JANIN, Jules. L’Amour des Livres.

(Paris): J. Miard, 1866. First edition. Hardcover. 17 by 11.1cm. 61 pages. One of the classic nineteenth-century celebrations of bibliomania and among the most sought-after French books on the passion for collecting. Written by the novelist, critic, and celebrated bibliophile Jules Janin, the work is less a bibliographical treatise than a literary meditation on the emotional, intellectual, and often irrational attachment between collector and book. Janin explores the pleasures of the library, the pursuit of rare editions, the psychology of the bibliophile, and the peculiar forms of obsession that accompany the life of books. Published in a very small edition of only 204 copies, L’Amour des Livres rapidly acquired an almost legendary status amongst French collectors. Janin himself described the volume as the work of “a bibliomaniac, for the use of a few madmen of his own species,” a characterization that perfectly captures the mixture of humour, erudition, self-awareness, and devotion that runs throughout the text. The book occupies an important position in the literature of bibliophily, appearing during the great age of French book collecting and at a moment when the cult of the rare book was becoming inseparable from the formation of major private libraries. Its influence extended well beyond its modest size, helping to shape the romantic image of the collector that continued to dominate bibliophile culture into the twentieth century. Carteret famously referred to it as “La Bible du bibliophile.” A very good copy in contemporary half leather over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt decoration, title and date at spine. Marbled endpapers. Published in an edition of 204 copies, this being number 187 of 200 copies on papier vergé intialled by the publisher.