He also became interested in modern bindings, and in 1931 commissioned examples from Sybil Pye and, from R. de Coverley & Sons, a copy of Siegfried Sassoon's Memoirs of an Infantry Officer decorated with Abbey's coat of arms. He also collected antiquarian books, starting from the sale of Primrose's collection and building it up from 1936 to 1938 thanks to sales from the Mensing, Moss, Aldenham, Schiff, and Cortlandt F. Bishop collections, eventually holding over 1,300 books.
He also became interested in modern bindings and commissioned examples from Sybil Pye and R. de Coverley & Sons for Siegfried Sassoon's Memoirs of an Infantry Officer decorated with Abbey's coat of arms in 1931. He collected antiquarian books, starting with Primrose's collection and building his collection through sales from the Mensing, Moss, Aldenham, Schiff, and Cortlandt F. Bishop collections between 1936 and 1938, eventually owning over 1,300 books.