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Patience & Fortitude
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Patience & Fortitude (2001) (edit title/settings)

Wherein a Colorful Cast of Determined Book Collectors, Dealers, and Librarians Go About the Quixotic Task of Preserving a Legacy

by Nicholas A. Basbanes (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

In his national bestseller, A Gentle Madness , Nicholas Basbanes explored the sweet obsession people feel to possess books.Now, Basbanes continues his adventures among the "gently mad" on an irresistible journey to the great libraries of the past -- from Alexandria to Glastonbury -- and to... read more

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In 1995 Nicholas Basbanes introduced a resonant phrase to describe the obsessive passion people have had over the past twenty-five hundred years to possess books, a condition more commonly known as bibliomania, one he christened in his book A Gentle Madness. Reviewing the work in the... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

In 1995 Nicholas Basbanes introduced a resonant phrase to describe the obsessive passion people have had over the past twenty-five hundred years to possess books, a condition more commonly known as bibliomania, one he christened in his book A Gentle Madness. Reviewing the work in the Washington Post, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Michael Dirda judged it to be a gallery of wonderful characters, "each more appealing than the last."

Now, in Patience & Fortitude, Basbanes continues his discursive adventures among the gently mad, expanding his focus to probe the more comprehensive concept of book culture. Visiting many key "book places" around the world, he talks with a striking variety of kindred spirits, each one a living testament to the unending relevance of these essential artifacts in our lives.

Drawing its title from the unofficial names of the marble lions that guard the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Patience & Fortitude explores the changing form of the book over the centuries and describes the nature of the institutions that have evolved to contain them, including academic, public, private, and national repositories.

Using the same narrative technique that made A Gentle Madness a national bestseller, Basbanes employs a lively balance of scholarly research with investigative journalism to document many pertinent book stories that have not been told before, and offers unprecedented depth to others that have barely scratched the surface. Picking up seamlessly where its predecessor left off, Patience & Fortitude profiles the experiences and thoughts of all kinds of dedicated "book people," be they librarians, readers, writers, bookmakers, booksellers, preservationists, or collectors.

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First Sentence edit see section history

While probing the murky bottom of Alexandria's Eastern Harbor for fragments of Queen Cleopatra's sunken palace, French divers came across an ancient stele that had been shielded from the sunlight for sixteen centuries.

Table of Contents edit see section history

I. PART ONE: OVERTURE
1. Eternal Life
2. Godspeed

II. PART TWO: BOOK PEOPLE
3. Madness Redux
4. Splendid Anachronisms
5. Profiles in Bibliophagia
6. Hunters and Gatherers
7. Many Years

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Nicholas A. Basbanes (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: HarperCollins
Country: United States
Publication Date: 2001
ISBN: 0060196955
Page Count: 636

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: Z4 .B395 2001
  • Dewey: 028

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