Bookworm

Quality 0.50 · 0 views · Updated 2 months ago

Lover of books

title: "Bookworm" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bibliophilia", "antiquarian-booksellers", "bibliophiles", "reading-(process)"] description: "Lover of books" topic_path: "general/bibliophilia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookworm" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Lover of books ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Carl_Spitzweg_-_"The_Bookworm".jpg" caption="''The Bookworm'']], 1850, by [[Carl Spitzweg"] ::

A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books.

Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, autographed copies, or illustrated versions. Bibliophilia is distinct from bibliomania, a compulsive obsession to collect books which can affect interpersonal relationships or health. The term "bibliophile" has been in use since 1820 and has been associated with historical figures like Lord Spencer and J.P. Morgan, who were known for their extensive book collections.

Profile

The classic bibliophile loves to read, admires and collects books, and often amasses a large and specialized collection. Bibliophiles usually possess books they love or that hold special value, as well as old editions with unusual bindings, autographed, or illustrated copies. "Bibliophile" is an appropriate term for a minority of those who are book collectors.

History

According to Arthur H. Minters, the "private collecting of books was a fashion indulged in by many Romans, including Cicero and Atticus".{{cite book|title=Collecting Books for Fun and Profit|last=Minters|first=Arthur H.|location=New York|publisher=Arco Publishing Inc.|year=1979|isbn=0-668-04598-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/collectingbooksf0000mint

Lord Spencer and the Marquess of Blandford were noted bibliophiles. "The Roxburghe sale quickly became a foundational myth for the burgeoning secondhand book trade, and remains so to this day"; this sale is memorable due to the competition between "Lord Spencer and the marquis of Blandford [which] drove [the price of a probable first edition of Boccaccio's Decameron up to the astonishing and unprecedented sum of £2,260". J. P. Morgan was also a noted bibliophile. In 1884, he paid $24,750 ($772,130.92, adjusted for inflation for 2021) for a 1459 edition of the Mainz Psalter.

References

Notes

Citations

References

  1. "Is 'bookworm' positive or negative?". [[Merriam Webster]].
  2. "Bookworm". synonyms.
  3. Holzenberg, Eric. "The Bibliophile as Bibliographer". ''The papers of the Bibliographical Society of America''. 104.4 (2010): 421–431.
  4. Carter, John, Nicolas Barker and Simran Thadani. 2016. ''John Carter's ABC for Book Collectors'', p.45. Ninth ed. New Castle Delaware: Oak Knoll Press.
  5. {{Cite Merriam-Webster. bibliophile
  6. {{Cite Merriam-Webster. bookman
  7. Connell, Philip. (2000). "Book Collecting: Cultural Politics, and the Rise of Literary Heritage in Romantic Britain". Representations.
  8. "The Inflation Calculator".
  9. Basbanes, Nicholas. (1995). "[[A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books]]". Henry Holt.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

bibliophiliaantiquarian-booksellersbibliophilesreading-(process)