Bibliophiles, Murderous Bookmen, and Mad Librarians: The Story of Books in Modern Spain

“A work of exceptional quality, and one that deserves a great deal of attention from those who labor in the vineyard of book culture… [Ellis’s] erudition greatly transcends any geographical or chronological boundaries of time and space and represents a singular interpretation of the human fondness for the book and what it represents to the daily lives of its readers and collectors.” Edward A. Goedeken, Iowa State University, Publishing Research Quarterly

"Bibliophiles, Murderous Bookmen, and Mad Librarians is an exceptionally well-researched book on a fascinating and highly original topic. Beautifully written in a fluid and easy style, it engaged me from beginning to end, and I learned a great deal from it. I particularly enjoyed the many gripping stories about real and fictional bibliophiles; they are well told, and make for a most enjoyable read."

Roberta L. Johnson, Professor Emerita of Spanish, University of Kansas

"The tale of a murderous book collector in Barcelona provides the distinguished scholar Robert Richmond Ellis with a central motif for exploring our modern passion for books, which are figured variously as bodies, cadavers, ghosts, works of art, artefacts, memories, identities, signs of modernity, objects of consumption or exchange, and political actors. At the same time, Ellis demonstrates how book-related pursuits – conserving, hoarding, collecting, reading, burning, hiding, erasing, coveting, removing from circulation, stealing, sharing, fashioning, and bequeathing – have historically been classified and valued as erotic urges, pathologies, crimes, sins, and even acts of nationalism, communion, or love. Finally, he takes us to the public, private, and virtual places where these activities have transpired, concluding this tour de force on bibliomania with a moving reflection on his own personal library."

Jill Robbins, Professor Emerita of Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies, University of California, Merced