What is this?
Biblonia is short for Philobiblonia, which is an expanded form of Philobiblon, the book lover. Bibliophilia. Booklove. Love for the book. Love for what the book does. Preserving, sharing, provoking. Keeping the world going and reinventing it every time. Ancient and modern knowledge. Ways to see, to grasp and to relate to everything else.
The ‘about page’ is the least likely page blog readers generally end up on, so if you’re here, you’re either lost or you’re one of those low numbers in the blogostats, and one of those I will try not to disappoint.
Welcome.
‘Biblonia’ is a pun on one of the earliest and the most remarkable professions of love for books ever made : the treatise known as Philobiblon by master booklover Richard de Bury. Translated, it means something like ‘The book on the love for books’. The most salutary tautology there is. To find out more about this work, click here.
Biblonia is a space for similar professions of love.
What to expect? The focus of Biblonia is book history, reading and writing practices, the transmission of ideas and knowledge in written form. So everything about why and how we read and write/wrote books, since books emerged down to the present day, crossing the ancient, medieval, modern and digital ages.
But not everything you’ll find here is in focus. It’s hard to say what else you’ll find, so have a look.
Who am I? A booklover like you, and one of those who wish they wrote more. In fact, this page has recently been rewritten in response to a commitment to more active blogging. So here I am, a medieval historian and teacher by trade, and an executive education consultant by day, peering over a host of topics, driven by a desire to understand where we are, who we are, convinced that books and their wisdom are a great place to start.
I once made a commitment to blog, if not daily, then at least every other day. I’ve been doing it for over 5 years. Short blogs, asking more questions than offering to answer. In any case, sharing my rants and my riffs with you.
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