A bibliotaph, as Leon H. Vincent explains, is a hoarder of books — one who buries them away and resolutely keeps them from general circulation, the natural enemy of the lending library and a figure recognisable to anyone who has visited a certain kind of private library. Vincent’s The Bibliotaph, and Other People (1898) is a witty, affectionate essay collection for book lovers, examining the various species of bibliophile with gentle and accurate irony.
Ideal reading for anyone who has recently run out of shelf space and regards this as a personal crisis rather than a practical problem. Download this free EPUB and meet the bibliotaph — you may recognise the portrait rather too well.