Pre-Order Your Copy of On Paper
The official publication date for “On Paper: The Everything of Its Two Thousand Year History, by a Self-Confirmed Bibliophiliac”—Nick’s ninth book—has been announced by Alfred A. Knopf, the publisher, as Oct. 15. Pre-orders are now being accepted at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-Million. Eight years in the making, the book was the recipient in 2008 of a National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship. Cover art and promotional details, including information on speaking events and signings, will be posted here as they develop.
A New Edition
A Gentle Madness
When first published, A Gentle Madness astounded and delighted readers about the passion and expense a collector is willing to make in pursuit of the book. Written before the emergence of the Internet but newly updated for the 21st Century reader, A Gentle Madness captures that last moment in time when collectors pursued their passions in dusty bookshops and street stalls, high stakes auctions, and the subterfuge worthy of a true bibliomaniac. An adventure among the afflicted, A Gentle Madness is vividly anecdotal and thoroughly researched. Nicholas Basbanes brings an investigative reporter’s heart to illuminate collectors past and present in their pursuit of bibliomania. Now a timeless classic of collecting, no lover of books can miss A Gentle Madness.
What people are saying
Dedicated bibliophiles and ardent book collectors will find "A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books" by Nicholas A. Basbanes to be a superbly crafted testament to what drives someone to prize books the ways others might esteem paintings, sculptures, fine wines, or precious gems. Originally published in 1995, this new edition for 2012 features a new preface by the author. A 678-page compendium organized into two main sections, enhanced with a section of illustrations, an epilogue, extensive notes, an extended bibliography, and a comprehensive index, “A Gentle Madness” is strongly recommended for community and academic library collections, and simply a great read for anyone who has every held their own passion for the world of the printed word. —Midwest Book Review
Some years ago I reviewed Nicholas A. Basbanes’ A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books ($15.95, Fine Books Press, softcover). It was a bestselling book then and remains the most comprehensive book about the passion of book collecting. There is no one to rival Basbanes for his knowledge and I was happy to learn that a new, updated, definitive edition had been published. The research is self-evident, but it is the anecdotal elements that are entertaining as the author reviews the lives of some of the great collectors. It began with the 2,200 year-old Library of Alexandra, moves on to the dawn of Western printing in the Middle Ages, into the Renaissance, and now into the advances of twentieth-century collecting. I admit I am resisting reading books in their new electric formats. I like the feel of a book in my hands. If you do, then this book will provide endless hours of reading pleasure. —Bookviews by Alan Caruba