Among the Gently Mad
I just finished reading Nicholas A. Basbanes’ Among the Gently Mad, a book about book collectors and book collecting that has many insights to offer about the phenomenon of collecting in general, how a germ of an idea will snowball into a major quest, and the value-adding properties of assembling a choice lot, wherein the whole becomes far more valuable than the separate parts. Speaking as a collector of various things, I read with interest his insights into the mind of the collector — I frequently wonder the value and purpose of my collecting pursuits, and Basbanes’ analysis of the art and science of collecting do much to mollify.
The book cites two intriguing books: Double Fold, about the betrayal of the public by librarians who destroy books to save them, and Understanding Book Collecting, which is less intriguing to me now that I read that it is targeted for the British collector.
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