Spanning the long period from ancient times, when books were hand-copied, to the modern day, "A Gentle Madness" takes us on a strange and exciting journey through the world of rare book collectors. Our society owes a lot to book collectors. Determination, time, and money have enabled them to seek out and preserve rare books, manuscripts, documents, and letters of profound cultural and historical importance. Many of the most...
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Literally anyone who enjoys reading will prize this book. I had mentioned and quoted briefly from the book on my personal page, and received questions about the work, as well as many people who said they too had the disease.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...
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....for any collector of books or, for that matter, collectors period!
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For anyone who has felt the joy of holding a beautiful volume or the compulsive tug to have it for one's own, this book is a must read. From Alexandria to the present, it chronicles the human passion for books and collecting through stories that are lively enough for the novice and scholarly enough for the serious collector.
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It always seemed to me that my passion for books and the lenghts to which I would often go to satisfy it was not very distant from a mild form of madness. This wonderful book has showed me that, madness though it may be, it has been shared by many illustrious persons and is no reason for shame. My only quibble is a certain degree of envy thar rises up after reading about rich individuals who were able to indulge their...
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