06/10/2026
Apparently, buying WAY more books than you could possibly read isn't a modern problem. Readers were doing it 200 YEARS AGO!!!
And they actually had a name for it: BIBLIOMANIA.
Around the beginning of the 19th century, wealthy book collectors across Europe were becoming increasingly obsessed with acquiring rare books, early editions, and unusual copies.
Then, in 1809, English bibliographer Thomas Frognall Dibdin published an entire book called "Bibliomania; or Book Madness."
He presented obsessive book collecting almost like a disease—with different “symptoms” and even discussions of a possible "cure."
Now, to be clear: Bibliomania wasn't an officially recognized medical illness. Dibdin was being humorous and satirical. But the collecting craze behind the joke was VERY real.
And some of the supposed symptoms will sound suspiciously familiar.
Collectors became obsessed with things like first editions, unique copies, books printed on vellum, and sometimes simply possessing beautiful or rare books rather than actually… you know… READING THEM.
The craze became so intense that aristocratic collectors spent enormous amounts competing for rare books at auction.
Cambridge University Press says British bibliomania peaked around 1812, when a famously rare 1471 edition of Boccaccio's Decameron came up for auction.
But here's my favorite part.
In 1832, Dibdin published another little work.
This one was called: "Bibliophobia."
Instead of worrying that everyone loved books TOO much… the narrator traveled around lamenting that the great book-collecting craze had disappeared.
So readers, be honest: do you actually READ most of the books you buy—or are you showing symptoms of BIBLIOMANIA?