We are delighted to announce that we have two winners of the PBFA Young Book Collector Competition 2024. They are Ellen Corbett from Northern Ireland and Herne Thackeray from Reading. 

Congratulations to both of them!

 

You can see their entries below.

 

 

My collection began out of necessity. In November 2021 I had just started my PhD and was on the hunt for resources to help me in my research. The long processes of interlibrary loans, and getting permission to visit other institutions, had yielded minimal results. On this day, however, I was at a book launch in Galway and had snuck away for an hour to one of my favourite bookshops. It was here, in the back corner of the labyrinthine shop, that I found the book I had spent hours the week before trying to access; jumping through hoops to finally read it in the Special Collection of my university library, and here it was for the princely sum of €8, discounted. I bought it, of course, and my collection has grown from there.

 

My research (and as a result, my collection) focuses on the Irish language and translation from Irish to English in the 20th Century, and because of its small print numbers and its equally small and somewhat insular (in all senses of the word) readership, Irish-language books are treated in equal amounts as though they were found with the Dead Sea Scrolls, or worthy only of a bargain bin. Sometimes it has been easier for me to scour bookshops and charity shops across Ireland, the UK, and farther afield to find books, than it is to navigate national and academic libraries (although I have used those too), and I relish the opportunity to hunt for more books.

 

Other times, I have been given books for free or in exchange for labour. Attending a local book fair, I was once asked to oversee a booth so the bookseller could take a break, and I got some good bargains for my time. In the small world of Irish, I have also been approached because of my interests. Last year, a bookshop in Dublin messaged me about eight editions of INNTI magazine they had just received; one of, if not the most important literary magazines in modern Irish literature, published between 1970 and 1996. I jumped at the chance to have them rather than have to keep traipsing the 3 hours up and down to Belfast to see my university’s collection. Now I have 13 of the 15 editions, and there is a strong argument to suggest I have the most complete collection in Northern Ireland, and more editions than either of the two universities in my home country.

 

My collection now holds over 200 pieces and contains books, pamphlets, magazines, journals, and other ephemera. My oldest piece is from 1912, and some pieces even predate the widespread use of English or Latin printing presses, using the old Gaelic or seanchló script instead. My favourite pieces, however, are those that give me an insight into their history: a ticket for the book launch; magazine clippings; and inscriptions, with some even made out to me, now that I have become more involved in the Irish-language publishing world.

 

My collection has allowed me to continue my work, find new perspectives, and rediscover and reinterpret the story of translation in the last century. With my PhD nearing completion, I hope that my collection continues to grow as my research interests do. Beyond that, however, I hope to preserve my collection for any future and budding researchers, in the hope that they might find some use for it, and won’t have to go digging for resources like I once had to!

 

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My collection of antiquarian and second-hand books is largely dedicated to books about local history, especially that of my local area, which is Reading, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and London. I started collecting old books for a number of reasons: that I do a lot of research about local history, and these are useful tools of reference; that I like to draw buildings, and old books often have beautiful illustrations of places, from which I can gain inspiration; and that I am very interested in antiquarian books and their history.

 

I love to learn about the typography of antiquarian books, the publishers, how they are bound and various other features, like bookplates, erratum slips or if a book has been grangerised. I like to find out about who owned my books, an example of this being the fact that I bought two books from the same bookshop at different times, and they both turned out to have been owned by the same man: Stanley A Ball, an historian of Binfield in the 1930s.

 

I think my passion for old books started in earnest last year when I visited Way’s Bookshop in Henley for the first time, and since then I have become fascinated by them. I will find out if the place I am visiting has an antiquarian bookshop and go there if I have time. I love the character of antiquarian bookshops and how unique they are, which makes a change from all the chains of shops. There is no better feeling for me than finding a book I have wanted for ages for a bargain. Also, I enjoy visiting PBFA book fairs, and although most of the items are outside my budget, I still can find amazing books for good prices, and I learn lots about rare books.

 

Lots of the books in my collection are from second-hand bookshops. Some are from book sales at local history societies, like the History of Reading Society and the Berkshire Family History Society. Some of my books were given to me by older members of my family.

 

Recently I have also become interested in ephemera, maps and prints, and hope to collect these too.

Reading Central Library has also been a great inspiration, for in the local history section, I can get my hands on extremely old books of great rarity in the cabinets on the shelves, that would be very expensive if sold.

 

Most of my books are non-fiction. My collection also includes books about architecture, topography, art, medicine, and historic monuments.

 

I love books about the local history of my area so much because it is so interesting to know what historians knew and thought two hundred years ago, for example. I like to cross reference the information I find in one book to another one to build up a picture of the history of my area and to help me in making my study papers about buildings in my area.