Collector’s Guides

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Articles & Collector's Guides

What is a collector's guide or illustrated bibliography?

Many of the articles on this site are about beautiful book series, collections and vintage delights. Collector’s guides and annotated illustrated bibliographies are book lists that include titles, authors and illustrators, ISBNs and publishing data, links to where you might find the books, and enlargeable pictures of the covers and variant editions. Often I include a peek into the inside of the books, and typically a bit of history about the series as well.

This page provides links to the main genres and a couple of highlights they contain to give you a flavour of what to expect, but if you click through each heading you will find many more series in each category to enjoy.

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Children's Literature

Fairy tale and folklore collections, beautiful modern children’s classics, stunning vintage children’s literature collections, and illustrated bibliographies of some amazing artists. 

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Junior Deluxe Editions
Collector's Guides
Folio Society Fairy Books
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MinaLima Illustrated Classics
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Illustrators & Authors

Complete illustrated bibliographies of some of my favourite forgotten masters and underappreciated contemporary wizards. 

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Grahame Johnstone Twins
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Charles van Sandwyk
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Errol Le Cain
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Classic Fiction

Beautiful collections of classic novels, modern classic fiction, Shakespeare plays and poetry.

Collector's Guides
Sterling Die-Cut Shakespeare
Collector's Guides
Penguin Clothbound Classics
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Rockport Illustrated Classics
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Myths, Legends, Folklore

Contemporary mythical artists and vintage folklore collections. 

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Chronicle Tales
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Australian Fairies
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Purnell Myths
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Fantasy & Science Fiction

Leatherbound masterpieces of science fiction and fantasy, modern clothbound editions, and vintage classic collections. 

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Easton Press Fantasy Collection
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Good Omens & Friends
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Penguin Galaxy Collection
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Mystery & Crime

Cozy mysteries, crime novels, and noir fiction, all in beautiful bindings. With a pretty clear focus on Dame Agatha Christie.

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Folio Society Christies
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Tom Adams & the Art of Murder
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Bantam Christie Mystery Collection
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Paper Engineering

Movable books, interactive books, pop-ups and more. Learn about the most beautiful books that explode off the page.

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Recent Releases
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Award Winners
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Easter Pop-Ups
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Folio Society

Folio Society are renowned for their stunning design, beautiful design and high quality bindings.

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LE Cherished Editions
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Golden Age Fairy Tale Facsimiles
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A Very Folio Christmas
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Special Editions

How to find fancy books, including collector's editions, sprayed page edges, and books with other special features.

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Upcoming Special Editions
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2024 Archives
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2023 Archives
Beautiful Books