![]() ![]() ![]() While A Gentle Madness is interesting and historically relevant, at times the stories become repetitive as the efforts to obtain the choicest works look pretty much the same. ![]() ![]() So why write a book about what at its core appears to be a rather narcissistic pursuit? Mostly because our understanding of history is built from the collections of books and papers that collectors gather up.īasbanes does a fine job of chronicling the evolution of book collecting, especially the 19th and early 20th centuries when some of the great institutional libraries were born of the collecting efforts of the wealthiest individuals on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, it is apparent that most of these collecting extremists have virtually no interest in actually reading the books that they travel the globe paying astronomical sums of money to possess. Even so, this testament to the highest levels of book collecting – going all the way back to the days of The Great Library of Alexandria – isn’t always a flattering portrait. It is evident in A Gentle Madness that Nicholas Basbanes has a true love of books. How ignominious to be strapped to this ponderous mass of paper, print, and dead men's sentiments! ” “A strong and bitter book-sickness floods one's soul. Show More Investigative reporter Nicholas Basbanes delves into both the past and the present to provide the most thorough examination of what it is to be a bibliophile. ![]()
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