We are delighted to announce that we have two winners of the PBFA Young Book Collector Competition 2025. They are Joseph Lindsay from Derbyshire and Paul Petrescu from Country Durham. Congratulations to both of them!
 
You can see their entries below.


 
PBFA Young Book Collector 2025, Age Group 16 to 30 - Joseph Lindsay 

 An Enlightened 50 Years 

 “All that is out of date anyway,” was the response I got from my roommate at university when I came home with a first edition copy of ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’, after spending a few hours ferreting around the only second-hand antiquarian bookstore in Coventry. “That’s not the point!” was my oh so eloquent response. But it’s true, it isn’t the point. 

 

‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’ was written in 1997, the year I was born and coming close to the end of what was, in my opinion, the most enlightened half-century for public discourse around the sciences in human history, and that is where the focus of my collection lies: 

 

In the latter half of the 20th century, we put a man on the moon, enriched uranium for peaceful reasons for the first time, discovered the secret of DNA, began to unravel the mysteries of space-time, and the modern environmental movement was born. This era, so to call it, first came to my attention when I was writing an essay for the journal Noûs, and came across the Godfather of scientific philosophy: the philosopher and polymath Bertrand Russell. Using the references in his book ‘The Impact of Science on Society’ as a springboard into other works of the time. 

 

Hence was born my collection, and its rather strict criteria: the items in my little library must have been published between 1950 and 1999, which makes the exclusion of some pioneering works a heartbreaking task! (See ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’, coming in close with an original draft publication date of 2007). All items must be first editions (typos an’ all!), taking precedence over condition given my limited budget and, finally, the collection is limited to non-fiction titles. 

 

Initially, I also limited my acquisitions to my primary area of interest, and my academic background, biology. But very quickly that remit dramatically expanded and now includes topics as diverse as evolutionary genetics, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, cosmology, ecology, zoology, and linguistics. 

 

Thankfully, due to, or perhaps despite, my collection being relatively modern, the biggest challenge is convincing people that these volumes are worth something! Most of them can be found gathering dust in second hand bookshops or even bargain bins, that’s where I found my copy of ‘King Solomon’s Ring.’ Although on occasion I will close my eyes and hand over my debit card for a rarer or more valuable issue, i.e. my copy of ‘A Brief History of Time’ came from the estate sale of sci-fi author Brian Aldiss. 

 

In my mind, my collection holds most of its significance when it is considered in the context of the time. I would never make the claim that 1950-1999 was the only, or even most significant, time in terms of scientific discoveries, however, what makes those years particularly special is the impact they had on the psyche and collective consciousness of all of us who couldn’t hold the microscope ourselves. 

 

In 1930 less than half of continental Africa, South American and China were literate, by 1960, around the time a lot of the works in my collection were being published, that number was closer to 80% globally! More people were in education, more works were being translated out of English than ever before, and spending power was (comparatively) skyrocketing. All this to say that 1950-1999 wasn’t the only ‘Golden Age’ of scientific discoveries, but it was the time when most people began, and were able, to give a damn! Sure, ‘Micrographia’ may have been one of the most influential books of all time… for the fewer than 10,000 people who have read it since 1665, but over 1 million people have read ‘The Selfish Gene’ since 1979! Those decades gave us the books that encouraged millions of people to love and pursue the sciences, the building blocks, the texts that still educate and inspire the next generation of thinkers. 

 

I feel an immense swell of pride when I peruse my other shelves and note that all these other pioneering works from legendary modern science educators; Nick Lane, Brian Cox, Lawrence Kraus, Carlo Rovelli, David Attenborough, are standing on the shoulders of those 20th century giants who first sparked the public imagination, those who got us reading, got us talking, got us listening, and got us learning! The fact that I can safeguard these works, flip through the pages and relive the magic of uncovering something so groundbreaking and exciting… well, that is quite an honour.

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PBFA Young Book Collector 2025, Age Group Under 16 - Paul Petrescu 

Why I started book collecting. 

Ever since I lived in Birmingham with my dad and mom, we have gone to charity shops, I always had an eye for antique items, but I began to like books more and more; it all began with book annuals, then I got my hands on two books (one from 1919 and one from 1828). This is what sparked my interest. Then, soon enough I started buying more and more books. Another reason for my interest in antique copies is my interest in historical items and history in itself, thinking about history and always learning new facts just made me happy. 

 

What type of antique books do I collect? 

I generally enjoy collecting all types of antique books such as kid’s stories, fairytale miniature and adventure stories unique books etc; however my favourites are particularly old volume 300 years or older, miniature books as they are cute and don’t take up much space, and unique books weird or wacky, last surviving copies or mythology volumes, they all appeal to me! 

 

Where do I get my books? 

I always like to get my books affordably or at reasonable prices but the general areas I get them from are boot sales, charity shops Oxfam’s, eBay or sometimes even from Barter Books. But I usually like to go on adventures to find books as it is simply more fun to me. 

 

Why would I like to win this prize? 

The reason I would like to win this prize of £250 is due to the rapidly increasing price of books nowadays, which has limited my access to books as I have not been able to buy many books for the last year or so, so I think this prize will greatly increase my chances of growing my collection. Also, another reason greatly contributing to why I would like to win this prize is my hobbies such as steam modelling, bonsai tree growing etc as tools and materials for these hobbies are quite expensive which my parents cannot completely afford. These are the reasons for my entry and why I would like to win this prize. 

 

Which genre of books have I chosen for this entry? 

I have chosen the 13 best of my miniature copies which I hope are rare and interesting enough to help me win this competition.

 

 

Our 2026 competition will be launched at our two-day Oxford Premier Book Fair, 18th & 19th April. Look out for details on our blog and our social media!