Overview

"The word ""bibliophilia"" indicates a love of books, both as texts to be read and objects to be cherished for their physical qualities. Throughout the history of Iberian print culture, bibliophiles have attempted to explain the psychological experiences of reading and collecting books, as well as the social and economic conditions of book production. Bibliophiles, Murderous Bookmen, and Mad Librarians analyses Spanish bibliophiles who catalogue, organize, and archive books, as well as the publishers, artists, and writers who create them. Robert Richmond Ellis examines how books are represented in modern Spanish writing and how Spanish bibliophiles reflect on the role of books in their lives and in the histories and cultures of modern Spain. Through the combined approaches of literary studies, book history, and the book arts, Ellis argues that two strains of Spanish bibliophilia coalesce in the modern period: one that envisions books as a means of achieving personal fulfilment, and another that engages with politics and uses books to affirm linguistic, cultural, and regional and national identities."

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9781487542368

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Reviews

Bibliophiles, Murderous Bookmen, and Mad Librarians is an exceptionally well-researched book on a fascinating and highly original topic. Beautifully written in a fluid and easy style, it engaged me from beginning to end, and I learned a great deal from it. I particularly enjoyed the many gripping stories about real and fictional bibliophiles; they are well told, and make for a most enjoyable read. - Roberta L. Johnson, Professor Emerita of Spanish, University of Kansas The tale of a murderous book collector in Barcelona provides the distinguished scholar Robert Richmond Ellis with a central motif for exploring our modern passion for books, which are figured variously as bodies, cadavers, ghosts, works of art, artefacts, memories, identities, signs of modernity, objects of consumption or exchange, and political actors. At the same time, Ellis demonstrates how book-related pursuits - conserving, hoarding, collecting, reading, burning, hiding, erasing, coveting, removing from circulation, stealing, sharing, fashioning, and bequeathing - have historically been classified and valued as erotic urges, pathologies, crimes, sins, and even acts of nationalism, communion, or love. Finally, he takes us to the public, private, and virtual places where these activities have transpired, concluding this tour de force on bibliomania with a moving reflection on his own personal library. - Jill Robbins, Professor Emerita of Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies, University of California, Merced

"""Bibliophiles, Murderous Bookmen, and Mad Librarians is an exceptionally well-researched book on a fascinating and highly original topic. Beautifully written in a fluid and easy style, it engaged me from beginning to end, and I learned a great deal from it. I particularly enjoyed the many gripping stories about real and fictional bibliophiles; they are well told, and make for a most enjoyable read."" - Roberta L. Johnson, Professor Emerita of Spanish, University of Kansas ""The tale of a murderous book collector in Barcelona provides the distinguished scholar Robert Richmond Ellis with a central motif for exploring our modern passion for books, which are figured variously as bodies, cadavers, ghosts, works of art, artefacts, memories, identities, signs of modernity, objects of consumption or exchange, and political actors. At the same time, Ellis demonstrates how book-related pursuits - conserving, hoarding, collecting, reading, burning, hiding, erasing, coveting, removing from circulation, stealing, sharing, fashioning, and bequeathing - have historically been classified and valued as erotic urges, pathologies, crimes, sins, and even acts of nationalism, communion, or love. Finally, he takes us to the public, private, and virtual places where these activities have transpired, concluding this tour de force on bibliomania with a moving reflection on his own personal library."" - Jill Robbins, Professor Emerita of Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies, University of California, Merced"

Author Information

Robert Richmond Ellis is the Norman Bridge Distinguished Professor of Spanish at Occidental College.

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