Books

Since booklovers think of little besides books, it is not unnatural that a number of them have written books on the subject of books and libraries. Some are like this site -- coffee-table collections of beautiful photographs of impressive home libraries and publically-owned libraries around the world. Others offer advice concerning how to care for library collections. Still other are musings on the nature of books and libraries. Here are a few of my favorites:

Coffee-Table Art Books about Libraries:

At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries, Estelle Ellis, Caroline Seebohm, Christopher Simon Sykes, 256 pages, Clarkson Potter, 1995.

Living With Books, Dominique Dupuich and Roland Beaufre, 192 pages, Thames and Hudson, 2010.

The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World, Jacques Bosser, 248 pages, Harry N. Abrams, 2003.

Libraries, Candida Höfer, 272 pages, Schirmer/Mosel, 2006.

Decorating with Books (House Beautiful), Marie Proeller Hueston, 144 pages, Hearst 2006.

Living with Books, Alan Powers, 144 pages, Sterling, 2006.

Books Do Furnish a Room, Leslie Geddes-Brown, 160 pages, Merrell, 2009.

 

Other Books about Libraries and Books:

The Library at Night, Alberto Manguel, 400 pages, Yale University Press, 2009.

Library: An Unquiet History, Matthew Battles, 256 pages, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.

The Library: An Illustrated History, Stuart A. P. Murray, 320 pages, Skyhorse Publishing, 2009.

A Splendor of Letters / A Gentle Madness / Patience and Fortitude, Nicholas Basbanes, Harper Perennial, 1995/2001/2003.

A Passion for Books : A Book Lover's Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Love and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for, and Appreciating Books, Harold Rabinowitz, 384 pages, Three Rivers Press, 2001.

The Book on the Bookshelf, Henry Petroski, 290 pages, Alfred A. Knopf, 1999.