Book collecting is most often a lone pursuit and, much like reading, is mostly done by oneself for oneself. That is not to say you don’t ever see people, I mean you do interact with booksellers, binders, appraisers, and what not but as far as hobbies go it doesn’t exactly rate on the top end of the sociability scale. And there is nothing wrong with this, I value my alone time as much as the next guy but even the most private of persons will agree that every now and then it’s nice to get out of the house and interact with some other likeminded individuals (if for nothing more than to learn something).

It is for this exact reason we have created the page dedicated to Bibliographic Clubs and Societies within our AbeBooks Book Collecting Guide. Listed within are a number of groups like Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, The Malone Society, and the Penguin Collectors Society. We also list a number of groups from mainland Europe, North American groups, and those in Australia and New Zealand.

If you are not familiar with the AbeBooks Book Collecting Guide, it is a fairly cursory glance at how one might take up the hobby of book collecting starting from what types of books you might collect, some of the jargon you may run into, and some basic tips for how to keep your collection looking its best. We try and add to this guide from time to time, and our latest edition provides a list of some clubs and societies around the world in which an avid book collector might be interested.