The Enemies of Books

'The Enemies of Books' is a book on biblioclasts and book preservation by the 19th-century bibliophile and book collector William Blades. In the book, the author, a well-known collector and preserver of the works of the English printer William Caxton, documented his outrage at any mistreatment of books in what became a passionate diatribe against biblioclasts, human and non-human, wherever he found them. The book includes chapters on the following enemies of books: fire, water, gas and heat, dust and neglect, ignorance and bigotry, the bookworm, bookbinders, book collectors, other vermin (such as rats or flies), servants, and children. The book ends with a passionate call for reverence for old books, something he felt was lacking during his life.