The passion for books in photographs from the last 150 years. A magnificent picture book. "Bookish" is usually translated as "scholarly" or "bookish" in the sense of being eager to read. When George Steiner postulated the "end of bookish times" in one of his essays in 1988, he referred to the horizon lines of an entire era. "Bookish" describes the result of a socialization to which everyone who learns to read has been exposed since at least the mid-19th century. The mass culture of books follows the nearly complete literacy of Western European societies. The way people interact with books has since profoundly shaped behavior both there and elsewhere. Today, already beyond these "bookish times," some aspects seem strangely bizarre and unfamiliar. It has long since become commonplace to read knowledge from screens. We have developed new and different attitudes and habits.