Deirdre Lynch, "Wedded to Books" from Loving Literature: A Cultural History

Deirdre Lynch, "Wedded to Books" from Loving Literature: A Cultural History

Quick summary: This chapter from Loving Literature: A Cultural History, like the other texts that we read this week, focuses around the two conflicting ideas of the "man of letters," a true lover of literature, and those "deviants" who collect books without reading them. This chapter in particular discusses the book collectors in contrast with some early 19th Century men of letters, including our friend Leigh Hunt. Lynch argues that this group in particular is interesting because while they critique the aristocratic book collectors, they do so as a mode of deflecting the similarities between them and the objects of their criticism. Lynch then traces the ties between this bibliomania and the "romantic-period consolidation of literature as a love-object" (39). At the end of the chapter, she begins to consider the homemade manuscript anthologies and commonplace books that were popular among literate women of the time, which allowed many women access to the same enjoyments that the bibliomania said had access to.

Comments:
I particularly enjoyed the comment attributed to Seneca about how "book owning carried beyond the bounds of moderation--owning more books than you can read" is represented as the "last infirmity of the noble mind" (42). I'm sure I'm not alone in identifying myself in this problem and in feeling rather defensive, as I think the essayists she discusses would be at this assertion. Like Hunt and his fellows who greatly value old books and the classics, I enjoy the great books. I was discussing this article with Cole Jeffrey, who told me a story about how De Quincey feared libraries because they reminded him that he would die before he had time to finish all the reading he wanted to do. I'm not sure if that story is apocryphal or not, but I think that if we are discussing the relationship between the lover of literature and the collector of books, it is an interesting consideration in our conversation all the same.

I am interested in discussing the role of book collecting/book love in the formation of national identity. Lynch touched on this and I am thinking it would be interesting to discuss this in connection with earlier conversations about national identity from the class as a whole.

Another concept that I think we should talk about (and assume that we will) is the idea of the book as a love object and book collecting as an amorous activity. Obviously, this connects with previous conversations in our class. I was particularly interested in Lynch's (and Hunt's) observations on "book kissing" (51). For me, I find this interesting because just before this part of the essay, she talks about how book collecting is also a "prop to an ideological ruse" (50). In the Liturgy (I believe both Orthodox and Roman liturgies do this), the priest kisses the Gospel before the reading of the Gospel during the "Alleluia." I'm wondering if in some way this is connected.

Discombobulated thoughts: 
I think that her section about Hunt was helpful in putting our other readings into context.

I want to talk about this: "The essayists' canon-making and canon-loving enterprises were enriched and complicated in several ways by their engagements with the stuff of the bibliomania" (54).

Lynch refers to a section of "The Street Companion" where the character has so many shoes that he cannot find them when he wants them. "Such were the embarrassment of riches" (60). She compares this to the collections of books. But, if these collectors are like our past collectors, wouldn't they have a system allowing them to keep track of everything?