Rare Books Information & Research Service

  

"I have an old book..." | Our Oldest Book | A Miniature Book
Guide to providing a sound environment for paper-based material
Secondhand book searches online | Book Prices Tutorial

The State Library provides a rare books-related information and research service for all Queenslanders, based on a reference collection and  two special collections, the History and Art of the Book Collection and the Eber Bunker Maritime Collection. The service and the collections are located on level 3 of the Library's South Bank building.

Information & Research Service

A statewide speciality information service in rare books is provided in the Special Collections area on level 3 of the Library's South Bank building. Trained staff are available to help you locate any rare books-related information, including how to access book price records, information on the publishing of a book, or information on the history and techniques of book production.

Specialist librarians are available Monday to Friday, 10 am to 5 pm. Visitors to the Library during these hours should ask for assistance at the Special Collections Room on level 3.

At other times when the Library is open, you can seek assistance from the non-specialist staff on the central level 3 enquiry counter, or leave enquiries with them to pass on to the specialists.

If we can, we will answer your enquiry, or show you how to find the information, on the spot. However, if this is not possible, we undertake to:

  • devote up to two hours working on it for free, although usually not straight away. Enquiries previously received have priority over those taken later.
  • provide an answer within 3 to 5 working days. Those inquiries more difficult to answer may take longer, but we will let you know if this is going to be the case.

Clients unable to visit the Library are welcome to contact us in other ways with their enquiries during normal working hours, as listed below.

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Displays

The Arts Unit shows regular small displays of material from the rare books collections, so that visitors can enjoy some of the State Library's many treasures. Every month, a new display is shown in the display cabinet opposite the front lift on level 3 of the Southbank building. Please contact us for more information about coming displays.

Internet resources for rare books information

Arts Unit staff have selected web sites which you may find interesting and useful. They include links to:  Secondhand book searches online | Book arts | Book related societies | Bookdealers' associations | Books online | Online exhibitions | Preservation of books

Secondhand book searches online

  • abebooks.com
    • A source for out-of-print books. Searchable using the Quick Search or, for more search options including publisher, click on the Search tab.
  • Alibris
    • Search for out-of-print books, used books, and rare books, including first edition books, children's books, science fiction books, ephemera and much more.  Note that Alibris add a percentage on top of the bookdealers' prices.  Also you have no direct point of contact with the bookdealers.
  • Antiqbooks
    • Book search service is provided by NAN (Netherlands Antiquarian Booksellers' Network). The focus is on European books.
  • Bibliofind
    • Thirty-five hundred booksellers from around the world offering eight million books for sale.
  • BibliOZ
    • BiblioOz.com, the Book Search Wizard, is one of the world's leading
      sources of out of print and collectable books with more than 20 million items available online from bookdealers all over the globe, plus a free booksearch service for any hard-to-find books. An Australian-based service, they also have particular strengths in Asian, Pacific, Antarctic and British Colonial material.
  • BookFinder.com
    • This is a book shopping search engine that scans bookseller databases to find new, used, rare, and out of print books.
  • Books and book collecting
    • Try Trussel's EclectiCity site with its links to new and out-of-print book search services. It also has a free Set Maker service to try to link up odd volumes with incomplete sets of reference books, collected works and other multi-volume editions.
  • International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB-LILA)
    • The League "...speaks for twenty nations and 2000 leading booksellers throughout the world. Its emblem stands for integrity and professionalism in the rare book trade worldwide."
  • Online Book Exchange
    • The Australian site is primarily intended for use by University, TAFE and secondary students wishing to trade second hand textbooks.
  • World Book Dealers
    • a joint venture between UK and the USA bookdealers and [TOM|the OTHER media] limited.

You may like to read "I have an old book", a guide to the print resources the State Library of Queensland holds to assist with secondhand book price records, with links to other useful Web sites.

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Book arts

  • The Book Arts Web
    • Set up by Peter Verheyen, binder/conservator who founded Book_Arts-L.
  • Book_Arts-L : The electronic meeting place for all facets of the book arts
    • A mailing list based at Syracuse University, and managed by Peter Verheyen. Among the subscribers are practicing bookbinders, book-artists, marblers, papermakers, printers, collectors, curators in libraries, and people just interested in our wide and varied field. Includes a searchable archive of messages to the mailing list.
  • Book Information Website
    • devoted to all aspects of books, bookarts, book history, letterpress printing, fine printing, book schools, paper and papermaking, book artists, history of printing and more.
  • Information about the Book and Book Arts Community
    • Contains resources for people interested in the history of the book, bibliography, the book trade and the book arts. Provided by Oak Knoll Books (US).

Book related societies

  • The Bibliographical Society of America
    • Its principal objectives are to promote bibliographical research and to issue bibliographical publications.
  • Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand (BSANZ)
    • The Society has as its province all the studies that form part of or are related to physical bibliography: the history of printing, publishing, bookselling, typefounding, papermaking, bookbinding; palaeography and codicology; and textual bibliography. The Society also has an interest in the general field of reference bibliography, and has been enthusiastically involved in efforts to document the holdings in Australia of pre-1800 books through the recently completed Australian Book Heritage Project (the Australian arm of the international Early Imprints Project).
  • Bibliographical Society of Canada
    • The principal aims of the Society are to promote bibliographical publications; to encourage the preservation and to extend the knowledge of printed works and manuscripts, particularly those relating to Canada; to facilitate the exchange of information concerning rare Canadiana; to coordinate bibliographical activity and to set standards.
  • The Fine Press Book Association
    • An organization formed by individuals interested in the art of fine printing to promote printing skills and the appreciation of beautiful books.
  • International Book Collectors Association (IBCA)
    • Site presented by avid book collectors with information on topics including how to determine the values of your own books. Check out their Table of contents.
  • The Manuscript Society
    • An international organization of persons and institutions devoted to the collection, preservation, use, and enjoyment of autographs and manuscripts. Not strictly book-related, but autographs and manuscripts are often found in books.

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Bookdealers' associations

Books online

  • Bibliomania, The Network Library
    • gives access to full texts of a range of authors.
  • Books-On-Line
    • Do a search of their database to find books out of copyright and available to download.
  • Electronic text archives
    • A listing of various Web probjects with links compiled by the Louisiana State University.
  • Project Gutenberg index
    • the official Web home page for the project. The Project Gutenberg philosophy is to make information, books and other materials available to the general public in forms a vast majority of the computers, programs and people can easily read, use, quote, and search.
  • The On-Line Books Page
    • an index of thousands of online books. Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.

Online exhibitions

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Preservation of books

Don't forget, you can use NetLinks to find more book and book arts-related information on the Web.

More Information

If you have an enquiry, you can get in touch with us in any of the following ways:

Note: As well as the Rare Books service, the Arts Unit provides a state-wide Visual Arts information & research service.

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