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Bibliomania in AZW3 format
Bibliomania or Book-Madness from
the Greek biblion=book + mania=madness. Behavioral
disorder caused by bacterial infection, bacilli
librorum (attributed to Eugene
Field). Common symptoms include the uncontrollable urge to acquire and hoard
books, indiscriminate bookstore hopping, and delusions of authorship, which
alone or in combination may result in prolonged disruption of daily life. The
more severe forms of bibliomania may involve recurring incidents of
bibliokleptomania (book theft) and/or lying about supposed ownership of titles.
No cure is known to exist, but treatment to alleviate symptoms requires frequent
and regular use of Project Gutenberg to read online or to download free e-books.
Persons afflicted with
the disorder are known as bibliomaniacs.
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The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac by
Eugene Field (1850-1895)
In this fictional autobiography, the Chicago poet, newspaperman, and book
collector narrates tales, jokes, and flights of fancy regarding that “sweetest
of madnesses” known as “bibliomania (and kindred maladies), and for which there
is no cure known to humanity."
§
The Haunted Bookshop novel by
Christopher Morley (1890-1957)
Espionage and romance clash in “Parnassus at Home,” Roger Mifflin’s Brooklyn
second-hand bookshop. Morley, the son of English immigrants, was an editor and
columnist for Saturday Review, he also wrote for the New York Evening Post and
authored more than fifty books of fiction and nonfiction.
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Parnassus on Wheels novel by
Christopher Morley (1890-1957)
The loves and adventures of Miss Helen McGill, New England book-seller and
proprietor of the “Parnassus” traveling bookshop and horse-drawn wagon.
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Plum Pudding Of Divers Ingredients, Discreetly Blended & Seasoned short
stories by Christopher Morley (1890-1957)
In “Books of the Sea” Morley suggests books for a hypothetical sea-farer’s
library with brief commentary on each title. “The Perfect Reader” is an
inspirational piece on the joys of reading, written in the form of a letter to
the “perfect reader.”
§
Bibliomania; OR Book-Madness by
Thomas Frognall Dibdin
"In laying before the
public the following brief and superficial account of a disease, which, till it
arrested the attention of Dr. Ferriar, had entirely escaped the sagacity of all
ancient and modern physicians, it has been my object to touch chiefly on its
leading characteristics; and to present the reader (in the language of my old
friend Francis Quarles) with an "honest pennyworth" of information, which may,
in the end, either suppress or soften the ravages of so destructive a malady."
§
The Guide to Reading by Various
This daily reading guide to passages in specific books aims to “introduce the
reader to a goodly company of authors.” For the harried bibliomaniac, the
editors have thoughtfully selected passages that may be read in fewer than 30
minutes.
§
There’s Pippins and Cheese to Come by
Charles S. Brooks (1878-1934)
“On Buying Old Books” – “To An Unknown Reader” – Humorous
essays on booklore by the American playwright and author of ‘’Journey to
Bagdad.’’
§
The Book-Hunter by John Hill
Burton (1809-1881)
A classification and description of the various types of bibliomane, with
accounts of some notable ones.
§
The Love of Books
The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury by
Richard de, Bury (1287-1345), translated by Ernest Chester Thomas (1850-1892)
From what has been said we draw this corollary welcome to us, but (as we
believe) acceptable to few: namely, that no dearness of price ought to hinder a
man from the buying of books, if he has the money that is demanded for them,
unless it be to withstand the malice of the seller or to await a more favourable
opportunity of buying.
§
Libraries in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods by
J.W. (John Willis) Clark (1833-1910)
Registrary of the University and former Fellow of Trinity College in
Cambridge, J.W. Clark delivered this brief lecture on the architecture of
monastic libraries, discussing some early forms of anti-theft devices for books
and notable examples of Medieval and Renaissance library furnishings, shelving,
and fittings.
§
On Books and the Housing of Them by
William Ewert Gladstone (1809-1898)
A British Prime Minister offers suggestions for the determined book-collector
on how to provide shelf space for a large collection.
§
The Library by Andrew Lang
(1844-1912)
Anecdotes, literary criticism, and practical advice on book-collecting by the
Scottish author, folklorist, and journalist who viewed the library as shrine.
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Books and Bookmen by Andrew Lang
(1844-1912)
More essays on books, collecting, and bibliomania.
§
Books and Bookmen by Ian
Maclaren
In which we find a definition of the bibliomaniac's heaven: "...a bookman's
paradise, where early black-lettered tomes, rare and stately, first folios of
Shakespeare, tall copies of the right editions of the Elzevirs, and vellumed
volumes galore, uncropped, uncut, and unfoxed in all their verdant pureness,
fresh as when they left the presses of the Aldi, are to be had for the asking."
§
Bibliomania in the Middle Ages by
Frederick Somner Merryweather
The London bookseller and author argues that the art and practice of creating
and preserving illustrated manuscripts in British monasteries ensured that many
of these priceless religious books survived beyond the Dark Ages.
§
Old English Libraries by Ernest
Albert Savage (1877-1966)
In this authoritative study by the British librarian, E.A. Savage traces the
history of book-making, book collecting, and the book trade in Medieval Britain
between 400 and 1400 A.D.
§
The Enemies of Books by William
Blades (1824-1890)
Covering the many agents of the destruction of books, it includes a chapter
on the obsessive collector: "it is a serious matter when Nature produces such a
wicked old biblioclast as John Bagford, one of the founders of the Society of
Antiquaries, who, in the beginning of the last century, went about the country,
from library to library, tearing away title pages from rare books of all sizes."
§
The Bibliotaph and Other People by
Leon H.Vincent
A portrait, "not wholly imaginary", of a collector of books, with some essays
on authors.
§
Curiosities of Literature by Isaac D'Israeli (1766-1848), vol.
1 vol.
2 vol.
3
Anecdotes of famous persons, amusing misprints and errors in translations,
and the vagaries of collecting. "The Bibliomania, or the collecting an enormous
heap of books without intelligent curiosity, has, since libraries have existed,
infected weak minds, who imagine that they themselves acquire knowledge when
they keep it on their shelves. Their motley libraries have been called the
madhouses of the Human mind; and again, the tomb of books, when the possessor
will not communicate them, and coffins them up in the cases of his library. It
was facetiously observed, these collections are not without a Lock on the Human
Understanding"
§
Books and Authors Curious Facts and Characteristic Sketches by
Anonymous
§
The Book-Hunter at Home Allan,
P. B. M.
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Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs by
Henry H. Harper
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The Booklover and His Books by
Harry Lyman Koopman
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The Book-Hunter in London
Historical and Other Studies of Collectors and Collecting by
William Roberts
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A Book for All Readers
An Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books and the
Formation of Public and Private Libraries by
Ainsworth Rand Spofford
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Confessions of a Book-Lover by
Maurice Francis Egan
An avid reader's
autobiography
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The Care of Books by John Willis
Clark
A history of
Libraries
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The Reformed Librarie-Keeper by
John Dury (1650)
A Puritan's view of
librarians as "Agents for the advancement of universal Learning"
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The Annual Catalogue by W.
Warner and J. Worrall (1737)
Or, A New and
Compleat List of All The New Books, New Editions of Books, Pamphlets, &c.
§
The Complete Works of Robert Burns by
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
“The Book-Worms”
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Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
“A Book; Poem 1263” – “Unto My Books So Good To Turn; Poem 512; Poem 604”
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Rhymes a la Mode by Andrew Lang
(1844-1912)
“Ballade of the Book-Man’s Paradise”
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The Complete Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
“My Books” – “To an Old Danish Song-Book”
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Bibliomania in the Middle Ages by
Frederick Somner Merryweather
"Shyp of Folys" or Ship of Fools
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The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
(1809-1849)
“The Raven”
§
The New Poems by Robert Louis
Stevenson (1850-1894)
“Go, Little Book – The Ancient Phrase” - “Sonnet: So Shall this Book Wax Like
Unto a Well”
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The Dog’s Book of Verse collected
by J. Earl Clauson
For the dog lover among bibliomaniacs. A selection of canine reflections from
a cross-section of writers like Robert Burns, Jonathan Swift, and Elizabeth
Barrett Browning, among many others, both famed and obscure.
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