Andrew Lang’s Books and Bookmen is a humorous collection of literary essays exploring the passions, eccentricities, histories, and legends associated with antiquarian books and their collectors. Beginning with the enthusiasm surrounding the small and elegant Elzevir editions, Lang moves through such varied subjects as curious parish records, Japanese books of supernatural beings, ghosts in libraries, literary forgeries, French bibliomania, and women book lovers. He portrays the search for rare volumes as both a delightful form of hunting and an obsession capable of overcoming reason, while considering not only scarcity and physical beauty but also the history and stories preserved within books. Through historical examples, literary anecdotes, and playful criticism, the collection warmly captures the pleasure, vanity, disappointment, and longing that shape the world of bibliophiles.
