The wittiest commentary on book-collecting and the care of books ever written, Blades's Enemies of Books enummerates the enemies as: Fire; Water; Gas and Heat; Dust and Neglect; Ignorance and Bigotry; The Bookworm; Other Vermin; Bookbinders; Collectors; Servants and Children. This new and corrected edition adds an article on Librarians as Enemies of Books, an Introduction, a biography of Blades, and many helpful notes.

William Blades (1824-1890) was a printer and bibliographer. His Life of Caxton revolutionised our understanding of the first English printer.