Bibliophilic: Jamie Marriage

Jamie Says:

Bibliophilic:worth my weight in books

Disposable income can be a dangerous thing for an avid reader; not only are you able to cease reliance on libraries for your literary fix, but you are at risk of becoming … a bibliophile.

While the world is languishing under the iron fist of the E-book, a resistance has built up around strange icons made of paper and ink. I speak, of course, of books: tangible, solid, heavy (and, occasionally, expensive) tomes of knowledge and imagination.

I won’t go as far as to lay down a history of written text – around 5,000 years ago with clay tablets, or the use of papyrus as a writing medium (it’s from this that we gain the Greek word biblios or biblio for book) – but instead focus on the modern word and the medium and love of these volumes of text. As a species we have a habit of hoarding items of interest – as a dragon does with her pile of gold, so is the bibliophile with their books. And I am unashamed to admit my own hoard is of great importance to my life.

Love of the common book is a hard thing to explain; some are attracted to the smell of dusty pages, or the feel of well-bound pages, or just out of a magpie-like desire to collect. Whatever the reason, there is beauty and wonder to be found in the written word.

Bibliophilia can take many forms, although to the uninitiated these may all be equally strange. A classic bibliophile is a person who delights in the collection of rare or specialised texts. First editions, autographed copies and misprints are all delights of a traditional bibliophile’s collection.

In modern times, the bibliophile has become an almost socially acceptable role, with many

literate people collecting multi-part epics, the popular series at the time, and the mundane book club recommendations. Piles of mass-market paperbacks stacked high on bedside tables, bookshelves filled with overcooked modern fantasy, and randomly arranged volumes of the latest big thing have become status symbols just like the cups from trendy multinational coffee houses.

For the true bibliophiles, there is always a place for the majesty of real literature. Books that start genres take pride of place beside the signed first edition trilogy of a favourite author. Classics that have the market price of a small house are regularly traded among those who have money to burn.

But, as our primeval ancestors knew, the true joy is in the hunt. Second hand bookstores are grazing grounds for forgotten tomes. Booksellers who don’t realise the value of what they hold are often oblivious to the treasures that await the specialist shopper.

This is a love that no manner of assault by the lovers of electronic books will be able to quell. A book requires no battery, has no screen that can shatter, or moving parts to cease functioning. It can be read when all power as stopped flowing or while you’re stranded at sea or on a deserted island. They can be enjoyed in a group or on their own and they will make you a better person for involving them in your life.

I am a bibliophile. I love books.