Bibliophilia
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Bibliophilia is the love of books; a bibliophile is a lover of books.
The classic bibliophile, exemplified by Samuel Pepys, is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often nurturing a large and specialised collection. By definition a bibliophile does not necessarily want to possess the books they love; an alternative would be to admire them in old libraries. However the bibliophile is usually an avid book collector, sometimes pursuing scholarship in the collection, sometimes putting form above content with an emphasis on old, rare, and expensive books, first editions, books with special or unusual bindings, autographed copies, etc.
The term bibliophile can also be applied to one who has an obsessive fondeness for books, perhaps amounting to bibliomania. This is most often seen in compulsive hoarders, identifiable by the fact that the number of unread books in their possession is continually increasing relative to the total number of books they possess and read. Extreme bibliophilia may amount to a diagnosed psychological condition.
See also
- book collecting
- -philia (for other technical terms of obsession)
External links
- Bookseller World (http://www.booksellerworld.com/) – Collector's resources, glossary of terms, bibliographies, etc.eo:Bibliofilo