A Gentle Madness by Nicholas A. Basbanes

His principal, in the narrative's circuitous course, is Stephen C. Basbanes, a New England journalist, favors the eccentricĪnd the felonious, who do provide colorful copy. Here are the splendid, squalid, brilliant, cranky, megalomaniac, modest, spendthrift, pinchpenny, visionary and plain outside-the-margins, off-the-page loony.

His primary text is a long and subjective Who's Who of book collectors His subtext shows that book collections enable access, preservation and scholarship: the increase of knowledge. Harking back to the library at ancient Alexandria, and ranging through five centuries of European experience, he then goes where today's action is: auction houses, dealers' roomsĪnd university libraries, chiefly American ones. Up the practical importance of collecting. 'However bizarre and zealous collectors have been through the ages, so much of what we know about history, literature and culture would be lost forever if not for the passion and dedication of these driven souls,' Mr. It is also imperfect, overblown and repetitive in places.

It is compulsory for anyone seriously interested in books or curious about the manic nature ofĬollecting. 'A Gentle Madness' is an impressive achievement in its compilation of vast information, as well as instructive and interesting. Is such an infinity, because books are fundamental to civilization yet cosmologically diverse, and it is a brave writer who attempts a comprehensive study that's fit to read. THE fascination of some books lies in the depth to which they plumb a big subject, whales for example or the history of the atomic bomb, but other topics are so huge they cannot be plumbed, only explored, their parts exemplified and savored. August 20, 1995, Sunday, Late Edition - FinalĪ GENTLE MADNESS Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books.īy Nicholas A.

A Gentle Madness by Nicholas A. Basbanes