Richard de Bury

Richard de Bury (24 January 1287 – 14 April 1345), also known as Richard Aungerville or Aungervyle, was an English priest, teacher, bishop, writer, and bibliophile. He was a patron of learning and one of the first English collectors of books. He is chiefly remembered for his Philobiblon, written to inculcate in the clergy the pursuit of learning and the love of books. The Philobiblon is considered one of the earliest books to discuss librarianship in-depth.

Quotes

• O celestial gift of divine liberality, descending from the Father of light to raise up the rational soul even to heaven. ... Undoubtedly, indeed, thou hast placed thy desirable tabernacle in books, where the Most High, the Light of light, the Book of Life, hath established thee. Here then all who ask receive, all who seek find thee, to those who knock thou openest quickly. In books cherubim expand their wings, that the soul of the student may ascend and look around from pole to pole, from the rising and the setting sun, from the north and from the sea. In them the most high and incomprehensible God Himself is contained and worshipped.
  • Philobiblon, translated by John Bellingham Inglis, 1832; quoted by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in The Oxford Book of English Prose (1925), no. 600