"I am still in the thrall of one insatiable desire, which hitherto I have been neither able nor willing to check — I cannot get enough books! Books indeed have a special charm. Gold, silver, gems, splendid clothing, a house of marble, beautiful paintings — things such as these give but a superficial pleasure. But books delight us through and through — they talk with us, then give us good counsel, they enter into a living and intimate companionship with us." (Francesca Betrarra, 1346)