Bibliomania

Bibliomania is an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving the collecting or hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged. One of several psychological disorders associated with books, bibliomania is characterized by the collecting of books which have no use to the collector nor any great intrinsic value to a genuine book collector. The purchase of multiple copies of the same book and edition and the accumulation of books beyond possible capacity of use or enjoyment are frequent symptoms of bibliomania.

The term was coined by Dr. John Ferriar, who practiced as a doctor at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.^[1]

Bibliomania is not to be confused with bibliophily, which is the usual love of books and is not considered a clinical psychological disorder.

Other abnormal behaviours involving books include book-eating (bibliophagy), compulsive book-stealing (bibliokleptomania), and book-burying (bibliotaphy).

[edit] Examples

[edit] People with bibliomania

• Stephen Blumberg, who was convicted of stealing over $20 million worth of books
• Thomas Phillipps^[2] (1792-1872) suffered from severe bibliomania. His collection, which at his death contained over 160,000 books and manuscripts, was still being auctioned off over 100 years after his death.
• Rev. W.F. Whitcher^[3] 18th century Methodist pastor who after having stolen and rebound rare books, would assert they were rare "finds" from local booksellers.

[edit] Fictional characters with bibliomania

• Mel Gibson's character in the movie Conspiracy Theory suffers from triggered bibliomania, a form of mind-control that prompts him to buy a copy of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye every time he goes outside his apartment. (cf. MK-ULTRA papers, National Security Archives.)
• Yomiko Readman from the Read or Die anime series is so obsessed with books that she will spend every dime she earns on books and will risk her own life to save a book from being destroyed. The ecstasy that Yomiko feels from reading a book borderlines on orgasmic.

[edit] Further reading

• Jackson, Holbrook (2001). The Anatomy of Bibliomania. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252070437. 
• Dibdin, Thomas Frognall (1811). Bibliomania: Or Book Madness. 
• Basbanes, Nicholas A. (1995). A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books. Henry Holt and Company, Inc.. 

[edit] Notes

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