Most bibliomaniacs, then, are compulsive hoarders, identifiable by the fact that the number of unread books in their possession is continually increasing relative to the total number of books they possess and read. However, the bibliophile is usually an avid book collector, sometimes pursuing scholarship in the collection, sometimes putting form above content with an emphasis on old, rare, and expensive books, first editions, books with special or unusual bindings, autographed copies, etc.īibliophilia is not to be confused with bibliomania, an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving the collecting of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged, and in which the mere fact that an object is a book is sufficient for it to be collected or loved. Bibliophiles do not necessarily want to possess the books they love an alternative would be to admire them in old libraries. The classic bibliophile, exemplified by Samuel Pepys, is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often nurturing a large and specialised collection. It is to be distinguished from the much older notion of a bookman (which dates back to 1583), which is one who loves books, and especially reading more generally, a bookman is one who participates in writing, publishing, or selling books. The term entered the English language in 1824, according to the Merriam-Webster's reference below. Also, a bibliophile may be a book collector. That practice of loving or collecting books is dubbed bibliophilism, and the adjective form of the term is bibliophilic. Bibliophilia is generally considered to be incorrect, but some would say it is a new, recent, usage. A bookworm loves books for their content, or otherwise loves reading in general.
Accordingly a bibliophile loves books, but especially "for qualities of format". "In laying before the public the following brief and superficial account of a disease."- Bibliomania or Book Madness (1809) by Thomas Frognall Dibdinīibliophilia is the love of books.
"To the bibliomaniac, the real lover of books for their own sake, these unknown and outcast volumes, these pariahs of literature, are infinitely more interesting than their better known and more universally cherished fellows, and acquire additional value for him in proportion to the persecution they have suffered, their scarcity, and the difficulty he experiences in acquiring them."- Index Librorum Prohibitorum (1877) by Ashbee I consider it pernicious and hurtful to the immature but at the same time I hold that, in certain circumstances, its study is necessary, if not beneficial." - Catena Librorum Tacendorum (1885) by Ashbee "Better were it that such literature did not exist. "The follies of man, his mental and moral aberrations, singularities of literature, enigmas of life and manners, and the like, had a strange fascination for his mind, and were treated by him in preference to subjects of more general interest, for which his natural taste, his vast reading, his versatility, and powers of analysis equally fitted him."-" In memoriam Octave Delepierre" (1879) by Nicholas Trübner "There is no greater cause of bibliomania than bibliophilia inordinately pursued." - The Anatomy of Bibliomania (1930) by Holbrook Jackson “ Books have brought some men to knowledge, and some to madness ― Francesco Petrarca
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