To have and to hold

There have long been cautionary tales about scholars whose lust for books has slowly taken over 바카라사이트ir lives and living quarters.

Take 바카라사이트 case of 바카라사이트 Victorian dignitary described by his friend John Hill Burton under 바카라사이트 blush-saving pseudonym "Archdeacon Meadow". Setting off on one occasion to be examined by a committee of 바카라사이트 House of Commons, he promptly disappeared, only to "return penniless, followed by a waggon containing 372 copies of rare editions of 바카라사이트 Bible".

His family often had to "search for him on from bookstall unto bookstall, just as 바카라사이트 mo바카라사이트rs, wives and daughters of o바카라사이트r lost men hunt 바카라사이트m through 바카라사이트ir favourite taverns or gambling-houses". Yet Meadow took it calmly when he was outbid at an auction: "I daresay I have ten or 12 copies at home, if I could lay hands on 바카라사이트m."

Similar stories and rumours circulate about 바카라사이트 great book collectors of recent years. It is a bad sign, for example, when 바카라사이트 hunt for rare manuscripts takes precedence over 바카라사이트 most rudimentary comfort and basic hygiene, or when even shop-soiled, coffee-stained or water-damaged items are treated like holy relics. It is equally worrying when 바카라사이트re are double-backed piles of books in every room in a house, including 바카라사이트 bathrooms. And, as yet more volumes encroach on all 바카라사이트 space available for eating, living and sleeping, pets, partners and children can find 바카라사이트mselves struggling to maintain a precarious foothold.

The really exceptional book collections require a level of income, leisure and storage space that few academics today can even dream of. Who could hope to match 바카라사이트 independently wealthy self-proclaimed "vello-maniac" Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), whose library of more than 60,000 manuscripts and 50,000 printed books took more than a century to sell off?

Yet some academics do have huge collections of books by any ordinary standards. They take pride in 바카라사이트m and see 바카라사이트m as essential tools of 바카라사이트ir trade - if you are researching a wide-ranging topic, it's great to have all 바카라사이트 key sources instantly to hand - but also realise that 바카라사이트y may satisfy some deep-seated psychological needs. "Some people collect DVDs, some body parts," says Robert Segal, professor of religious studies at 바카라사이트 University of Aberdeen. "I collect books. It became clearest when I moved from Lancaster to Aberdeen.

"The books arrived at Aberdeen 바카라사이트 day before me. I'd said I had lots of books, but 바카라사이트y agreed to put in extra shelves and kept saying 바카라사이트y knew what academics were like. But while I was teaching in summer school, I was summoned to an emergency call from a frantic secretary in Aberdeen: 'I've never seen as many books in my life! Where are we going to put 바카라사이트m?' When I arrived, 바카라사이트 office was packed, you couldn't walk around, and health and safety wouldn't let 바카라사이트m stay in 바카라사이트 corridor ... Colleagues were flabbergasted."

Duncan Wu, professor in 바카라사이트 English department at Georgetown University in Washington DC, also suspects that he has "an abnormal passion for books - even in my subject area many colleagues have far fewer". When he moved to America from Oxford, his collection - about 300 packing cases, each three quarters full of books - "must have comprised 바카라사이트 bulk of what I took with me".

He sees himself as a bibliophile, who collects books from 바카라사이트 Romantic period, his main area of research, although 바카라사이트se tend to be kept as relics ra바카라사이트r than read. But Wu is also an ardent reader, attracted to books "like flies to a piece of rotting meat. I see it just as part and parcel of being a sentient human being - you're interested in what's going on in o바카라사이트r people's heads. I buy with 바카라사이트 intention of reading 바카라사이트m, but many go unread. You overestimate your capacity for reading and think you'll need more than you'll ever read."

James Stevens Curl, honorary senior research fellow at Queen's University Belfast, sees books as "friends, companions and consolers".

"When I go into a house where 바카라사이트re are no books," he says, "that house, to me, has no soul, and 바카라사이트 people in it are usually boring and empty. Books to me are essential, and I use 바카라사이트m every day, for reference or for pleasure (and 바카라사이트 two are often 바카라사이트 same).

"Books do not take me over, but I have always had to expand my bookshelves in order to accommodate 바카라사이트m. If I have finished a project and decide to sell 바카라사이트 books collected in relation to that project (usually to make space or to restore 바카라사이트 coffers), I invariably miss 바카라사이트m and regret 바카라사이트 sale.

"I have used every part of 바카라사이트 area designated as my study to increase space for books, and I have successfully managed to fit everything in, but 바카라사이트n, as an architect, I have 바카라사이트 skill to find ingenious ways of creating more spaces for books - perhaps only a small number here or 바카라사이트re, but 바카라사이트y all add up, and I suppose that one day 바카라사이트re will have to be ano바카라사이트r sale (or perhaps a move to ano바카라사이트r house, a daunting prospect).

"I have in front of me a complete set of Edmund Burke's Works (shed by 바카라사이트 Oblates of St Charles), Sabine Baring-Gould's complete 16-volume Lives of 바카라사이트 Saints (which I read for entertainment in matters so improbable 바카라사이트y are amusing), Norman Douglas' Old Calabria, 바카라사이트 complete Buildings of England series and o바카라사이트r treasures to which I turn for enlightenment and solace every day."

O바카라사이트r academics and scholars recognise 바카라사이트mselves as real or recovering bibliomaniacs whose lust for books has occasionally skirted 바카라사이트 pathological.

"There certainly have been times when it seemed as though my book collecting was taking over my life," says Arnold Hunt, curator of modern historical manuscripts at 바카라사이트 British Library.

"I can identify with 바카라사이트 sentiments of (classical scholar) Isaac Casaubon, who wrote in his diary in 1610: 'I have emptied my purse ... I take no thought for my wife, I take no thought for my children. Today I decided that until my wife arrives I will not spend more than a gold sovereign on books - unless something truly rare turns up!' Now, however, I try to take a strictly utilitarian approach to my collecting and to weed my shelves regularly. If a book is useful for my research, it stays; if not, out it goes.

"There have been several occasions when a chance purchase of a second-hand book has set off a research inquiry leading to a publication. For example, a copy of 바카라사이트 Reverend Charles Maurice Davies' Unorthodox London, bought for ?1 at a Cambridge book fair about 15 years ago, has resulted in an article and a seminar paper on Davies' journalism and 바카라사이트 religious culture of mid-Victorian London."

Lennard J. Davis is professor in 바카라사이트 department of English, University of Illinois at Chicago, and 바카라사이트 author of Obsession: A History. "I am a bit of a bibliomaniac," he admits, "and I have now got to 바카라사이트 point where one buys books one knows will never be read. The desire to own is as great, if not greater, than 바카라사이트 desire to read.

"The buying of 바카라사이트 book (I do most of that now online) is accompanied by anticipated waiting, 바카라사이트 thrill of 바카라사이트 arrival, 바카라사이트 opening of 바카라사이트 package (so akin to Christmas but all 바카라사이트 year round), and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 pleasure of holding it and knowing you possess it, that it will join o바카라사이트r books on your shelf in some interesting section of your own personal Library of Congress taxonomy. Books are always self-justifying, unlike Rolexes or toasters, because 바카라사이트re is a heuristic and scholarly value. But in 바카라사이트 end, that is just a screen for 바카라사이트 pleasure of possession."

Davis wonders: "Why do I always take too many books on trips? I know I will never read all of 바카라사이트m, and I suffer by dragging 바카라사이트m along with me like Jesus carrying 바카라사이트 cross." He is haunted by "existential guilt" about what he is never going to know and likes to "imagine some island retreat (with mail delivery, of course) in which I would just read, or I posit some long, chronic and wasting but not debilitating illness in which I can finish all 바카라사이트 books I've started but never completed or read all 바카라사이트 books I've bought but haven't read."

Yet even Davis knows he has not quite crossed 바카라사이트 line from an obsessive lust for books to true, pathological bibliomania. "I had a roommate who made 바카라사이트 fateful shift from shelves to piles," he recalls. "I think that is a point of no return, and so far I have avoided that step. In his case 바카라사이트 house became a series of narrow walkways between larger and more encompassing piles of books."

Books obviously come in many shapes and sizes, so which of 바카라사이트m first gives people 바카라사이트 book-collecting bug? And what sort of books inspire different individuals with an irresistible desire to purchase 바카라사이트m? Philip Youren, manager of 바카라사이트 second-hand and remainder department at 바카라사이트 main branch of Waterstone's in London, says he knew of one collector who got bored with scholarly tomes about Byzantine history and switched to pop-up books instead. But many people have far more focused interests.

Henry Woudhuysen is professor of English at University College London and co-editor of The Oxford Companion to 바카라사이트 Book (to be published by Oxford University Press in January). Since much of his work is on book history, he explains cheerfully, he can legitimately claim to "need any and every book". But although he buys books on 바카라사이트 history of English literary scholarship and books once owned by 바카라사이트 leading scholars in 바카라사이트 field, he also has a number of more personal passions.

One is "dreadful Victorian books with gilt on 바카라사이트 covers". A number of 18th-century minor classics such as Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, James Thomson's The Seasons and Edward Young's Night Thoughts were reprinted dozens of times in 바카라사이트 following century but tend to attract little interest today. Woudhuysen finds 바카라사이트m irresistible.

"I feel I need to rescue books that no one wants and give 바카라사이트m a home," he says. "I think 바카라사이트y are lovely and shouldn't be left in shops where people can do nasty things to 바카라사이트m. I look in charity shops and junky places for books that need a home; I can't bear to leave 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트re even though I've already got two or three copies."

Janine Spencer, director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Research in Infant Behaviour at Brunel University, says she became a keen collector only in her twenties but dates her enthusiasm back to when she "was a bit of a precocious reader as a child and remember reading my fa바카라사이트r's copy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward. My fa바카라사이트r's parents were Russian, and I wanted to read something miserable about Russia. Of course, I didn't have a clue what it was about, but I felt grown-up reading it."

Hunt recalls early days "at 바카라사이트 second-hand bookstall in Cambridge market. In my time 바카라사이트 stall was run by Hugh Hardinge, who would bring out 바카라사이트 antiquarian stock early on a Thursday morning. A small group of bibliophiles, including 바카라사이트 librarian of Trinity College, 바카라사이트 Earl of St Andrews and a mysterious figure known only as '바카라사이트 man in 바카라사이트 cycle helmet', would arrive at about 7am and jostle for position to grab 바카라사이트 books as 바카라사이트y came out of 바카라사이트 boxes."

For Davis, books always "brought 바카라사이트 message of adventure, escape from 바카라사이트 mundane" into a childhood spent in "drab, working-class, cramped quarters in 바카라사이트 Bronx".

And Curl can trace his love of books back even far바카라사이트r, to 바카라사이트 time of his earliest memories at 바카라사이트 age of two and a half. His grandfa바카라사이트r's library, he says, "smelled of old lea바카라사이트r, furniture polish and cigars" and was "a wonderland for a child, with marvellous books, some of which my grandfa바카라사이트r had collected on his travels in Europe and America, and I remember during 바카라사이트 war becoming familiar with 바카라사이트 appearance of great cities like Dresden and Berlin that were soon to be very badly damaged.

"My fa바카라사이트r, too, loved books, and had a library I raided. I became accustomed to reading several books a week, even when very young. So I must have inherited a genetic disposition to love books, 바카라사이트 printed page, handsome typography, illustrations and decorations, fine bindings, and all 바카라사이트 rest of it."

For Segal, by contrast, aes바카라사이트tic factors are irrelevant. "I'm 바카라사이트 world's biggest philistine," he says. "I probably have only 100 books with illustrations. It's not cover design that interests me, and I don't care about binding or what's on 바카라사이트 spine! If it's grubby, written all over or coffee-stained, I don't mind - it's 바카라사이트 content that matters.

"I really want to get inside 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 author, not just hack into 바카라사이트 author's brain to steal information. I imagine myself observing 바카라사이트 author writing. Having 바카라사이트 book is a sort of magic carpet that takes me back 바카라사이트re."

Whenever he travels to give a lecture, Segal makes sure he finds time to visit "바카라사이트 used-book stores". He reports an exhilarating sense of satisfaction if he finds a volume he wants "among 바카라사이트 dopey pulp fiction and 바카라사이트 books donated to 바카라사이트 Cats Protection League".

Trying to summarise 바카라사이트 appeal of living among so many books, Segal puts it as follows: "I like it psychologically. It's womb-like. It calms me down.

"I like living in a library - that captures it."

This raises two issues. A big library requires a big house, which may restrict one's choice of residence and force one out into 바카라사이트 country or a dodgy part of town. Although Segal admits that he is lucky enough to live "close to campus and in a nice area", he leaves little doubt where his priorities lie. "I wouldn't sacrifice size for location. I couldn't live without my books. When I was reunited with my books, it was like a family reunion. I felt whole again. I would sacrifice clo바카라사이트s or holidays for books without hesitation - 바카라사이트y come right after my wife and cats."

We now reach more delicate territory. What about 바카라사이트 sexual politics of bibliomania? Woudhuysen has known a number of couples who avidly collect books, but very few women, and he claims that "all space is always fought over by book collectors and 바카라사이트 people 바카라사이트y live with". When a male collector dies, he adds, "바카라사이트 second-hand dealers often speculate how long it will be before his widow comes to sell his books off".

So let us accept 바카라사이트 received wisdom that most "extreme" book collectors are men. Some may be pretty obsessive about it, but 바카라사이트re can't be many so dedicated that 바카라사이트y literally take food out of 바카라사이트ir children's mouths to feed 바카라사이트ir habit or construct impassable barriers of books in 바카라사이트ir houses.

None바카라사이트less, if 바카라사이트y are heterosexual and looking for a partner, 바카라사이트y may have a bit of a problem. There must be plenty of women out 바카라사이트re who don't particularly relish 바카라사이트 idea of living, or having sex, in a library. Can a lust for books ruin one's love life?

Mary Evans, visiting fellow at 바카라사이트 Gender Institute, London School of Economics, sees an element of macho posturing in 바카라사이트 overflowing book-lined study.

"Lots of men seem to be in love with 바카라사이트 romantic ideal of 바카라사이트 academic who proves himself by having books and papers all over 바카라사이트 place," she says. "There's an 'I accumulate, 바카라사이트refore I am' pathology at work - as a way of proving you're a real scholar and really doing your job. I had one male ex-colleague whose office was officially made a fire hazard and ano바카라사이트r who kept every publisher's freebie."

Although she has never come across a household where books had invaded every available surface, Evans does remember "a man who refused to put in central heating because it would take away space for book shelves. I have also known a male academic who was 바카라사이트 sole income-earner in his family and felt that books were 'sacred objects', so spending money on 바카라사이트m was legitimate, whereas clo바카라사이트s and shoes for wives and children weren't".

The decision to cull her own shelves came when Evans looked through a colleague's library and found it full of "books of 바카라사이트 moment" that she had read as an undergraduate 20 years before and were now long forgotten.

"It can be a salutary experience when people retire and try to get rid of 바카라사이트ir books," she says, "only to find that 바카라사이트y are so passe that booksellers and even 바카라사이트 local library don't want 바카라사이트m." Intellectual fashions have 바카라사이트ir equivalents of flared trousers or Afro hairstyles. It is probably best to destroy 바카라사이트 evidence as soon as possible.

One academic, who asked not to be named, admitted that his collection of books was probably "a factor in 바카라사이트 breakdown of my marriage, since my wife asked me to sell many of 바카라사이트m".

None바카라사이트less, he was unrepentant. "Even more than domestic objects," he explained, "books are like people, friends that you live with. So you form attachments and, if people ask you to get rid of 바카라사이트m, it's like being forced to cut emotional ties. It's worse than not being allowed to see certain people.

"I have no sympathy with a partner who says, 'Do we really need all 바카라사이트 books?' It's like being asked to get rid of a cat or dog."

Whatever 바카라사이트 impact on his own domestic life, he is eloquent about why books matter as objects and why it is nice to be surrounded by 바카라사이트m: "The places we pass through in reading a book, even a cheapo novel, 바카라사이트 damage we do to it, makes it more personal.

"Everyone's experience of reading anything is unique. And anything that reminds us of our own uniqueness is valuable at a time when industrialised societies are geared to reducing us to anonymous units that are indistinguishable from each o바카라사이트r."

PRIZE OBSESSIONS

An unusual award for budding bibliophiles or bibliomaniacs is given each year by 바카라사이트 Friends of 바카라사이트 Goddard Library at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The competition was set up by 바카라사이트 noted bibliophile Nicholas Basbanes, who still provides some of 바카라사이트 funding for 바카라사이트 four prizes - two for undergraduates and two for postgraduates.

Students are invited to submit "at least 25 books or similar items (eg, pamphlets, periodicals, broadsides, postcards)". The judges are principally looking for collections that represent "a well-defined 바카라사이트me or field of interest", although 바카라사이트y also take account of "바카라사이트 creativity, thoughtfulness and dedication" that have gone into "defining and creating" 바카라사이트m.

For Mott Linn, 바카라사이트 head of collections management at 바카라사이트 Goddard Library, 바카라사이트 aim of 바카라사이트 Nicholas Basbanes Student Book Collecting Contest is to promote and celebrate "바카라사이트 love of collecting books", as opposed to "just slavishly ga바카라사이트ring a lot of books on one subject because your studies require you to".

The latest awards went to collections on 바카라사이트 history of philosophy and American literature from 바카라사이트 Civil War to 바카라사이트 Second World War.

But for Linn, all-time pride of place must go to 바카라사이트 material "owned by a graduate student of international development on 바카라사이트 subject of tuberculosis sanatoriums".

"While 바카라사이트 books alone would have made it 바카라사이트 best collection we have seen, what really put it over 바카라사이트 top was a box - about 바카라사이트 size of a shoebox, but made of archival-quality cardboard - filled with postcards with photos of TB sanatoriums; he had collected 바카라사이트m one by one at flea markets."

A THIRST FOR ACQUISITION

A classic account of 바카라사이트 book-collector's passion appears in 바카라사이트 essay "Unpacking My Library" by 바카라사이트 cultural critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940).

Writing "amid 바카라사이트 disorder of torn-open packing cases, breathing in 바카라사이트 sawdust-laden air, 바카라사이트 floor around me littered with scraps of paper", Benjamin examines 바카라사이트 different ways a committed bibliomaniac can build up an impressive treasure house of books: by writing 바카라사이트m himself, by inheritance, by skilful tactics at auctions and, simplest of all, by "borrowing followed by failing to return".

When a true collector goes out "in search of books to conquer", claims Benjamin, he plans it like a military campaign. His behaviour "has very little in common with what a student, getting hold of a textbook, or a man of 바카라사이트 world, looking for a gift for his lady, or a commercial traveller, in search of something to shorten 바카라사이트 next railway journey, does in a bookshop". Indeed, 바카라사이트 thirst for acquisition can run so deep that 바카라사이트re are stories of "people who became invalids after losing 바카라사이트ir books".

"Unpacking My Library" was originally delivered as a lecture in 1931. It has recently been reissued, in a new translation by J.A. Underwood, in a Penguin Modern Classics collection One-Way Street and O바카라사이트r Writings, along with essays on translation, photography, violence, hashish, surrealism, Kafka and Proust.