The idea of collecting rare or otherwise interesting books may seem odd in the twenty first century, when digital content is so readily available at little cost. The ancient hobby of book collecting, however, is still going strong.

There is good reason for that. Printed matter is immutable. It cannot be revised, censored, or altered in any way. Ebooks are susceptible to unannounced changes, revisions, additions, and in extreme cases, removal from your device. Amazon kindle ebooks are just a license. You own nothing (and you're not happy)

Why Collect Books?

• Fun

I guess the best reason is for the sheer fun of it. Everyone’s idea of fun differs, but bitcoiners with a yen for collecting can assemble a comprehensive, potentially important collection with some effort and and some sats.

• Preserving History

Physical books are historical records. Subsequent editions contain revisions that are readily identifiable. A good example is The Bitcoin Standard. The first edition contains a forward by Nassim Taleb. He later insisted it be removed, and Michael Saylor’s forward replaced it in new copies of the book. Taleb’s forward is only preserved in print by those who possess the real first edition.

• Profit

Profit is possible, but don’t make it the reason you begin collecting. Yes, everyone has heard stories about the person who found a rare first edition in his or her grandmother’s attic and reaped a fortune from it. It’s probably not a good idea to expect that to happen to you. This is especially true if you’re focusing on bitcoin and bitcoin adjacent material. Your target acquisitions have unknown print runs, since most publishers keep that a secret, and there has not been a lot of antiquarian research in the field. There is literally no market right now.

Getting Started

Satwize has just begun exploring this area, so maybe it would be worthwhile to know what we are doing. @siggy47 has been collecting books on and off for years, so he has some familiarity with terms and strategies. He insists that he’s not an expert, and we will all be learning.

The following subject areas would seem to make sense for most bitcoin collectors, though this list is not comprehensive, and we don’t mean to suggest that all bitcoiners are interested in the same topics:

• Austrian Economics and Libertarianism
• Cryptography
• The Cypherpunks
• Individual Sovereignty
• Bitcoin

Collectors benefit from a vibrant market, and here at satwize we want to play a part in creating that market. In the coming weeks we will be adding a collectible books section to the website, and we will be posting articles focusing on particular books and their publishing history. We are buyers and sellers, so feel free to contact us about books you may wish to sell. Note that all purchases will only be made in bitcoin.

Below are a few links to good articles about book collecting:

https://www.abaa.org/general-content-pages/introduction-to-book-collecting

https://firstthings.com/the-art-of-book-collecting/

https://artperitus.com/art-peritus-new-brand-day/