Member Steven_VI

About My Library

My library is too large for my appartment and is spread out over various rooms. Books are sometimes put in double lines on the shelves. Boxes and piles are everywhere. I really need to move to a bigger place with a proper library room. Or maybe to a library with living quarters.

I acquire books mostly on a 'it's-so-cheap!'-basis, meaning I have a lot of second-hand books, ex-library copies, old books, and a lot of softcover pocket books.

As to the contents, it's rather varied. A lot of it is literature, mostly classic novels. There's a lot on history in general and history of the book. I have some art books with fancy pictures, and a few bibliophile / private press editions. There's some poetry. There' are some trashy novels too. Most of my books are in Dutch but there are a lot in English too, some in French and German, one or two in Latin.

About Me

I'm a history and literature buff, so most of my reading is in that direction. I mostly read (older) classics, though I also like some modern novelists. To me books reflect (an aspect of) society: this is very obvious in one of my all-time favourites, War and Peace, but also in the wonderful Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (a true heir to Jonathan Swift).

I graduated as a historian (middle ages) and followed up with a master in Library and Information Science. I now work in the historical City Library of Antwerp (Belgium) where I am responsible for the old books, books that were printed before 1830. For a booklover, it is the best job in the world. I am also a book historian, publishing academic articles now and then about the history of the book in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Location

Antwerp, Belgium

Also On

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Currently Reading

Correspondance générale, I : 1803 - 1832 by Hector Berlioz

De langverwachte by Abdelkader Benali

Selected Works of Virginia Woolf by Virginia Woolf

Boekenwijsheid. Drie eeuwen kennis en cultuur in 30 bijzondere boeken by Jan Bos

Galileo's Instruments of Credit: Telescopes, Images, Secrecy by Mario Biagioli

Favorite Authors

Paul Auster, Hector Berlioz, Albert Camus, Louis Couperus, Gerrit Komrij, Terry Pratchett, William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy

Local Favorites

Bookstores: De Groene Waterman

Libraries: Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience, Koninklijke Bibliotheek - National Library of the Netherlands, Plantin-Moretus Museum Main Library

Member Connections

Friends

damngoodsoffie, gentcat, itoccurredtome, libraryhermit, LostMuse, nathaliehontele, Prop2gether, Saskia

Interesting Library

Allama, annamorphic, BartGr., boekenwijs, Brnoot, brver, Caroline_80, damngoodsoffie, Delezer, Dorien, eleanor_eader, erikad, existentialbum, Goldfynch, Himmelkoemov, janter, JBD1, kaelirenee, Katya0133, Kimbooktu, kjellika, krstoller, librarianbyday, librarygeek, LonelyLibrarian, lozwen, marietherese, pingdjip, Prop2gether, rarelibrarian, s.e.c., Sandydog1, Sansmot, sharporg, SusieBookworm, TessaSlingerland, Thalia, thefxc, thepuck, uhibb-l-kutub, vassilissa, zerkalo.