really enjoy the brief history given of each Library. Needed many more pictures ( )

There are some wonderful photos in this book that capture the joy of great libraries. Those of the John Rylands Library, Manchester are magnificent and capture the spirit and the essence of the place, John Rylands looking down the nave at his wife and widow Enriqueta Augustina.

Wow! They aren't kidding! These are some beautiful libraries! The cover photograph of the Great Hall of the Library Congress has provided me with something in the way of inspiration, and I sense a new tourist destination for yours truly, the next time I find myself in D.C. Actually, I have a feeling that all of the twenty-three libraries profiled in this gorgeous book will be going on the "to-do" list (which, as it encompasses the "to-read," "to-see" and "to-experience" list, is practically infinite).

This is a book that the reader will want to savor, for although Jacques Bosser's brief descriptions of the history of each library are quite informative, it is Guillaume de Laubier's breathtaking photographs which must surely count as its chief attraction. Whether gazing upon the Baroque splendor of The Monastic Library at Wiblingen (Ulm, Germany), the almost-decadent ostentation of the Vatican Library, or the unique (and more democratic) elegance of the New York Public Library, the bibliophile is in some danger of experiencing sensory overload... I'll be blunt: I didn't just savor this book (reading a few profiles a night), I wallowed in it. Ah bliss! ( )

the perfect book for the bibliophile. magnificent photos accompanied by learned texts of numerous great libraries that few people are likely to see all of which in a lifetime ( )

Being a coffee-table book illustrating a good selection of libraries, mostly European, with emphasis on interior photographs of the books and decoration. As such, it is a good book. I would like to have seen more contemporary libraries; too many people don't realize that they can be very beautiful as well. The worst omission, though, is the near-absence of exterior views; surely with so much supererogation going on indoors, a couple of more architectural pictures would have been worth the space and broadened the audience for this nice book. ( )