The Love of Books: The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury

The text is a personal and practical plea for books and libraries by a medieval bibliophile, mixing memoir, argument, and prescriptive rules. The author celebrates the spiritual and intellectual value of books, recounts his efforts to collect and distribute them, condemns theft and neglect, and offers guidance on acquiring, cataloguing, preserving, lending, and bequeathing volumes. Interspersed with scholarly anecdotes and moral reflections, it proposes organisational regulations for a collegiate library and argues for public support and reverent care of books as treasures that nourish learning and piety.