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The Scorn of
the Bibliophile
by Jim Makovec (Idaho Jim)
I am a Bookman. I am a Bibliophile. I love books, I cherish them, I
collect them and I worship them. I am in constant search for the perfect
book. The soft supple leather, the artisans design of the cover, the
choice of the printers font, the texture, the color, the feel and the
smell of the paper and its relationship of the illuminations. Finally,
the writers flow of words and the interest and imaginations past to me
through his stories. This is a little of what a true Bibliophile goes
through in his choosing of fine books.
I read Bookman's books of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. I
read William Dana Orcutt, A.S.W. Rosenbach, A. Edward Newton, Douglas C.
McMurtie, Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt and of-course George Talbot Goodspeed. These
authors give me insight as to what the Book is and how to respect it. The
Perfect book is illusive. It is there but I have never found it. I've
come close with the authors above but I am still looking. William Dana
Orcutt in his book "The Magic of the Book" Little, Brown and
Company, 1930, concerning his quest for perfection, writes in his
introduction:
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I was amused to find that with the
publication of my books some of my reviewers and a few correspondents
seemed seriously to think that I believed the Quest to be ended.
Imagine the tragedy of so alluring an adventure becoming an
accomplished fact - even granting that it were possible! Where is the
Perfect Book to be found? In the words of the author or in the heart of
the reader? In the design of a type or in the skill of the typographer
or the binder? In the charm of the paper or in the beauty of the
illumination or illustration? It must, of course, be in the harmonious
combination of all of these, but the words of the author which find a
place in one reader's heart fail to interest another; the design of a
type that is appropriate to one book is not equally expressive in all.
The word perfection has no place in our language except as an
incentive. To search for it is an absorbing adventure, for it quickens
our senses to perceive much that would otherwise be lost. If perfection
could become commonplace, the Quest would end, -- and God pity the
world! Until then each of us will define the Perfect Book in his own
words, each of us will seek it in his own way.
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In the quoted paragraphs above lies the scorn of the Bibliophile and a
veiled explanation of his addiction. There is in fact no such thing as
the Perfect Book. However, this is the key! This is the key to the Bibliophiles
addiction. In our minds the Book is there. Along the way at some point in
time we have tasted and felt the emotion given us by the hunt. From that
point we are as hooked as the devil in the Opium Den. There is no relief,
so to feed our emotion we continue the constant hunt. We read, collect we
touch and we smell all of the wonderful books in our collection never to
reach a gratification. We always want the one more tome with the magic
quality we have not yet discovered. Mr. Orcutt also touches this subject
further on in his Introduction. He writes:
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A writer may be born who combines the
wisdom of Solomon the power of analysis of Henry James the
understanding of Plato the Philosophy of Emerson and the style of
Montaigne. This manuscript may be transformed into a book by a printer
who can look beyond his cases of type and interpret what Aldus and
Jenson and Etienne and Plantin saw with the artistic temperament of
William Morris and the restraint of Emery Walker. There may be a
binding that represents the apotheosis of Italian French and English
elegance. A reader may be developed through the evolution of the ages
competent to appreciate the contents and the physical format of such a
volume "for what we really seek is a comparison of experiences."
But until then let the Quest go on!
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So you see what we seek is a concept. An ideal that is always just
above and beyond our reach. As we come close with another beautiful
addition to our collection our dopamine churns in our middle brain and we
sit in our Library in a state of euphoria literally hugging the tome we
have purchased. As we digest it, touch it, smell it and fondle it the dopamine
slows and at some point we shelve the wonderful book and begin our search
anew knowing for a fact that the next book we find may be that truly
Perfect Book. Our life goes on and we are happy for the euphoric
situations in which we find ourselves. Every book is a joy and every book
inserts into us a small portion of that euphoria. It can be the children’s
nursery rhyme or it could be seeing the original Guttenberg Bible for the
first time. Each state has it's own level, but the feeling is there
regardless of it's extent. We are beyond cure and beyond help. The fact
is we don't want cure and we don't want help. Our love for the book has
evolved and it is all encompassing. Whether you are at the beginning of
your book career or are a well aged Bookman, you know within you what
that feeling is. Rest assured though, as a Bibliophile you are not alone.
We are at all levels and at least one in a thousand of us have the
ability to actually find that book. I know I will eventually find mine.
Maybe my next purchase or just maybe it will be that Bible that the
Priest uses at my funeral but I know in my heart that it is out there
-somewhere - and I know I will surely find it.
James H. Makovec (idaho jim)
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