Download or read book Phantoms on the Bookshelves written by Jacques Bonnet and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2012-07-05 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A charming book full of erudition and wit” that explores the human impulse to accumulate books (Literary Review). Jacques Bonnet, a lifelong accumulator of books ancient and modern, lives in a house large enough to accommodate his tens of thousands of volumes, as well as some overspill from the libraries of his friends. While his musings on the habits of collectors from the earliest known libraries are learned, amusing, and instructive, his advice on cataloging may even save lives. Ranging from classical Greece to contemporary Iceland, from Balzac to Moby-Dick and Google, Phantoms on the Bookshelves is a blend of memoir, history, and love letter that will be a lasting delight for all who treasure books.