Book Destruction
Beyond their physical makeup as collections of paper and ink, books serve as vehicles for ideas and perspectives that have the potential to transform individuals and societies. As repositories of cultural and intellectual heritage and identity, their destruction is often motivated by a desire to suppress or control these influential forces. Recognizing the power that books possess, Stephen Blumberg's book theft can be seen as an attempt to preserve these valuable treasures. The act of destroying books is an acknowledgement of their impact and importance.
Book Destruction in the Ancient World
For nearly as long as books have been produced, they have been destroyed. Book destruction, the deliberate act of destroying books or other written materials, has a long and varied history, dating back to ancient times when books were burned to display power, to censor texts, or to suppress religious, ethnic, cultural, and political differences. These motivations are clear in one of the earliest recorded instances of deliberate book destruction. It occurred in 213 BC when the Qin Dynasty’s first emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the burning of thousands of historical documents that were deemed to be subversive or contradictory to his own views (Chan, 1972). Intent on unifying China under his rule, the emperor sought to eliminate dissent and opposition from schools of thought like Confucianism and Daoism, as well as erase the history of the nations he had conquered. The Qin book burnings dealt a significant blow to Chinese civilization and culture, as invaluable works of literature, philosophy, science, and art were lost forever. Book destruction persists to this day, posing a continuous threat to the freedom of expression and the rich cultural heritage that books represent.
Book Destruction In the Modern World
Book destruction has become widespread and systematic during the modern era, fueled by war and conflict. Rebecca Knuth, a professor of library and information science at the University of Hawaii, even speaks of the 20th century as an era of “libricide”, referring to the systematic destruction of books and other written materials as a means of targeting a particular group or nation based on ideological differences or beliefs (Knuth, 2003). Perhaps the most famous example of modern book burning was carried out by the Nazis (specifically the German Student Union) in Germany in 1933, where participants burned tens of thousands of books deemed contrary to Nazi ideology (United States Holocaust Museum). While students gave the Nazi salute, revolutionary works from Jewish authors like Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud went up in flames in the Nazi effort to rid the world of Jewish intellectual and artistic works. In a sick case of irony, one book burned in the 1933 book burnings was the Jewish poet’s Heinrich Heine play Almansor. In the play was the phrase, "Where they burn books, they will also ultimately burn people." As the burning of books was followed in close succession by the Holocaust, the phrase seems especially meaningful.
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a classic dystopian novel that explores the theme of book censorship and destruction. In the novel, "firemen" are tasked with burning books in a society where free thought and individuality are suppressed. The protagonist, Guy Montag, begins to question his role in the destruction of books and ultimately becomes a fugitive, determined to preserve the knowledge contained within books. The novel has become a touchstone for conversations about book destruction and the dangers of limiting access to information and ideas. It emphasizes the importance of books as repositories of knowledge, ideas, and history, and warns of the dire consequences of suppressing them. These episodes of book destruction demonstrate the power that books hold and how destroying or restricting access to books is used to control or manipulate the flow of information and ideas.
Book destruction has continued into twenty-first century, often driven by political motivations. On a small scale, in 2013 a neo-Nazi group in Hungary burned books by Jewish authors on the anniversary of Kristallnacht (Hajba, 2013) and just last year (2022), a Tennessee pastor led the burning of Harry Potter and Twilight novels (Yang, 2022). Large-scale book burning also continues to happen. In 2013, Islamist insurgents burned a library in Timbuktu (though librarians had courageously removed many priceless books before they arrived) (Harding, 2013) and in 2015 ISIS burned thousands of books from libraries in Mosul, Iraq (Buchanan and Saul, 2015).
Blumberg and Book Destruction
Stephen Blumberg did not destroy books in the conventional sense. Whereas book destruction aims to erase or suppress certain ideas or perspectives, book theft deprives others of access to knowledge and history. Book destruction is frequently motivated by a desire to protect or purify a certain ideology or identity from perceived threats or corruption. In contrast, book theft is often motivated by a desire to rescue or collect books from neglect or decay, which is what Blumberg thought he was doing. Book theft and book destruction both recognize the power of the book and why in the minds of the destroyers or thieves, books must be kept from other people. Ironically, Blumberg did damage books he thought he was saving by removing bookplates and not keeping them in a climate-controlled environment, but he did not intentionally destroy any books.