A Passion for Books

by Harold Rabinowitz

  “Why, by selling to you.”

  “It would be only a drop in the bucket.”

  Steve’s cheeks seemed to flatten. “Now if you’re doing this just to help me—” he began.

  “Nuts! I buy books. If I can get a bit of a bargain from you, I’m helping little old Eddie Ellis. But if I can help you a little bit at the same time—well, Steve, it’s a mutual sort of thing.”

  Steve thought a moment. “I’d sell ’em for what they cost me and just a little bit more.”

  “Naturally! You have to take a profit! But, Steve, I’m thinking of myself now—really. Still, I sort of feel like a vulture picking over bones.”

  “You don’t have to feel that way.”

  “No, Steve, I guess I really don’t. Of course, I’d have to get Ruthie’s approval.”

  “Of course.”

  “What if I came in after work some day and picked out what I want?”

  “Well . . . How about Saturday? That way, I could sell some things to you before I put in the ad, and so my conscience will be clear. Besides, I could bring the car down, and then I could tote the books up to your place.”

  “Ruthie will scream,” I laughed. “ ‘Where’ll we put them?’ she’ll ask.” Steve laughed, too. “Yeah, I know.”

  “If it’s okay with you then—”

  “Sure,” said Steve. “Saturday?”

  “I’ll check with Ruthie.”

  When I got back to the office, I called Ruthie. She gave her approval instantly.

  “I’ll stop buying dresses,” she said.

  “Like hell,” I said.

  “Oh,” she said, “I can buy dresses any old time. But this—well, this is the chance of a lifetime!”

  I agreed.

  “Poor Steve,” she said.

  1 The Constance Missal has some support among students as an earlier book than the Gutenberg Bible. The claim is based primarily on the crudity, and at the same time the similarity, of the typography of the Missal as compared with the Gutenberg Bible, it being argued that the forty-two-line Bible is too fine a production to be the very first book and that other books must have preceded it. One of three known copies of the Missal is now owned by the Pierpont Morgan Library of New York.

  Bibliobibliography—Books About Books: A Selection

  Bibliophilia—if not bibliomania—is as old as books themselves. It is even older, in fact, than printed books—Richard de Bury’s classic, The Philobiblon (The Love of Books), was completed in 1345, more than a hundred years before Gutenberg printed his first Bible. So as long as there have been bibliophiles, there have been books for and about them. Thus, this bibliography, extensive as it is, represents only a small sample of books on the subject.

  With only two exceptions—The Philobiblon and Flaubert’s Bibliomania—all the books described in this bibliography are first editions, and all are available through antiquarian booksellers. In many cases, however, revised editions of these books are also available.

  Books from which selections in this book were made are noted by an asterisk.

  Adams, J. Donald. Speaking of Books—and Life. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1965.

  Adams, Randolph G. Three Americanists: Henry Harrisse, Bibliographer; George Brinley, Book Collector; Thomas Jefferson, Librarian. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1939.

  Aldis, Harry G. The Printed Book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1941.

  Altick, Richard D. The Scholar Adventurers. New York: Macmillan, 1950.

  Andrews, William. Literary Byways. London: William Andrews & Co., 1898.

  Basbanes, Nicholas A. A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1995.*

  Bay, J. Christian. The Fortune of Books: Essays, Memories and Prophecies of a Librarian. Chicago: Walter M. Hill, 1941.

  Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. New York: Schocken Books, 1968.*

  Bennett, Paul A. Books and Printing: A Treasury for Typophiles. Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1951.

  Bennett, Whitman. A Practical Guide to American Book Collecting (1663–1940): With All Items Arranged in Sequence as a Chronological Panorama of American Authorship and with Each Subject Considered from Bibliographical, Biographical, and Analytical Aspects. New York: Bennett Book Studios, 1949.

  Beresford, James. Bibliosophia, or Book Wisdom. London: William Miller, 1810.

  Bishop, William W. The Backs of Books and Other Essays in Librarianship. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Co., 1926.

  Blades, William. The Enemies of Books. London: Trubner & Co., 1880.

  ———. The Pentateuch of Printing. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1891.

  Blumenthal, Walter Hart. Bookmen’s Bedlam: An Olio of Literary Oddities. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1955.

  Book Arts Club. About Books—A Gathering of Essays. Berkeley: Book Arts Club of the University of California, 1941.

  Bouchot, Henri. The Book. London: H. Grevel & Co., 1890.

  Brent, Stuart. The Seven Stairs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1962.*

  Brewer, Reginald A. The Delightful Diversion: The Why and Wherefores of Book Collecting. New York: Macmillan, 1935.

  Burns, Eric. The Joy of Books: Confessions of a Lifelong Reader. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1995.

  Burton, John Hill. The Book Hunter. New York: Sheldon & Co., 1863.

  Carter, John. ABC for Book Collectors. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952.

  ———. Books and Book-Collectors. Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1957.

  ———. Taste and Technique in Book-Collecting: A Study of Recent Developmentsin Great Britain and the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1948.

  Clark, John Willis. The Care of Books. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1901.

  Cobden-Sanderson, T. J. The Journals of Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson (1879–1922). New York: Macmillan, 1926.

  Collison, Robert L. Book Collecting: An Introduction to Modern Methods of Literary and Bibliographical Detection. London: Ernest Benn, 1957.

  Crane, Walter. Of the Decorative Illustrations of Books Old and New. London: George Bell & Sons, 1896.

  Currie, Barton. Fishers of Books. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1931.

  Davies, Robertson. Tempest-Tost. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co., 1951.

  ———. The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies. Edited by Judith Skelton Grant. New York: Viking, 1990.*

  de Bury, Richard. The Philobiblon. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1948.

  de Ricci, Seymour. The Book Collector’s Guide: A Practical Handbook of British and American Bibliography. Philadelphia: Rosenbach Co., 1921.

  Dibdin, Thomas Frognall. Bibliomania; or Book Madness. London: Long-man, Hurst, Rees & Orme, 1809.

  Donaldson, Gerald. Books: Their History, Art, Power, Glory, Infamy, and Su fering According to Their Creators, Friends and Enemies. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1981.*

  Downs, Robert B. Books That Changed the World. Chicago: American Library Association, 1956.

  ———. Books That Changed America. New York: Macmillan, 1970.* Eco, Umberto. How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994.*

  Ellis, Estelle, Caroline Seebohm, and Christopher Simon Sykes. At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries. New York: Carol Southern Books, 1995.*

  Everitt, Charles P. Adventures of a Treasure Hunter: A Rare Bookman in Search of American History. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1951.

  Fadiman, Clifton. Party of One. Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1955.*

  Fadiman, Clifton, and John S. Majors. The New Lifetime Reading Plan. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.*

  Field, Eugene. The Love A fairs of a Bibliomaniac. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896.

  Fitch, George Hamlin. Comfort Found in Good Old Books. San Francisco: Paul Elder & Co., 1911.*

  Flaubert, Gustave. Bibliomania: A Tale. London: Rodale Press, 1954.*r />
  Furman, Laura, and Elinore Standard. Bookworms: Great Writers and ReadersCelebrate Reading. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1997.

  Gilbar, Steven, ed. Reading in Bed: Personal Essays on the Glories of Reading. Boston: David R. Godine, 1995.*

  ———. The Book Book. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1981.*

  Goldstone, Lawrence, and Nancy Goldstone. Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997.

  Goodspeed, Charles J. Yankee Bookseller. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1937.

  Graffagnino, J. Kevin. Only in Books: Writers, Readers, & Bibliophiles on Their Passion. Madison, Wisc.: Madison House, 1996.

  Grannis, Chandler B. What Happens in Book Publishing. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957.

  Harrison, Frederick. A Book about Books. London: John Murray, 1943.

  Hearn, Lafcadio. Books and Habits. Edited by John Erskine. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1921.

  ———. Talks to Writers. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920.

  Hendrickson, Robert. The Literary Life and Other Curiosities. New York: Viking, 1981.*

  Highet, Gilbert. People, Places, and Books. New York: Oxford University Press, 1953.

  Ireland, Alexander. The Booklover’s Enchiridion. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1888.

  Jackson, Holbrook. Bookman’s Pleasure. New York: Farrar, Straus & Co., 1947.

  ———. The Anatomy of Bibliomania. London: Soncino Press, 1930.*

  ———. The Fear of Books. London: Soncino Press, 1932.

  Johnson, Merle. American First Editions. New York: R. R. Bowker Co., 1929.

  Jordan-Smith, Paul. For the Love of Books: The Adventures of an Impecunious Collector. New York: Oxford University Press, 1934.

  Lang, Andrew. Books and Bookmen. London: George J. Coombs, 1886.

  Lewis, Wilmarth S. Collector’s Progress. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1951.

  Madan, Falconer. Books in Manuscript: A Short Introduction to Their Study and Use. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1893.

  Manguel, Alberto. A History of Reading. New York: Viking, 1996.

  McMurtrie, Douglas C. The Book: The Story of Printing and Bookmaking. New York: Covici, Friede, 1937.

  ———. The Golden Book: The Story of Fine Books and Bookmaking—Past & Present. Chicago: Pascal Covici, 1927.

  Merryweather, F. Somner. Bibliomania in the Middle Ages; or, Sketches of Bookworms, Collectors, Bible Students, Scribes, and Illuminators. London: Merryweather, 1849.

  Michell, John. Eccentric Lives and Peculiar Notions. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984.*

  Miller, Henry. The Books in My Life. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1952.

  Muir, Percy H. Book Collecting as a Hobby: In a Series of Letters to Every-man.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947.

  Newton, A. Edward. The Amenities of Book-Collecting and Kindred Affec-tions. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1918.

  ———. A Magnificent Farce and Other Diversions of a Book-Collector. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1921.*

  ———. The Greatest Book in the World and Other Papers. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1925.*

  ———. The Book-Collecting Game. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1928.*

  O’Connor, J. F. X. Facts about Bookworms—Their History in Literature and Work in Libraries. New York: Francis P. Harper, 1898.

  Orcutt, William Dana. The Kingdom of Books. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1927.

  ———. The Magic of the Book: More Reminiscences and Adventures of a Bookman. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1930.

  Oswald, John Clyde. A History of Printing. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1928.

  Perrin, Noel. Dr. Bowdler’s Legacy. New York: Atheneum, 1969.

  Powell, Lawrence C. Books in My Baggage: Adventures in Reading and Col lecting.Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1960.

  Power, John. A Handy-Book about Books—for Book-Lovers, Book-Buyers, and Book-Sellers. London: John Wilson, 1870.

  Pritchard, Francis Henry. Books and Readers. London: George G. Harrap, 1931.

  Proust, Marcel. On Reading. New York: Macmillan, 1971.

  Quindlen, Anna. How Reading Changed My Life. New York: Library of Contemporary Thought, 1998.*

  Raabe, Tom. Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction. Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Publishing, 1990.

  Rees, Rogers. The Diversions of a Bookworm. London: Elliot Stock, 1886.

  Rosenbach, A. S. W. Books and Bidders: The Adventures of a Bibliophile. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1927.*

  ———. A Book Hunter’s Holiday: Adventures with Books and Manuscripts. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1936.

  Rostenberg, Leona, and Madeleine B. Stern. Old Books in the Old World: Reminiscences of Book Buying Abroad. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Books, 1996.

  ———. Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion. New York: Doubleday, 1997.

  Saunders, Frederick. The Story of Some Famous Books. London: Elliot Stock, 1887.

  Sawyer, Charles J., and F. J. H. Darton. English Books 1475–1900: A Signpost for Collectors. Westminster, England: Chas. J. Sawyer Ltd., 1927.

  Schwartz, Lynne Sharon. Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.

  Silverman, Al, ed. The Book of the Month: Sixty Years of Books in American Life. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1986.*

  Starrett, Vincent. Books Alive: A Profane Chronicle of Literary Endeavor and Literary Misdemeanor. New York: Random House, 1940.

  Storm, Colton, and Howard Peckham. Invitation to Book Collecting: Its Pleasures and Practices with Kindred Discussions of Manuscripts, Maps, and Prints. New York: R. R. Bowker Co., 1947.

  Targ, William. Carrousel for Bibliophiles: A Treasury of Tales, Narratives, Songs, Epigrams and Sundry Curious Studies Relating to a Noble Theme. New York: Philip C. Duschnes, 1947.*

  ———, ed. Bouillabaisse for Bibliophiles: A Treasury of Bookish Lore, Wit & Wisdom, Tales, Poetry & Narratives & Certain Curious Studies of Interestto Bookmen & Collectors. Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1955.*

  ———. Indecent Pleasures. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1975.*

  Tebbel, John. Between Covers: The Rise and Transformation of Book Publishingin America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

  Thomas, G. Alan. Great Books and Book Collectors. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975.

  Thompson, James Westfall. Byways in Bookland. Berkeley: Book Arts Club of the University of California, 1935.

  Thompson, Lawrence S. Bibliologia Comica, or Humorous Aspects of the Ca parisoningand Conservation of Books. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1968.

  Uhlan, Edward. The Rogue of Publisher’s Row: Confessions of a Publisher. New York: Exposition Press, 1956.

  Van Dyke, J. C. Books and How to Use Them. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, 1883.

  Webber, Winslow Lewis. Books about Books: A Bio-Bibliography for Collectors. Boston: Hale, Cushman & Flint, 1937.

  West, Herbert Faulkner. Modern Book Collecting for the Impecunious Amateur. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1936.

  ———. The Mind on the Wing: A Book for Readers and Collectors. New York: Coward-McCann, 1947.*

  Winterich, John T. Books and the Man. New York: Greenberg, 1929.

  Wroth, Lawrence C., ed. A History of the Printed Book, Being the Third Number of the Dolphin. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1938.

  Permission Acknowledgments

  Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:

  Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc.: Excerpt from How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen. Copyright © 1998 by Anna Quindlen. Reprinted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

  Peter Benchley: “Why Does Nobody Collect Me?” by Peter Benchley. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  Stuart Brent: Excerpt from “How to Get Started in the Book Business” from The Seven Stairs by Stuart Brent. Reprinted by permission of the aut
hor.

  Crown Publishers, Inc.: Excerpt from At Home with Books by Estelle Ellis and Caroline Seebohm. Copyright © 1995 by Estelle Ellis and Caroline Seebohm. Reprinted by permission of Carol Southern Books, a division of Crown Publishers, Inc.

  Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.: “The Newark Public Library” from Reading Myself and Others by Philip Roth; Copyright © 1975 by Philip Roth; excerpts from The Anatomy of Bibliomania by Holbrook Jackson. Copyright © 1950 by Farrar, Straus and Company, now Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.

  Harcourt, Inc.: “How to Justify a Private Library” and “How to Organize a Public Library” from How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays by Umberto Eco, copyright © Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, Bompiani, Sonzogno, Etas S.p.A.; English translation copyright © 1994 by Harcourt Brace & Company, Inc.; “Unpacking My Library” from Illuminationsby Walter Benjamin, copyright © 1955 by Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt a.M., English translation by Harry Zohn copyright © 1968 and renewed 1996 by Harcourt Brace and Company, Inc. “Bibliomaniacs” from Eccentric Lives and Peculiar Notions by John Mitchell. Copyright © 1984 by Thames and Hudson, Ltd., London. All essays reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.

  HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.: Table of Contents from The New Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major. Copyright © 1997 by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

  Henry Holt and Company, Inc.: Pages 58–82 from A Gentle Madness by Nicholas A. Basbanes. Copyright © 1995 by Nicholas A. Basbanes. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, Inc.

  Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.: “Invasion of the Book Envelopes” from Hugging the Shore by John Updike. Copyright © 1983 by John Updike. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

  Kodansha America, Inc.: Pages 206–226 from Light One Candle by Solly Ganor. Copyright © 1995 by Solly Ganor; pages 255–259 from A Diary of the Century by Edward Robb Ellis. Copyright © 1995 by Edward Robb Ellis. Reprinted by permission of Kodansha America, Inc.

  Lescher and Lescher, Ltd.: “Pillow Books” by Clifton Fadiman. Copyright © 1951, 1955 by Clifton Fadiman. Reprinted by permission of Lescher and Lescher, Ltd.