Bibliomania: A Tale
by Gustave Flaubert 
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Der Buchhändler und Antiquar Giacomo lebt zurückgezogen in einer stillen Gasse in Barcelona. Seine Liebe gilt allein den Büchern. Er berauscht sich am Geruch ihres Papiers, dem Einband, der Vergoldung der Lettern und der Druckerschwärze. Sein Traum: der Aufbau einer eigenen Bibliothek. Bei dem Erwerb bibliophiler Schätze steht ihm allerdings sein Rivale Baptisto im Weg, der Buchhändler vom Königsplatz. Allmählich steigert sich Giacomos Leidenschaft zum verbrecherischen Wahn ...Tags
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KayCliff Both are stories about booklovers frantic to own the only copies of works.
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Gustave Flaubert's first published work, Bibliomanie first appeared in an 1837 edition of the literary perodical Le Colibri. The edition I read is the 1954 Rodale Press version with illustrations by Arthur Wragg. It's the based-on-a-true-story tale of a Barcelona bookseller gone mad over a book ... mad enough to kill, even.
While this reads ilke the juvenilia it is (Flaubert was fourteen when he wrote it), the description of "bibliomania" is enough to get the pulse racing.
While this reads ilke the juvenilia it is (Flaubert was fourteen when he wrote it), the description of "bibliomania" is enough to get the pulse racing.
I'd never heard of this little gem before finding a copy at a used book store. It's based on a real murder, that's described at the beginning, for the sake of a rare book. The real story is perhaps even more powerful than the fictionalized version. It was written when the famous author was only 15. I'm glad I stumbled upon this one.
This small volume from the Rodale Press contains the short story by Flaubert, based upon the true story of a monk who, upon the dispersal of his monastery's library, set himself up as a bookseller in Barcelona. When a rival book dealer outbid him for a unique volume, the rival's home burned down and the man's body was found in the ruins. When the book was found in Don Vincente's home, he was charged with the murder and confessed to it, and others - all people who had bought books from him, books that he could not bear to lose. At his trial for murder, his counsel argued against the alleged motive, contending that the book was not, in fact, unique. This revelation upset DonVincente more than being convicted and sentenced to death! show more
Flaubert's tale does not follow Don Vincente's story exactly. Some of the alterations he introduces create a very different sort of character of his protagonist. Giacomo, the former monk, was not a librarian. Indeed, he can barely read. His obsession is for books as objects: "He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odour, its form, its title". His desire for the unique book is "to have it for himself, to be able to show to all Spain, with a smile of insult and pity for the King, for the princes, for the savants, for Baptisto, and say: 'Mine, this book is mine!' and to hold it in his two hands all his life, to fondle it as he touches it, to take in all its fragrance as he smells it!"
There is a twist at the end of Giacomo's trial that shows how far a man may go to ensure that he and he alone owns a book.
The Rodale Press edition has suitably spooky illustrations by Arthur Wragge. Unfortunately, the translator is not identified. show less
Flaubert's tale does not follow Don Vincente's story exactly. Some of the alterations he introduces create a very different sort of character of his protagonist. Giacomo, the former monk, was not a librarian. Indeed, he can barely read. His obsession is for books as objects: "He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odour, its form, its title". His desire for the unique book is "to have it for himself, to be able to show to all Spain, with a smile of insult and pity for the King, for the princes, for the savants, for Baptisto, and say: 'Mine, this book is mine!' and to hold it in his two hands all his life, to fondle it as he touches it, to take in all its fragrance as he smells it!"
There is a twist at the end of Giacomo's trial that shows how far a man may go to ensure that he and he alone owns a book.
The Rodale Press edition has suitably spooky illustrations by Arthur Wragge. Unfortunately, the translator is not identified. show less
Es evidente que es una historia escrita cuando Flaubert era muy joven. Aunque la premisa es interesante, se nota una pluma inmadura, eso sí, una pluma que ya desde entonces prometía pero a la que todavía le faltaba mucho para llegar hasta un Madame Bovary
Las ilustraciones no son particularmente memorables y de hecho, el libro pudo haberse publicado sin ellas y no perdía nada.
Las ilustraciones no son particularmente memorables y de hecho, el libro pudo haberse publicado sin ellas y no perdía nada.
Flaubert's first published work, all about Giacomo the bookseller who had but one passion - books. This got him into all sorts of major difficulties - deaths, fire - and tangled and impassioned emotions.
This slim volume of only 42 pages contains a fictional story,based on truth. It follows Don Vincente,a Spanish monk who was consumed with Bibliomania to such an extent that he resorted to murder.
This is an early work by Flaubert and of course it shows.However because of it's subject matter it must be of great interest to all who love books.
By the way,it is a really nicely produced volume,with a number of fine illustrations by Arthur Wragg.
This is an early work by Flaubert and of course it shows.However because of it's subject matter it must be of great interest to all who love books.
By the way,it is a really nicely produced volume,with a number of fine illustrations by Arthur Wragg.
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Born in the town of Rouen, in northern France, in 1821, Gustave Flaubert was sent to study law in Paris at the age of 18. After only three years, his career was interrupted and he retired to live with his widowed mother in their family home at Croisset, on the banks of the Seine River. Supported by a private income, he devoted himself to his show more writing. Flaubert traveled with writer Maxime du Camp from November 1849 to April 1851 to North Africa, Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. When he returned he began Madame Bovary, which appeared first in the Revue in 1856 and in book form the next year. The realistic depiction of adultery was condemned as immoral and Flaubert was prosecuted, but escaped conviction. Other major works include Salammbo (1862), Sentimental Education (1869), and The Temptation of Saint Antony (1874). His long novel Bouvard et Pecuchet was unfinished at his death in 1880. After his death, Flaubert's fame and reputation grew steadily, strengthened by the publication of his unfinished novel in 1881 and the many volumes of his correspondence. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Gustave Flaubert has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
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Centellas (39)
Insel-Bücherei (Nr. 2529)
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- Canonical title
- Bibliomania: A Tale
- Original title
- Bibliomania
- People/Characters
- Giacomo; Baptisto
- Important places
- Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- First words
- Once upon a time there lived in a narrow and sunless street on Barcelona, one of those men with a pale face, dull and sunken eye, one of those satanic and bizarre beings such as Hoffmann dug up in his dreams.
- Quotations
- His hands, warm and damp, trembled on touching the wood of the shelves. He took a book, turned over the leaves, felt the paper, examined the gilding, the cover, the letters, the ink, the folds, and the arrangement of drawings... (show all) for the word Finis. Then he changed its place, put it on a higher shelf, and remained for entire hours looking at its title and form.... it was not learning that he loved; it was its expression. He loved a book because it was a book; he loved its odour, its form, its title.
The facsimile of Flaubert's ms which appears on the endpapers is taken from the original in the collection of the late Stefan Zweig, and is reproduced by permission of his heirs. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"I told you truly that it was the only copy in Spain!"
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