Herein
lies a story English bibliophile Thomas Dibdin himself would be proud of
telling. That it involves his book Bibliomania (1811) would certainly make
him all the more enthusiastic (a quality he never lacked in abundance). A primary character in my story is a mighty
book collector so famous in Dibdin’s lifetime and beyond that he inhabits the
rarified biblio-Pantheon as a legendary figure.
The story also is footnoted with both English and American auction
sales, an early 19th-century American book collector in Savannah,
Georgia, a Grolier Club member, ex- library markings, and Ohio booksellers.
