Matthew Budman on his book, Book Collecting Now

Matthew Budman lives in Manhattan with his wife, political theorist Cristina Beltrán, and all the books they can squeeze into their apartment. Budman is the author of Instant Expert: Collecting Books (House of Collectibles), which sold nearly 10,000 copies, and Book Collecting Now: The Value of Print in a Digital Age, published in 2019. It's an engaging guide to building a book collection and celebrates the young, diverse collectors revitalizing what he calls “the world’s greatest pastime.”

Among other things, the book examines fundamentals like: identifying first editions, how to get the best deals, understanding the value of autographs, care and repair of books, and the history of publishing and book collecting. We touch on much of this, and New York and white slavery and more, in our conversation, which took place in Matthew's book-lined apartment in Greenwich Village. The bathroom even has a decent selection to choose from!