Blueberry Books is exhibiting at the Bath Book Fair on Saturday 6th October! You can get your complimentary tickets here. #BlueberryBooks #Books #AntiquarianBooks #BookFair #BathBookFair

​​​​ There are many types of bindings for books, but I would say that in essence books are bound in cloth, paper, leather or vellum, which is what I want to discuss today. Cloth Paper Leather Vellum They are usually bound in one of these formats: Quarter Half Full The above ex

I recently received my copy of The Bookplate Journal and wanted to write a post about it as this particular issue seems to be a good starting point for people who want to know more about bookplates. The editorial does a nice job summing it up with the opening words of: "This issue of the Journal seeks to answer the questions of why and how bookplates are collected and studied." The first article: Why collect bookplates? by Bryan Welch, was of particular appeal to me as my per

In the early years of the printing press illustrations used to be woodcuts. The image would be cut along the grain with both the text and the illustration cut from the same piece of wood. These are known as block-books. Then, as moveable type emerged, images would be cut from separate blocks and inserted where needed. This was great because illustrations could be used for multiple projects, or an embellishment used multiple times in the same book without it having to be cut m

At Blueberry Books we have a couple of books relating to Euclid and felt it worth writing a little post about the father of geometry. He was based in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I. Not very much is known about him. In-fact the depiction of him with a long flowing beard is most likely the work of artistic license, as no contemporary image or description exists. His book Elements is regarded as one of the most influential books in mathematics. It builds upon and is a

We are pleased to announce that Blueberry Books has just become a member of the PBFA. This is something we're really excited about. A little over a year ago when we started trading we set ourselves a few targets that we wanted to reach. Joining the PBFA was one of them. At the time it seemed really distant and unattainable, but with a lot of hard work and help from other people in the trade, it has become a reality, and we couldn't be more pleased. Our website will be updated

Albert Angus Turbayne (1866-1940) designed book covers. Born in America he moved to England in 1890. His most recognisable work is perhaps his design for the Peacock Series published by Macmillan, which graces the cover of the PBFA members directory (pictured below). His distinctive scarab, with which he signed his work, has been missed off of the directory due to cropping of the image, but you can see it lurking in the bottom right corner of George Morland by Sir Walter Gil

I've clung to my Luddite ways long enough and have finally decided to embrace social media. I have yet to join the legions of Twitter users, but have rather enjoyed sharing pictures of books I like through Instagram. When I put my books online I can't be particularly arty, nor do I want to edit the photographs too much or employ filters, as it is important that you see precisely what you are purchasing without any of the imperfections being removed or diminished. With Instagr

I was very lucky recently to receive the PBFA scholarship so that I could attend the York Antiquarian Book Seminar (YABS) this year. The brainchild of Anthony Smithson from Keel Row Books, YABS has been running for four years now and comprises of three days of lectures on antiquarian books, with the onus being on selling. It was really fascinating to learn the different journey's people have taken into the book trade and the different methods employed by them in the pursuit o