A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books

About this book

When it was first published, A Gentle Madnessastounded and delighted readers with stories about the lengths of passion, expense, and more that collectors will go in pursuit of the book. Written before the emergence of the Internet but newly updated for the twenty-first century reader, A Gentle Madnesscaptures that last moment in time when collectors frequented dusty bookshops, street stalls, and high-stakes auctions, conducting themselves with the subterfuge befitting a true bibliomaniac. A Gentle Madnessis vividly anecdotal and thoroughly researched. Nicholas A. Basbanes brings an investigative reporter's heart and instincts to the task of chronicling collectors past and present in pursuit of bibliomania. Now a classic of collecting, A Gentle Madnessis a book lover's delight.