http://gloriamundi.blogsome.com/2006/05/22/borges-eco/[/caption]Bibliotaph - Someone who "buries", or hides and hoards, books by keeping them under lock and key. (from: http://wordinfo.info/unit/208)
No this is not another word for archivist. Archivists preserve books and information so they are available for research and future reading. But, it is something that many a busy book lover can be accused of, unless I am the only one that buys books with the intent of reading them and then leave them on my shelves for a rainy day. The story of a true bibliotaph can be read on project Gutenburg. A paragraph of "The Bibliotaph and Other People", by Leon H. Vincent, can be read below, but the full book is completely free and just a click away.
"The most genial lover of books who has walked city streets for many a day was a bibliotaph. He accumulated books for years in the huge garret of a farmhouse standing upon the outskirts of a Westchester County village. A good relative 'mothered' the books for him in his absence. When the collection outgrew the garret it was moved into a big village store. It was the wonder of the place. The country folk flattened their noses against the panes and tried to peer into the gloom beyond the half-drawn shades. The neighboring stores were in comparison miracles of business activity. On one side was a harness-shop; on the other a nondescript establishment at which one might buy anything, from sunbonnets and corsets to canned salmon and fresh eggs. Between these centers of village life stood the silent tomb for books. The stranger within the gates had this curiosity pointed out to him along with the new High School and the Soldiers' Monument."
Next week I will take a break from biblio words to share a "must-watch" Oscar winning animated short.
~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant
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