""The Enemies of Books"" is a book written by William Blades, first published in 1880. The book is a comprehensive study of the various ways in which books are damaged, destroyed or lost over time. Blades was a renowned bibliographer and printer, and his book is a testament to his passion for preserving the written word.The book covers a wide range of topics related to the preservation of books, including the effects of light, heat, moisture, pests, and human negligence. Blades also discusses the history of bookbinding and ...
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""The Enemies of Books"" is a book written by William Blades, first published in 1880. The book is a comprehensive study of the various ways in which books are damaged, destroyed or lost over time. Blades was a renowned bibliographer and printer, and his book is a testament to his passion for preserving the written word.The book covers a wide range of topics related to the preservation of books, including the effects of light, heat, moisture, pests, and human negligence. Blades also discusses the history of bookbinding and the different materials used in book production over the centuries. He provides practical advice on how to care for books, from proper storage techniques to the use of bookplates and other protective measures.Blades' writing is informative and engaging, and his love for books is evident throughout the book. He laments the loss of valuable books and manuscripts over the years, and he urges readers to take action to preserve the books in their own collections. ""The Enemies of Books"" is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of books and the importance of preserving them for future generations.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
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Prior to reading this book I had not considered the impact of the environment in which books were kept. Growing up in the 20th century I had always taken for granted stable internal home temperatures regardless of the outside weather, protection against insects, and other dangers that the 19th century had not developed defenses we take for granted today. The book is worth reading solely from the perspective of understanding how fragile the repositories of our knowledge have been over the past thousands of years, and the unknown dangers, so called unknown unknowns that the digitization of books book might create.