Bestselling and bargain books: Collecting Books
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Books -> Collecting Books
A Splendor of Letters : The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World
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by:
Basbanes, Nicholas A.
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Publisher:
Perennial
Published: November 1, 2004
ISBN: 0060580801
Format:Paperback
Pages:464
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Book Description
From Publishers Weekly
The final volume in an acclaimed trilogy for bibliophiles (after A Gentle Madness and Patience and Fortitude) focuses on efforts to preserve books and other printed matter from the ravages of deterioration, destruction and
obsolescence. The historical range here is expansive, encompassing texts by classical authors known today only through secondhand descriptions, William Blake's self-published illustrated volumes and used book sales at modern libraries. Even the most
ancillary data have the power to fascinate: who knew, for example, that the Roman emperor Claudius was also probably the last scholar fluent in the language of the ancient Etruscans? But the research skills Basbanes displays are matched by the lively
quality of his interviews, like an extended conversation with a Sarajevo librarian who saved thousands of Croatian volumes from the Serbian ethnic cleansing campaign. Other chapters, which describe how American libraries are regularly pruned of old books
by less violent means, owe a heavy (and acknowledged) debt to Nicholson Baker's Double Fold, with minor updates to recap new trends in preservation. A final section elaborates on the potential threat of the e-book, but remains optimistic that love of the
physical act of reading will enable the printed page to prevail. Even those who find the evidence unconvincing should find themselves compelled by story after story on the salvation of books. Basbanes's longtime fans will rejoice at more of the same,
while new readers will no doubt be swiftly caught up in the book-loving spirit.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description:
In A Splendor of Letters, Nicholas A. Basbanes continues the lively, richly
anecdotal exploration of book people, places, and culture he began in 1995 with A Gentle Madness (a finalist that year for the National Book Critics Circle Award) and expanded in 2001 with Patience and Fortitude, a companion work that
prompted the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and biographer David McCullough to proclaim him "the leading authority of books about books." In this beautifully packaged edition, Basbanes brings to a close his wonderful trilogy on the remarkable
world of books and bibliophiles.
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