For Umberto Eco, collecting books is an act of ecological care: "We not only have to save the whales, the monk seals, and the bears in the Abruzzo, but also the books." True readers therefore want not only to read their favorite books but also to own them and place them on their shelves at home. For them, Eco has written "The Art of Loving Books." In this work, the Italian novelist, scholar, and storyteller approaches the eternal question, "Was Shakespeare merely Shakespeare by chance?" He also demonstrates that with works like the "Book of Lindisfarne" or the "Très Riches Heures," which have shaped intellectual history for centuries, an entire culture is at stake.