Collecting books is a passion that many bibliophiles share, but there is a big difference between "collecting" and simply buying them. While a lot of people buy books (old and new) only on topics that interest them, you can also collect in any of a mind-boggling number of areas like books from a certain period in history, or books with historical significance. This hobby has more variety within it than any other collecting field you can imagine. You can collect your favorite author; a subject about which you wish to learn more - i.e. the American Indian, or the animals of Africa, Cuban Cooking or Witchcraft. You can collect books from all different time periods, like recent in-print books, books from the 19th century, books from the first century of printing, paperback books, pulp magazines, books with leather bindings, historic newspapers, pamphlets from the period of the American Revolution or French Revolution, books printed in the Pacific Northwest, or even books about collecting books! If you like jazz music from the 50s and 60s you can collect books in that area, or if you like astrophysics, Cuba, Russia, Japan, tennis, golf, fishing, genetics, psychology, calculus, swimming, biking, horticulture, flower arranging, or cooking - it's possible to build a book collection around virtually any subject. You get the idea.
One myth that may stop people from taking up serious book collecting is that book collecting is expensive. It can be, but it doesn't HAVE to be. You can spend as little or as much as you are able and willing to on your collection. Some collectors buy only new in-print books, others buy only at yard sales, estate sales, and library book sales, and others visit their city's used book shop. Some people order only from mail order antiquarian book catalogs, and many are now buying rare and used books on the internet through websites like Ebay and the book auction site located on Amazon.com. If you don't have a lot to spend or are just very frugal, you could even put a budget in place to a maximum of $1.00 (US or the equivalent) per volume by buying at flea markets and yard sales and slowly build an interesting and potentially valuable collection.
Many collectors purchase their books from a wide variety of sources and limit their purchases to expenditures they can afford; often making purchases in the $10 to $100 range, and occasionally more for a
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