First edition. An essay by D. Boorstin, followed by photographs and accompanying text by Diane Asséo Griliches. Generally in double-page spreads: A black-and-white photograph of a library on the right with a brief text explaining the picture on the left. Underneath each picture is a quotation relating to libraries, usually from writers. Pictured are 48 libraries, famous or unknown, occupied or closed or destroyed (the National Library in Sarajevo).