Rare and antiquarian are words which aren't necessarily synonymous with each other in book collecting circles. A rare book is a category which any book by any author can fall into. The relevance depends on several factors, not least the following which are listed below but in no particular order.
Age of a book
To a collector of rare books age is certainly a distinguishing factor. The older books are the less likely there are to be many volumes of the same title or series available. The older the book or manuscript, the less likely it would have been printed in large numbers. You have to remember that reading and writing was limited to the upper classes until the Education Reform Act of 1870.
Age of a book
To a collector of rare books age is certainly a distinguishing factor. The older books are the less likely there are to be many volumes of the same title or series available. The older the book or manuscript, the less likely it would have been printed in large numbers. You have to remember that reading and writing was limited to the upper classes until the Education Reform Act of 1870.
