William Blades

The Enemies of Books (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

CHAPTER I. FIRE.

THERE are many of the forces of Nature which tend to injure Books; but among them all not one has been half so destructive as Fire. It would be tedious to write out a bare list only of the numerous libraries and bibliographical treasures which, in one way or another, have been seized by the Fire-king as his own. Chance conflagrations, fanatic incendiarism, judicial bonfires, and even household stoves have, time after time, thinned the treasures as well as the rubbish of past ages, until, probably, not one thousandth part of the books that have been are still extant. This destruction cannot, however, be reckoned as all loss; for had not the "cleansing fires" removed mountains of rubbish from our midst, strong destructive measures would have become a necessity from sheer want of space in which to store so many volumes.
Before the invention of Printing, books were comparatively scarce; and, knowing as we do, how very difficult it is, even after the steam-press has been working for half a century, to make a collection of half a million books, we are forced to receive with great incredulity the accounts in old writers of the wonderful extent of ancient libraries.
The historian Gibbon, very incredulous in many things, accepts without questioning the fables told upon this subject. No doubt the libraries of MSS. collected generation after generation by the Egyptian Ptolemies became, in the course of time, the most extensive ever then known; and were famous throughout the world for the costliness of their ornamentation, and importance of their untold contents. Two of these were at Alexandria, the larger of which was in the quarter called Bruchium. These volumes, like all manuscripts of those early ages, were written on sheets of parchment, having a wooden roller at each end so that the reader needed only to unroll a portion at a time. During Caesar's Alexandrian War, B.C. 48, the larger collection was consumed by fire and again burnt by the Saracens in A.D. 640. An immense loss was inflicted upon mankind thereby; but when we are told of 700,000, or even 500,000 of such volumes being destroyed we instinctively feel that such numbers must be a great exaggeration. Equally incredulous must we be when we read of half a million volumes being burnt at Carthage some centuries later, and other similar accounts.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: CAIMAN
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. Juli 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9789881830470
• Artikelnr.: 58916750

Autorenporträt

William Blades (1824-1890) was an eminent English printer and bibliographer, renowned for his scholarly pursuits in the history and preservation of books. Blades was born on December 5, 1824, in Clapham, London. His pivotal work, 'The Enemies of Books' (1880), reflects not only his deep affection for books but also his expertise in the causes of their deterioration. In this classic of bibliophilic literature, Blades discusses the myriad dangers that books have historically encountered, including fire, water, gas, heat, dust, neglect, insects, and their most dangerous enemy, ignorant or careless human handlers. His literary style combines meticulous research with a touch of humor and personal anecdotes, which makes his treatise both informative and engaging. Beyond 'The Enemies of Books,' his contributions to printing history and bibliographic studies have garnered him academic recognition and continue to be referenced by contemporary scholars and book lovers. Blades operated a printing business but devoted substantial time to researching the history of the printing press, culminating in his biographical works on early printers like William Caxton. Blades' dedication to the craft of printing and his zeal for preserving the legacy of the printed word solidify his place in the annals of bibliographic history. His works remain a testament to his passion for books and serve as an enduring resource for those interested in the preservation and appreciation of literature.

Inhaltsangabe

1. Fire
2. Water
3. Gas and heat
4. Dust and neglect
5. Ignorance and bigotry
6. The bookworm
7. Other vermin
8. Bookbinders
9. Collectors
10. Servants and children
11. Anecdote of book-sale in Derbyshire
Conclusion
Index.