The ever-present danger was that the cultivated amateur would overstep the bounds of civilized interest into the domain of obsession; the line between the bibliophile and the bibliomane was never quite as firmly drawn as Nodier would have liked: “There is only a single attack of nerves separating the bibliophile from the bibliomaniac” (Du bibliophile au bibliomane, il n’y a qu’une crise”; 102).

Fetislich hir fyngres · were fretted with golde wyre / And þere-on red rubyes · as red as any glede.

He just went and punched the guy.

He even stands to gain in world terms: his noisy critics strengthen his projected image of a man determined to pursue peace with Palestinians.