Basbanes, Nicholas A., A GENTLE MADNESS BIBLIOPHILES, BIBLIOMANES, AND THE ETERNAL PASSION FOR BOOKS, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995. Inscribed by author, 1^st/1^st , OE black cloth / brown paper hardcover w/gilt titling to spine, 8vo (9 x 6.125”), As New / As New, 638 pp.

A Gentle Madness is an adventure among the afflicted. Richly anecdotal and fully documented, it combines the perspective of historical research with the immediacy of investigative journalism. Above all, it is a celebration of books and the people who have revered, gathered, and preserved them over the centuries. – (dust jacket)  Read the book that has launched hundreds if not thousands of book collectors and book sellers into their current madness.