Collecting Old Books: Percy Fitzgerald’s The Book Fancier

Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald was a writer for Charles Dickens’ Magazine Household Worlds, and as a dramatic critic for London’s Observer and Whitehall Review. He wrote many biographies including Life of Sterne and Boswell’s Autobiography as well as books on the theatre, including Savoy Opera: The Operas of Gilbert & Sullivan. Daniel Gutierrez is a liberal arts graduate of Johns Hopkins and in his work as executive director of the Policy Studies Organization in Washington finds himself reading through a mountain of articles and books more for work than pleasure. He still manages to set aside time for reading just for the sake of reading, and so is very sympathetic to the ruminations of Fitzgerald.