Bibliomania

Bibliomania can be a symptom of obsessive–compulsive disorder which involves the collecting or even hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged.

Description

One of several unusual behaviors 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. Bibliomania is not a psychological disorder recognized by the DSM-IV.

The term was coined by Dr. John Ferriar, a physician at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Other book-related conditions

Bibliomania is not to be confused with bibliophilia, 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).

People with bibliomania

• Stephen Blumberg, who was convicted of stealing $5.3 million worth of books
• Sir Thomas Phillipps (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 was a 19th century Methodist pastor who, after having stolen and rebound rare books, would assert they were rare "finds" from local booksellers.

Fictional characters

• Don Quixote is perhaps the most famous fictional bibliomaniac. His love of books drives him insane, and serves as the impetus for his subsequent adventures.
• Jerry Fletcher, Mel Gibson's character in the movie Conspiracy Theory, suffers from triggered bibliomania, a form of mind control that does not exist in the real world, which 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)
• Sheska from the anime Fullmetal Alchemist is often seen to be consumed by books. As seen in one episode she at one point even became trapped by a pile of books which had fallen on her.
• Bibliomania is a common trait of papermasters from the manga and anime series Read or Die such as Yomiko Readman.
• Lord Groan from Gormenghast has a gargantuan library. When it is burned to the ground, he becomes slightly demented and eventually kills himself.
• Calvin Tower of Stephen King's Dark Tower series is depicted as a bibliomaniac.
• Peter Kien in Elias Canetti's novel Auto-da-Fé (published in 1935 in German as Die Blendung) is a Chinese scholar obsessed with his book collection.
• April Hoffman, Isla Fisher's character in the movie Definitely, Maybe, has a big collection of Charlotte Brontë's most famous novel Jane Eyre.

Further reading

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

External links

• "Lost The Girl; Got The Book" - Illustration of bibliomania ruining a relationship
• Booknotes interview with Nicholas Basbanes on A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes and the Eternal Passion for Books, October 15, 1995.