Book Description

'Bibliomania; or Book Madness' was first published in 1809 by the Reverend Thomas Frognall Dibdin. Written in the form of fictional dialogues from bibliophiles, it purports to outline a malady called bibliomania. It is formatted as a series of dialogues which together comprised a kind of dramatized mock pathology, lavishly illustrated and, embellished with extensive footnotes on bibliography and the history of book collecting. The "symptoms" exhibited by the various characters in Dibdin's eccentric book, common enough amongst the affluent collectors of his acquaintance, included an obsession with uncut copies, fine paper or vellum pages, unique copies, first editions, black letter books, illustrated copies, association copies, and condemned or suppressed works. Bibliomania's imaginary conversations made a gentle mockery of Dibdin's aristocratic patrons and fellow collectors.