A Gentle Madness

By Nicholas A. Basbanes (1995)

A perfect primer for those unfamiliar with the "gentle madness" that is bibliomania, this meticulous history also offers plenty to enthrall the most knowledgeable of collectors. Nicholas Basbanes takes us from ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, when the first libraries were being formed (and competition for books trumped integrity), to New York in 1992, when what shocked wasn't the means of snagging books but the price. (A limited edition of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" sold at...