Because so many titles have been published about space travel over the past several decades, collectors seeking to build a private library of non-fiction works will find our mini collection strategy (outlined in several previous posts) to be quite helpful in determining focus. One could, for example, focus on foundational works, such as those covered in yesterday's post. Or one could focus on specific aspects of the technology required for space travel (such as thruster development or the development of space suits or closed-cycle biological systems). Or one could focus on travelogues of spacefaring, written by the few people who actually have undertaken such a journey:
Because so many different mini collections are possible, it might be helpful--unless you yourself were actively involved with the development of human spaceflight--to first purchase a good dictionary or encyclopedia about the topic to help you narrow down your areas of interest:
Other items that will help you better define your areas of interest are a good history (or two or three) of spaceflight, and a good bibliography of the literature (this also will help you determine if particular titles are even collectible--too few may exist in the marketplace in collectible condition to pursue them: a case in point would be many of the works covered by Michael Ciancone's Collector's Checklist of Pre-1958 Books on Rocketry and Space Travel...):
Since much of the important theoretical work published about space travel first appeared in periodicals and pamphlets, anyone undertaking to include these items in their personal library will face several thorny conservation issues, a few of which we will explore in tomorrow's post....
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