Thursday, June 22, 2017

10 Famous Book Hoarders

10 Famous Book Hoarders  

Hat tip to Steve Stilwell.

11 comments:

Rick Robinson said...

These are no "hoarders". The books are beautifully shelved, not in random piles everywhere and preventing movement about the rooms. There is no trash evident, just organized books which can be accessed as wanted. The term hoarding is entirely wrong in this context.

Unknown said...

I agree, Rick.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Ditto.

OK, first, I am so jealous. I want the Lucas or Walker library and I want them now! I'd stock them myself, of course.

1. Karl Lagerfeld is very weird, but after reading this I won't say it again.
2. Jefferson did NOT sell his second library to pay debts in 1829. He died in 1826, on July 4, the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As did John Adams. We've been to Monticello and seen his books, and I have a T-shirt with that "I cannot live without books" quote on it.
3. If Lucas's library is open to Hitchcock, DeMille, Cary Grant, Edith Head, why not Jefferson? They're as dead as he is.

Don Coffin said...

Bill Crider inadvertently omitted?

We're down to around 3000 books these days and we're getting ready to shed some of those--we donate to a literacy program in Indianapolis that runs a used bookstore--donated space, donated books, volunteer workers--to finance its programs. When I retired, we gave them around 1500 books, which we have more than replaced over the past 5 years.

Our books are neither as well organized nor as elegantly shelved as most of the libraries pictured.

Deb said...

Article is useless without inclusion of Bill, George, and probably several other people who congregate here regularly. As for Lagerfeld (who is a deeply unpleasant man--and all the books in the world won't change my opinion on that) and a couple of the others on the list, I sense their desire to own books does not spring from a desire to read said books but to possess books as objects. Oh well, as Schopenhauer said, "We but books in the hope that we will live long enough to read them."

Jeff Meyerson said...

Deb, I have read stories of Michael Jackson getting into bookstores when they were closed to wander around (much like at Disneyland!) and browse. I do believe he read.

An aside: I'm reading the collection of NY Times Book Review pieces, BY THE BOOK, where they ask authors what they read, how and where they read, what they read as a child, etc. One question that seems to be getting very different type answers since the (ahem) change of administration is, "If you could require the President to read one book, what would it be?"

Mary Higgins Clark said, "The COnstitution, with emphasis on the First Amendment."

Howard said...

How many books does Bill Crider have?

Unknown said...

Not enough.

Deb said...

In a different context but with the same attitude, Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda was once asked how many runs ahead of the opposing team he needed the Dodgers to have to feel comfortable. "How ever many runs ahead we are," he replied, "we still need one more." In the world of baseball and books, there's never enough.

George said...

Diane would add my name to this list.

Lawrence Person said...

So I have more books than Thomas Jefferson, but less than Michael Jackson...