The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury | Page 7

which is the most delectable of all
our virtuous activities, as the prince of philosophers declares in the
tenth book of the Ethics, on which account it is that philosophy is held
to have wondrous pleasures in respect of purity and solidity, as he goes
on to say. But the contemplation of truth is never more perfect than in
books, where the act of imagination perpetuated by books does not
suffer the operation of the intellect upon the truths that it has seen to
suffer interruption. Wherefore books appear to be the most immediate
instruments of speculative delight, and therefore Aristotle, the sun of
philosophic truth, in considering the principles of choice, teaches that
in itself to philosophize is more desirable than to be rich, although in
certain cases, as where for instance one is in need of necessaries, it may
be more desirable to be rich than to philosophize.
Moreover, since books are the aptest teachers, as the previous chapter
assumes, it is fitting to bestow on them the honour and the affection
that we owe to our teachers. In fine, since all men naturally desire to
know, and since by means of books we can attain the knowledge of the
ancients, which is to be desired beyond all riches, what man living
according to nature would not feel the desire of books? And although
we know that swine trample pearls under foot, the wise man will not
therefore be deterred from gathering the pearls that lie before him. A
library of wisdom, then, is more precious than all wealth, and all things
that are desirable cannot be compared to it. Whoever therefore claims
to be zealous of truth, of happiness, of wisdom or knowledge, aye, even
of the faith, must needs become a lover of books.

CHAPTER III
WHAT WE ARE TO THINK OF THE PRICE IN THE BUYING OF
BOOKS
From what has been said we draw this corollary welcome to us, but (as
we believe) acceptable to few: namely, that no dearness of price ought
to hinder a man from the buying of books, if he has the money that is
demanded for them, unless it be to withstand the malice of the seller or
to await a more favourable opportunity of buying. For if it is wisdom
only that makes the price of books, which is an infinite treasure to
mankind, and if the value of books is unspeakable, as the premises
show, how shall the bargain be shown to be dear where an infinite good
is being bought? Wherefore, that books are to be gladly bought and
unwillingly sold, Solomon, the sun of men, exhorts us in the Proverbs:
Buy the truth, he says, and sell not wisdom. But what we are trying to
show by rhetoric or logic, let us prove by examples from history. The
arch-philosopher Aristotle, whom Averroes regards as the law of
Nature, bought a few books of Speusippus straightway after his death
for 72,000 sesterces. Plato, before him in time, but after him in learning,
bought the book of Philolaus the Pythagorean, from which he is said to
have taken the Timaeus, for 10,000 denaries, as Aulus Gellius relates in
the Noctes Atticae. Now Aulus Gellius relates this that the foolish may
consider how wise men despise money in comparison with books. And
on the other hand, that we may know that folly and pride go together,
let us here relate the folly of Tarquin the Proud in despising books, as
also related by Aulus Gellius. An old woman, utterly unknown, is said
to have come to Tarquin the Proud, the seventh king of Rome, offering
to sell nine books, in which (as she declared) sacred oracles were
contained, but she asked an immense sum for them, insomuch that the
king said she was mad. In anger she flung three books into the fire, and
still asked the same sum for the rest. When the king refused it, again
she flung three others into the fire and still asked the same price for the
three that were left. At last, astonished beyond measure, Tarquin was
glad to pay for three books the same price for which he might have
bought nine. The old woman straightway disappeared, and was never
seen before or after. These were the Sibylline books, which the Romans

consulted as a divine oracle by some one of the Quindecemvirs, and
this is believed to have been the origin of the Quindecemvirate. What
did this Sibyl teach the proud king by this bold deed, except that the
vessels of wisdom, holy books, exceed all human estimation; and, as
Gregory says of the kingdom of Heaven: They are worth all that thou
hast?
CHAPTER IV
THE COMPLAINT OF BOOKS AGAINST THE CLERGY
ALREADY PROMOTED
A generation of vipers destroying their