This is my first article for this Andre Norton web site, and I'm going to give you a brief history of my collection and an overview of collecting. Future articles will cover topics like; "What makes a book valuable: subtitled; Why is this book expensive?", "The Rarest Andre Norton Books", "Signatures and inscriptions and how to get them" and "How did you find that book? Where? How can I get one?"

I started to read Andre Norton sometime in the 1970's, during my college summers. Until then I wasn't even much of a Science Fiction reader, though I read anything and everything else. I started collecting slowly, reading and buying paper editions, mostly the current ones. I soon discovered myself needing to find the first book of a series, of which I had already read the second. The owning began. I needed to read all of the books by this wonderful author. Now, if a book was out of print, and not in the library, there was no other way to find it than to purchase a first edition. I was hooked.

Slowly I gathered all of the titles of Andre Norton books. Book dealers, book searches, and interlibrary loans (one even the US Library of Congress). That was when I discovered that I had already read, and loved, the Andre Norton book SCARFACE. I had read that when I was a pre-teen, over and over. But my library back then didn't have much Science Fiction, and no other Andre Norton books.

Over the years, I have discovered that there are many other collectors who have similar, if not identical passions for books. I have done my homework, and talked to the experts. I am not yet an expert. I am still learning. I'm going to get you started on my path with a few hints.

The first thing to do, if you have found that you are a collector, is read a good book. I suggest that you visit your local library and go to the section on Books. My library used to have these all together (in the 001 range of Dewey Decimal), but looking up the catalogue location for either the title or Author of the following book, will give you the best place to start.

Wilson, Robert MODERN BOOK COLLECTING
1980, Alfred A. Knopf Pub, Boards (price clipped)
ISBN 0-394-50114-4 LC 79-22428 (jacket painting Nell Blaine)

Robert Wilson has written a book that helps explain his own collection. This has good hints on how to get started, how to get your books signed, and a particularly important chapter on "Why you should not let your favorite author use that fancy new felt tip pen to sign your book." Wilson has the stories of finding that book at the bottom of a pile, or how a listing in a catalogue of a rare book will bring to light other copies of that book. [The 'you mean that this is worth money?' syndrome] There are also suggestions on how to go to a book signing.

[My suggestions for a book signing are to bring a spare pen, but one that you KNOW won't bleed through the pages, and use a piece of paper to mark the page you want signed. It is also nice to have your name neatly spelled out on a piece of paper if you want the author to inscribe the book.]

The second thing to do, is your research. I had only the bibliography in the BOOK OF ANDRE NORTON, and sources in the library. You people have one advantage that I don't have; There are now several Andre Norton Bibliographies as separate books.

• The most basic bibliography is the one in the back of THE BOOK OF ANDRE NORTON, edited by Roger Elwood, 1979. This contains editions to the bibliography that first appeared in THE MANY WORLDS OF ANDRE NORTON.
• Phil Stephensen-Payne, ANDRE NORTON, WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY , 1992, Galactic Central, Trade paper back. Is a self published pamphlet that can usually be purchased for 8 to 10 dollars.
• Schlobin, Roger C. & Irene Harrison, ANDRE NORTON, A PRIMARY AND SECONDARY BIBLIOGRAPHY, Second edition, 1995, Feb, NESFA Press Framingham, MA, pap ISBN 0-915368-64-1. Costs $12.50 from most Border's books, or directly from NESFA press.

Updates for the NESFA publication, as current as I can make them, are on the NESFA website .

Another good source of information is on the Web. This web site contains links to several other sites, and a fairly complete bibliography. It does not contain a list of 'stuff' but I'm sure that this will be added later.

Most collectors start with the books, then the stories, then the non-fiction articles, and finally the stuff. BUT, if you wait until you get all of the Hard Cover First editions, before you purchase that poster, or calendar, you may be missing out on an opportunity.

The most important thing is to catch the moment. If you see an Andre Norton dust jacket on a table, ask about it. Is it available? Is it free? Can I have it? [This was a pre-publication dust jacket for Black Trillium, with no text inside the flaps.] If you see Posters of the Witch World, buy them, ask if Mary Hanson-Roberts is around to sign them. The price of a book is only too high if you don't buy it. The price of the book not purchased is regret. Most importantly, if you see a book, or an item that isn't in the ANDRE NORTON bibliography, please let me know. I'm always looking to complete the records. Better yet, buy two of the item. One for you and one for me.

When I was a novice collector, Andre Norton was guest of honor at the World Science Fiction in Boston MA, 1989. Part of the Program Book was an extensive Andre Norton Bibliography. This was for every edition, every title, and contained at least one book that I had never heard of. Boston is about 2 hours driving time from where I live, and I joined the local Science Fiction club, NESFA. Right around the same time, I dragged my father on a book buying expedition to New York City, and found the first edition of ANDRE NORTON, A PRIMARY AND SECONDARY BIBLIOGRAPHY, edited by Roger Schlobin. I keep my ears open and heard about an Andre Norton book being written by Ruth Kyle. This would be a dictionary of all persons, places and things referenced in Andre Norton books. I followed Kyle's book from one publisher to the next, and heard that NESFA had finally dropped the project. Sensing an opening, I talked to the Publication Czar. "Is this a good time for an Andre Norton Bibliography?" It was, and 9 months of getting permissions, and going through a very thorough editing process the book came out.

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