Download or read book The Book Collector (Classic Reprint) written by Charles Nodier and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2018-01-24 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Book Collector Should like to warn you, from the outset, that this I essay will be as lively as a speech by Mathurin Cordier1 or a chapter of Despautere!2 God, Nature, and the Academy have enclosed my imagination within these narrow bound aries, which it is no longer able to overstep. At least you can always refrain from reading me, and in that are more fortunate than I who, following the dictates of a too exigent publisher, have no choice but to write. The draw ings were made, the plates were ready; and the only thing needed to complete the issue was a long and unprofitable text. Well, then here 1t is! But you will be disappointed if you expect to find in it one of those clever portraits to which your favorite authors have accustomed you. If what you are seeking is an original and telling sketch of the bouquz'm'ste, the second-hand-book addict, then you need go no further. Pause here, and, following the modest advice of certain almanacs: See illustration on opposite page. The collector of books is a type which we would do well to define, since everything points to his disappearance in the very near future. The printed book has existed at the most for some four hundred years, yet books are already accumulating in some countries in a manner that threatens the very equilibrium of the globe. Civilization has reached the most unexpected of its ages, the age of paper. Now that everyone writes books, no one Shows any particular eager ness to buy them. Besides, our young authors are well onthe way to building up whole libraries for themselves out of their own works. They need only be left to their own devices. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.