Project Gutenberg 1998-05-01 Public domain in the USA. 172 Blades, William 1824 1890 The Enemies of Books Fire -- Water -- Gas and heat -- Dust and neglect -- Ignorance -- The bookworm -- Other vermin -- Bookbinders -- Collectors -- Conclusion: Reverence for old books Produced by Charles Keller, and David Widger "The Enemies of Books" by William Blades is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The book addresses the various threats that books face over time, including physical destruction by fire, water, neglect, and even human ignorance and bigotry. The author meticulously documents notable instances of library destruction and the carelessness that has harmed invaluable texts throughout history. The beginning of "The Enemies of Books" outlines the devastating impact of fire on libraries and manuscripts, citing examples from various historical periods, such as the burning of the Alexandria library and incidents during the Great Fire of London. Blades argues that such losses to humanity's literary treasures are incalculable. He illustrates how these calamities have not only affected written works but also shaped our understanding of cultural heritage. As he details notable events of destruction by fire, the text sets the foundation for a larger discussion on the preservation and vulnerability of books, highlighting the importance of safeguarding literary artifacts for posterity. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Books -- Conservation and restoration Book-worms Z Text Bibliomania Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Encyclopedias/Dictionaries/Reference 188227 188236 2024-09-01T09:13:37.832953 2023-10-01T08:28:35.469680 text/html text/html 184589 2013-01-31T09:39:26 text/html; charset=us-ascii 68722 2013-01-31T09:39:26 text/html; charset=us-ascii application/zip 117046 2024-09-01T09:13:42.677929 application/epub+zip 119710 2024-09-01T09:13:39.206958 application/epub+zip 119710 2024-09-01T09:13:38.337966 application/epub+zip 234691 2024-09-01T09:13:45.216946 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 223786 2024-09-01T09:13:42.097934 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 223800 2022-09-01T10:24:14.283768 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 164262 164235 2024-09-01T09:13:37.458945 2023-10-01T08:28:35.168688 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 164113 2008-08-26T12:33:36 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 66259 2008-08-26T12:34:20 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 18618 2024-09-01T09:13:45.366910 application/rdf+xml 12625 2024-09-01T09:13:38.715940 image/jpeg 3294 2024-09-01T09:13:38.518963 image/jpeg 116856 2024-09-01T09:13:37.850969 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia