QuotesCosmos
Originally published in a review of "Reports of Cases Decided in the High Court of Chancery of Maryland", where the next sentence was "In no department have the complaints of this evil been louder or more just, than in the law." and the first sentence was "We cannot perceive any sufficient reason for the publication of this book."https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/07/12/many-books/
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The enormous multiplication of books in every branch of knowledge is one of the greatest evils of this age; since it presents one of the most serious obstacles to the acquisition of correct information, by throwing in the reader's way piles of lumber in which he must painfully grope for the scraps of useful matter, peradventure interspersed.

— Edgar Allan Poe

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The enormous multiplication of books in every branch of knowledge is one of the greatest evils of this age; since it presents one of the most serious obstacles to the acquisition of correct information, by throwing in the reader's way piles of lumber in which he must painfully grope for the scraps of useful matter, peradventure interspersed." in the context of "Originally published in a review of "Reports of Cases Decided in the High Court of Chancery of Maryland", where the next sentence was "In no department have the complaints of this evil been louder or more just, than in the law." and the first sentence was "We cannot perceive any sufficient reason for the publication of this book."https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/07/12/many-books/" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Edgar Allan Poe" (Quotes, Marginalia (November 1844): First published in the Democratic Review) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Edgar Allan Poe#multiplication#peradventure#interspersed#acquisition#information#knowledge#obstacles#painfully#enormous#greatest#presents
Edgar Allan Poe

About Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, born Edgar Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, a part of literary studies and was also considered by some peoples both the central and most major figure of the American Romanticism, and a part of the American literature. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States, and of American literature. Poe was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story, and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.