Title: A gentle madness : bibliophiles, bibliomanes, and the eternal passion for books /
Authors: Basbanes, Nicholas A., 1943-; Szafranski, Paula R.,; Jaramillo, Raquel; Henry Holt and Company
Publisher: H. Holt and Co.,
Year: 1995
Subjects: Umschulungswerkstätten für Siedler und Auswanderer; Book collecting; Bibliomania; Book Collecting
Abstract: The passion to possess books has never been more widespread than it is today; indeed, obsessive book collecting remains the only hobby to have a disease named after it. A Gentle Madness is an adventure among the afflicted. Author Nicholas Basbanes, a dedicated bibliophile himself, begins his book 2,200 years ago in Alexandria, when a commitment was made to gather all the world's knowledge beneath one roof. In a series of lively chapters, the continuum then passes through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the twentieth century with a special emphasis on book lore and book culture in Great Britain and North America. In the second half of A Gentle Madness, Basbanes offers a gallery of revealing profiles of living collectors and presents exclusive examinations of the great contemporary stories. The book also includes the most comprehensive bibliography on book collecting compiled in more than a quarter century.
Contents: Touching the hand -- Balm for the soul -- Rule Britannia -- America, Americans, Americana -- Brandy for heroes -- To have and to have no more -- Infinite riches -- Mirror images -- Instant ivy -- Obsessed amateurs -- Destiny -- Continental drift -- The Blumberg collection -- Carpe Diem.