The wittiest commentary on book-collecting and the care of books ever written, Blades's Enemies of Books enummerates the enemies as: Fire; Water; Gas and Heat; Dust and Neglect; Ignorance and Bigotry; The Bookworm; Other Vermin; Bookbinders; Collectors; Servants and Children. This new and corrected edition adds an article on Librarians as Enemies of Books, an Introduction, a biography of Blades, and many helpful notes. William Blades (1824-1890) was a printer and bibliographer. His Life of Caxton revolutionised our understanding of the first English printer.

Thank you for checking out this book by Theophania Publishing. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you soon. We have thousands of titles available, and we invite you to search for us by name, contact us via our website, or download our most recent catalogues. THERE are many of the forces of Nature which tend to injure Books; but among them all not one has been half so destructive as Fire. It would be tedious to write out a bare list only of the numerous libraries and bibliographical treasures which, in one way or another, have been seized by the Fire-king as his own....

This two-volume work on the life and activities of the printer William Caxton, a vital source for bibliographers, was written by another printer, William Blades, and published in 1861 3. Blades (1824 90), apprenticed into the family firm, developed a great interest in the history of his trade, collecting an extensive library of antiquarian books, and becoming an expert on early typefaces. He brings to his study of Caxton (which follows in the wake of works on incunabula by Ames, Herbert and Dibdin) his own practical experience of the craft of printing, largely unchanged, except for the...

This two-volume work on the life and activities of the printer William Caxton, a vital source for bibliographers, was written by another printer, William Blades, and published in 1861 3. Blades (1824 90), apprenticed into the family firm, developed a great interest in the history of his trade, collecting an extensive library of antiquarian books, and becoming an expert on early typefaces. He brings to his study of Caxton (which follows in the wake of works on incunabula by Ames, Herbert and Dibdin) his own practical experience of the craft of printing, largely unchanged, except for the...

First published in 1881, this popular and entertaining work by the printer and bibliographer William Blades (1824-90) examines the numerous threats that books have faced throughout their existence. Based on the author's experience of collecting printed works, the book explores such destructive forces as fire, water, disgruntled pirates, ignorance, and vermin. Even bookbinders and collectors are accused of causing mischief. In 1886, Blades was cruelly tormented by one of his enemies when his printing works burned down. A founder of the Library Association, he most notably investigated the work...

In November, 1589, the company acting at the Blackfriars Theatre thought it would be advantageous to their interests to send in to the Privy Council a memorial, certifying that they had never given cause of displeasure by introducing upon the stage 'matters of State or Religion'. The actors who signed this memorial styled themselves 'Her Majesty's Poor Players', and among them appears the name of William Shakspere. We here meet the Poet's name for the first time after he had left his home at Stratford-on-Avon, about four years previously.