The word ‘antiquarian’ is most often coupled with ‘books’, but in fact it can be applied to a wide range of documents:  as well as books, collectors have specialized in old newspapers, maps, share scrips, coins, banknotes, militaria,  letters, autographs, diaries, sheet music. Each field is worth discussing in itself, and one’s choice is often coloured by personal preference. Much of what follows in regard to antiquarian books can, within reason,  be extrapolated to cover any of the other classes of old documents.

'Antiquarian' ie 'old' books have a fascination which is entirely different from the contemporary article. This is due in part to aesthetic, occasionally emotional considerations. They smell nice, they look nice, and they are often mysterious in that 'the past is another country; they did things differently there'. Every category of human activity produces its literature: medicine, technology, the humanities, travel, war, and of course, sex, all have had their literatures, and in time, what was contemporary becomes antiquarian.

Perhaps the first thing to do is to decide which field or part of a field that you will collect in. Let’s take a popular area: military history. Do you want to collect very broadly, so that Clausewitz’ military classic Vom Kriege [On war] and first published in 1833, sits on your shelf along with CEW Bean’s Gallipoli Campaign? Or do you want to specialize in editions of Clausewitz? Or do you want to concentrate on Prussian military history, a very large field? Or do you want to concentrate on ‘the horse in war’? Or the evolution of artillery? Perhaps your great grandfather served with the AIF on the Western Front in the First World War: will you look at the battles in which his unit fought? Or the overall conduct of the War? Bill Gamage wrote a deeply moving book based on the diaries of individual Australian servicemen which had been collected by the Australian War Memorial. You might want to collect unit histories and other memorabilia.

Any field is equally complex and offers wonderful opportunities to the serious collector.

Antiquarian books, carefully chosen, are reliable investments; like classic cars, they are an asset from which one can gain immediate enjoyment as well as watching them appreciate in value. But you need to decide if you are primarily an investor, or a collector: the differences are obvious. Each literature has its pattern: and the shape and nature of each needs to be learned if choices are to be made. There are guides to every area, and the serious beginner as well as the aficionado will want to acquire those which are relevant. Collections can be built up in different ways, the prime determinant being the amount of money which is available to be spent or the time which is available to fossick in market stalls, second hand shops or garage sales. Antiquarian booksellers can be found in the Yellow Pages for your region, and they are all happy to supply, advise on or pursue desired items. But they are, essentially, businessmen, and charge for their expertise by way of the price of the items they sell.

A slower, but infinitely less expensive and no less interesting approach is to go to book sales, garage sales, antique sales, general second hand shops and build your collection from there. You can do this at random, or you can create and follow your own particular strategy. As an example, one collector decided to specialize in the first editions of the James Bond novels, a complete run of which now amounts to several thousand volumes across 126 languages, and which is probably worth around $420 000. Another collector opted for the safety instructions found in the seat pocket of every airliner. One with more exotic and specialized tastes collected trade union literature of the 19th century.