Books in the Time of Cholera

It might seem odd to think of libraries at a time like this. But it might also be worth noting that libraries exist for times like this. Libraries and archives are storehouses of order through chaotic times. Harvard metaLAB director, Matthew Battles writes poignantly of this in The Library: an Unquiet History , which is both a fascinating history of libraries from Mesopotamia and Alexandria through to modern times and a catalog of the upheavals through which they (mostly) prevailed (biblioclasms anyone?). And as Bob Vitz writes in At the Center, The Mercantile Library was born into a city rife with catastrophes: “. . . a major flood in 1832, a serious cholera epidemic in 1832-33, a series of disastrous fires, as well as various economic disruptions triggered by President Andrew Jackson’s attack on the Bank of the United States.”

Cholera and so many other maladies continued to afflict the lives of early Mercantile members. Mercantile Library member and liquor merchant Joseph J. Mersman wrote in his diary in 1849,

“Business during the Week was very dull. The great Plague of the Year Cholera is driving every Country [person] and Merchants from Surrounding Cities away. The City looks like a desert Compared to its usual animated appearance. Last week ending the 6th there were 78 deaths from it, altogether 173. This week ending yesterday 278 deaths 189 from Cholera. People parting for a day or so, bid farewell to each other. My Partners family are fortunately in the Country. I and Clemens sleep in the Same bed, in Case of a Sudden attack to be within groaning distance. . .”

While it might seem morbid to dwell on past plagues while we’re fighting a new disease, it does help put things in perspective. And then, as now, books were a source of comfort, of reliable information. They could get you through a dark night, or serve as a touchstone trove of stories and wisdom to be shared with friends.

Also, liquor doesn’t hurt.

-Cedric Rose