rest of the Special issue...

'Printing and the Mind of Man; The Inside Story' written by P. H. Muir for The Book Collector's Spring issue in 1967. Read here by James Fleming.

The Book Collector's first podcast! Percy Muir's article 'Ian Fleming: A Personal Memoir' from our Spring 1965 issue, read by Rupert Vansittart. Visit www.thebookcollector.co.uk and login/subscribe to read the original article via our online archive.