ABC for Book Collectors by Carter, J - 1967

Hart-Davis, London, fourth, revised edition, reprinted with corrections, 1967. Cloth, 8vo, 21 cm,. 208 pp. [From the blurb: "John Carter's ABC for Book Collectors has long been established as the most enjoyable as well as the most informative reference book on the subject. Here, under more than 450 alphabetical entries, ranging in length from a single line to several pages, may be found definition and analysis of the technical terms of book-collecting and bibliography." ] Of the first edition of this book Wilmarth Lewis wrote in The Book Collector, 'It is a delight - clear, accurate and witty. ABC books are not meant to be read straight through, but I have gone from Abbreviations to Yellow-back without skipping and been instructed and entertained on every page. It is perhaps unwise to pronounce a book 'a classic' on its publication, but if ever that inflated word is to be so risked it may be of the book under review. This is not only because its author has achieved what he set out to do with brilliant success, but because he is himself in such large measure responsible for the tone and temper of present-day book collecting.. .We shall, fortunately, never get to the XYZ of book collecting, and one reason for that is the integrity, imagination, learning, and gaiety of bookmen like John Carter.' Very Good in a somewhat faded price-clipped dustwrapper.