Old rare books where there are single digit copies should enjoy some sort of patrimonial protection just like museum pieces. You can own them but have the state have the option to buy it if you’re about to significantly deface it or destroy it.

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soco 3 hours ago | parent [-]

The only issue I see is, how could you tell which are those books?

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9dev 2 hours ago | parent [-]

We manage to do this for endangered wildlife too without anyone counting every single specimen; why shouldn’t we be able to estimate how rare a book is?

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phoghed 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

And if you instituted this, the commenters of this very website would surely decry it as a prime example of government overstep and waste.

	▲	shimman an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Commentators on this web site work for some of the most evil organizations on the planet and have beliefs that 95% of the population rejects. You can safely ignore the YC cohort of devs and be fine.

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eru 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's pretty expensive for the wildlife.

Most rare books are rare because no one cared enough about them. Ie most rare books are rubbish.