A Collector's Psyche

Ever since I started graduate school I developed a great love for reading and collecting books. At this point I have more than a thousand volumes of books in my personal collection with titles coming from diverse fields such as philosophy, politics, history, economics, psychology among others. I especially love collecting Filipiniana books because such books are extremely rare especially once such books have been sold out. Philippine publishers do not usually publish a new edition of a certain book unless the title is very popular like Reynaldo Ileto's "Pasyon at Revolution" (Ateneo de Manila University Press) which was originally published in 1979 but still continues to be printed up until 2003. A total of 6 printings since its original publication. Sad to say but it is very rare for Philippine books to be reprinted once its first edition is off the press. The most common reason for this is that only few Filipinos are interested in academic books and it takes years for book sellers to sell out their initial inventories. If sales are slow it takes considerable effort on the part of the publisher to recuperate publication costs. They prefer to publish salable titles rather than academic titles which I love because popular titles like novels (especially those written in Tagalog) are easier to sell than academic tomes.

Given the rarity of Filipinianas I purchase my favorite titles almost immediately whenever I get the chance. I don't care if I ruin my week's or even my month's budget as long as I can get a hold good titles especially the old ones. I have been so engrossed in my collection that I have practically visited every major and out of the way book stores that specializes in Filipiniana in the Metro Manila area. You name it and chances are I've been there. I have even come to a point when my fiends ask me where they can find a certain title or better yet, if I have a copy of a book they are looking for. Academics do help their own.


What seems to be the driving force in the desire to collect? I sometimes amaze at the way how I am both able and willing to deprive myself of many things and to even brave the elements just to get a hold of a book which may be purchased by a fellow collector like myself. I guess collectors are able and willing to endure and even to sacrifice much for their collections because they feel an insatiable desire to preserve things which they consider of value. A lot of people keep things that are of value to them as well but perhaps collectors feel a certain responsibility to preserve their valuables for the sake of posterity. They feel that what they have is something that is of value to future generations. Their collections is posterity's link to the past. A 2000 edition book may not be worth much now but 10 years from now when the book is long out of print it immediately becomes a collector's item which will allow future generations a glimpse of how people used to think and behave in the distant past.


I feel a great deal of pride and accomplishment every time I discover an out of print book. It's just like finding a long lost treasure in some distant wasteland. Sometimes I feel really bad that I never got the chance to read the books that I get to buy. People just have so much time in their hands. My personal collection did provide an invaluable resource for many of my papers but my to-read list leaves much to be desired. I'll just have to cut some slack and get more work done. Maybe someday when I get to produce a work that i really worthwhile my collection will receive the recognition that it rightfully deserves because it helped in bringing about something that a lot of people finds most helpful in their lives. I think this is he reason why a lot of personal collections like that of Elvis Presley memorabilia are still adored to this day because in a way such items were able to reach out to other people's needs at certain points in their lives in more ways than one.

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Illustrations Cited:

Columba Publishing Co.
http://www.columbapublishing.com/FramingCollectibles.jpg

Pasyon and Revolution by Reyaldo Ileto published by Ateneo de Manila University Press (1979/2003)
http://www.ateneopress.org/images/PASYON%20AND%20REVOLUTION.jpg

Egypt Cartoon
(http:/www.nyu.edu)