A Gentle Madness : Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books

There is truly a Psychological condition that describes people obsessed with books, the condition is known as Bibliomania, derivatives include Bibliomaniac, and Bibliomane. The Author describes a condition of buying books you have no intention of reading. For most of us (I am afflicted) this means we buy and read books as much as we can. I have crossed over to collecting old books, and since they are in Latin, Greek, and other languages unknown to me, my defense that I will read them is weak.

You will read about a man who "collected" over 23,000 books from various libraries and other book outlets just to possess them. His library grew as he traveled around the Country adding to his collection. His taste was excellent and his library contained priceless volumes by the hundreds. His story illustrates how easy access is to rare books and further how they can be purloined. It is not a how to steal books section, just one amazing tale.

The book also documents the building/collection of some of the finest libraries in existence. The libraries are as varied as there are books. One women set out to build the definitive library of childrens books, what she has collected will amaze you.

The attitudes of the caretakers of these works view themselves as just that, keepers for a time, their feelings about where books should be, and should never be will surprise you. What is done with many collections after the original assembler dies will also surprise you.

The book also educates the reader to the History of bookmaking, the few surviving Guttenberg Bibles, books from the cradle i.e. incunabula, produced prior to the year 1400ad.

This book will probably set you off to an antiquarian bookfair, for lovers of books its a special experience. Hold a first edition by Galileo, see 1 page of a Guttenberg Bible that for $25,000-$30,000 can be yours. Or for the upscale shopper you can bid against Bill Gates for the Leicester Codex of Da Vinci, in round numbers bring about $40,000,000.

After you read the book, everything you read going forward will be enhanced. But tread carefully; the collection of old books is not an inexpensive hobby. On the other hand holding a book that is 500 years old can be a pretty heady experience.

Every library will be enhanced by this book.