The accompanying essay by Charles Nodier, 1780–1844, Librarian of the Arsenal in Paris, bibliographer, bibliophile, and a literary leader of the Romantic Movement, originally appeared in French under the title “L’Amateur des Livres,” in _Les Français Peints par Eux-mêmes_, Paris, 1841, Vol. III, pp 201–9. It seemed to me excellent, and so agreeably of its period, that I asked my friend Barbara Sessions to translate it, which she has now done, as far as I know, for the first time. Together we have edited the few parts which seemed slightly pedantic, and have added some notes which will explain the more abstruse literary, or bibliophilic, allusions. Book collectors, M. Nodier to the contrary …
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