Rare British
Books

We've now added pages dedicated to assisting collectors of many of the best British authors of all time including Charles Dickens, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, AA Milne, JK Rowling, Rudyard Kipling, William Shakespeare, Roald Dahl, The Bronte Sisters, George Orwell, Graham Green any many more. If you are collecting Rare British books then you're in the right place. With just a few clicks you can be browsing the cream of their rare books currently available for sale and auction including rare first editions, signed copies, original hardcover copies with dust jackets and also the occasional manuscript, letter or other item of rare bibliophile memorabilia. We're also adding for rare book sections, for example, rare Bibles which currently include a very rare King James 1st Bible (listings are updated constantly though so when you view, it will almost certainly be different - which is why you should bookmark Rare British books because chances are, no two visits will ever be same in terms of the rare books for sale).

Many more pages are planned so please bookmark Rare British books now. We also now offer you access to many low priced brand new books by all of our featured authors. Most of these come with free delivery and very low prices, much lower than publishers recommended price. More information can be found on each page (choose from the menu of rare books for sale on the left).

The popularity of collecting rare books is growing. Rare British books in particular remain highly sought after by bibliophiles, or book collectors. Those with a lot of money to spend may collect very old and very scarce "trophy" books such as historically important publications (for example, early William Caxton printed works - William Caxton was the first printer to produce English books using a printing press and also sold books from a shop in the 15th Century). Serious scholars often seek out rare and precious books which contain academic writings. Other book lovers are happy to peruse a library copy.

An increasing number of book collectors are seeking out the books that they enjoyed as children, but, of course, they want the original first editions in excellent condition and with their original dust jackets. Books in this sort of condition tend to survive only in collections because if they were allowed to be read by the average child, their condition would deteriorate very rapidly! Most first edition books (which would usually have been published in hardcover editions prior to the 1930's) tend to be highly sought after and have some value as long as they are in good clean condition. An inscription in a book can add value if it was written by the author (as per the JK Rowling example) or it can detract from the value if it is irrelevant and of no interest to others.

Paperbacks were introducted in to the UK in the 1930s and became immediately popular. Penguin was the largest publisher of paperback books and first editions are also sought after. Because paperbacks were easily torn and damaged, pristine copies with tightly bound pages can be very desirable for collectors, and as Penguin introduced many people to contemporary writers, some of which were fairly controversial at the time, Penguin paperbacks retain a real nostalgia and character than makes them popular to this day.

Apparently collecting rare books has never been so popular so you might want to check your shelves before throwing any books away or donating them for charity just in case you have a hidden treasure.

Rare British books brings together a vast range of rare first editions, signed books, antique books, comics and more and sorts them and presents them for sale to you right now online. All sorts of rare and collectable books are available for sale.

The rare Harry Potter signed first edition which sold for over $55,000 at auction.

Everybody has a favorite book. Sometimes it's a book that was read to you in your childhood, and sometimes it's a book that you read in a particularly memorable time in your life. It might be, of course, that your favorite book is a book that you simply found so ingenious and compelling that you still marvel at the writing and the brilliance of the whole story.

People collect rare books for all sorts of reasons. For many, they cherish to very act of reading so dearly that they want to create their own library of historically perfect tomes. Perhaps they want to furnish their favorite reading room with rare and collectable books. Many books collectors wouldn't dream of actually reading a rare first edition hardback in its original dust jacket but rare books are just so wonderful to behold, and to be in the presence of, that this in itself is reason enough to seek them out, buy them and treasure them whilst keeping a "reading copy" nearby which isn't so precious in terms of condition.

Rare books can also be a good investment. Some recent books have gone on to become hugely sought after and hence have been fantastic investments for their owners. Perhaps the best example of recent publications are the Harry Potter series. Eagle eyed book collectors who realised the potential of the Harry Potter Series by J.K.Rowland and snapped up first editions of the early books have made a very good return.

Book collecting, as with any form of collecting, can be an inexpensive hobby if you simply crave complete copies of books that you like and want to read, or it can be a fairly pricey affair if you decide to collect the rarest and most sought after published editions. For many people, their book collection falls somewhere in between and they have a reading collection of books that they happily handle and read and maybe even lend to trusted friends, as well as some that have been bought or acquired to keep in the condition they were bought in, and to have and to take pride of place on their bookshelves. You could, for example, buy signed copies of new books by your facorite authors that you like.

If you are eager to get started on the search for some rare British books to add to your collection then please take a look at the menu on the top right of the page where we are creating category specific pages of rare books that you can buy online now. The website is completely free to use, and you can browse at will. Like all the best bookshops, you are also welcome to settle down with a nice cup of tea while you browse the virtual shelves to see what is on offer.