A collection of stories includes the novel-length title piece in which a post-menopausal university librarian is pressed into reluctant duty as a sex cop and patrols the aisles to prevent illicit student couplings.

Proceedings of a conference held at the Centre for the Book, Cape Town, 11-14 May, 2005.

First English language edition. "Books, Friends, and Bibliophilia" is a unique autobiographical by a very interesting Dutch antiquarian bookseller. The book is also a well-written look behind the scenes of Europe's antiquarian book trade from 1950 to the present. With a story rich in anedotes and colorful characters, Anton Gertis introduces us to many of the giants of the trade such as H.P. Kraus, Maurice L. Ettinghausen, and Menno Hertzberger with both modesty and wit. He weaves within his work the stories behind the building of important private libraries and the Special Collections department in the institutional libraries of Western Europe and behind the Iron Curtain.Anton Gertis is past President of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. He is also the author of over a dozen books; however, this memoir is an excellent overview of his long and fascinating career and will be of interest to collectors and bibliophiles the world over.

The word "bibliophilia" indicates a love of books, both as texts to be read and objects to be cherished for their physical qualities. Throughout the history of Iberian print culture, bibliophiles have attempted to explain the psychological experiences of reading and collecting books, as well as the social and economic conditions of book production. Bibliophiles, Murderous Bookmen, and Mad Librarians analyses Spanish bibliophiles who catalogue, organize, and archive books, as well as the publishers, artists, and writers who create them. Robert Richmond Ellis examines how books are represented in modern Spanish writing and how Spanish bibliophiles reflect on the role of books in their lives and in the histories and cultures of modern Spain. Through the combined approaches of literary studies, book history, and the book arts, Ellis argues that two strains of Spanish bibliophilia coalesce in the modern period: one that envisions books as a means of achieving personal fulfilment, and another that engages with politics and uses books to affirm linguistic, cultural, and regional and national identities.