One of Britain's largest stocks of second-hand books ever amassed

Being a collector is an affliction. A huge house given over to his collection while he relegates himself to the groundskeepers cottage. A lifetime acquiring money to grow the collection. I hope selling it gives him some peace.

What a strange read on the situation. The man combined his hobby with his profession and is now retiring a millionaire. Best I can tell the guy must feel like he's had a rewarding, satisfying life so far.

Depends on what you find important in life. I would love a life where I get to drive around the country, collect books and make enough money to retire a millionaire.

The article mentions he spends six months per year in the Philippines. Doesn't sound like someone oppressed and impoverished by his book obsession.

Yes, it's entirely possible he may loved every minute!

I don't know if the fact he's financially successful affects my read though. It's certainly obvious he had money but unfortunately I don't think the money precludes an unhealthy obsession. Infact it might make it worse.

Unhealthy in what way? The article mentions that he is (or was) an active seller as well as a buyer. His lifestyle doesn't seem particularly unhealthy either.

It's like having a family: on paper, they take up space in your house and cost you money.

Iain Sinclair has written about his book dealing days as he was starting to write and be published. Perhaps a less romantic take.

There's a big difference between being a collector and a hoarder.

In general a collector gets joy from their collection, whilst a hoarder finds it distressing.

From the outside both might look similar, but from the article this person both seemed to enjoy it _and_ make a successful career from it.

> The man combined his hobby with his profession and is now retiring a millionaire.

Worth noting that the £1.5 million valuation is in the ball park of what the building is worth on it's own.

I think the parent's point is that while the collecting itself can be very rewarding it's far from guaranteed anyone else will find value in the collection. It does feel a shame to dispose of such a piece of work, but the real value is likely more in the collector than the collection.

My impression was that buying and storing books had become a compulsion. The article mentions that "he sold books primarily so that he could acquire more for himself". It also covers how he "deployed every little sliver of real estate" to 1.5 miles of shelving. To me this sounds like an obsession. It's possible that indulging the obsession made him happy but my understanding is that this is unusual.

It is perfectly possible I got the wrong impression here. I don't know him. All I can be sure about is that this was the impression I got reading the article.

While you have correctly identified that a family and a book collection share some attributes I think you may have missed an important difference. The books won't love you back.