Reference Books
 

I'm curious. What reference books about card collecting do you guys recommend having in your library? I have The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company 1886-1890, Old Judge's baseball cards, Collecting Sports Legends: The Ultimate Hobby Guide and The T206 Collection: The Players & Their Stories (which I don't care for because it's about the players and not the cards). I'm looking for an inexpensive copy of the ACC and have The Card on order from Amazon.com.

I think the two most important reference books for pre-war are Lew Lipset's Encyclopedia and the latest edition of SCD's Standard Catalog.

A bound edition of all three volumes of Lipset's Encyclopedia can usually be found easily on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lew-Lipsets-...item3374052873

I think you nailed it - those are the only two books you really need. A board member wrote an interesting book on the Philadelphia Caramel company which sheds a lot of light on the caramel/chocolate industry - very interesting stuff. You can also get a lot of great info if you pick up a set of the VCBC back issues.

reference
 

good answers are already offered.
i must add that Old Cardboard is a must have. The journal is top drawer and the website is very,very helpful. I also enjoy reading The Collectors Magazine. Both journals' editors have posted on and/or are members of our board: Lyman and Brett
Hardeman& Al Crisafulli and Sean Skeffington.
all the best, barry

Some may scoff, but I recommend Mr. Mint's book "Insider's guide to investing in Baseball Cards and Collectibles". Warner Books 1991. Some of the points of the book are no longer relevant, but it's a good read overall, especially if you want your collection to be worth more than you paid for it some day.
Agree with all of the above as well.