Rare Books and Collectibles

Antique Periods

Antiques are often collected because they represent a particular era of design and fashion. Some of the most popular periods for antiques include Georgian, Regency, Victorian, Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau. Georgian items were produced between 1720 and 1840, in association with the 4 British monarchs of the House of Hanover-George I, George II, George III, and George IV. The very extravagant Regency era was between 1811 and 1837, with the reign of George IV and William IV, ending with the rule of Queen Victoria. The Victorian era of course was named after Queen Victoria (1937 – 1901), and saw a Gothic revival. The Arts & Crafts movement occurred in the Anglo-SAxon world between 1880-1910 based on the romantic idealisation of the craftstrade. Finally the Art Nouveau movement had its peak between 1890-1905. It was characterised by making art a part of everyday life with organic and plant-inspired motifs.

Antique Books

Collecting antiques has a long history for preserving valued objects but it really took off in the eighteenth century, especially collecting books and manuscripts. This may have to do with the value of books and their scarcity during much of history as a luxury item. Books traditionally were also a status symbol because of the education needed to read them, not to mention the fact that medieval books were written in Latin. During this period manuscripts were also illustrated by hand, making them not only beautiful artworks but also very expensive and rare. Furthermore, as most manuscripts were religious texts produced by European monasteries, they also had spiritual value.

While collectors had traditionally sought books, paintings, furniture, and jewellery for their collections, during the twentieth century collecting antiques expanded greatly. Specialty collections especially took off with people collecting household items such as quilts, porcelain and china, glassware, coins, stamps, rugs and lace, as well as ephemera- watches, newspapers, postcards, posters, buttons, and so on. However, antique books have always remained highly collectible items for not only their beauty but for their content as well.