Homo unius libri

La frase en latín hominem unius libri timeo, que significa ‘temo al hombre de un solo libro’, fue escrita por primera vez por el obispo anglicano Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), quien se la atribuyó a santo Tomás de Aquino (1225-1274).^[1]

La frase tiene variantes y ha sido atribuida a otros autores. Las variantes incluyen caveo (en vez de timeo) y virum o lectorem (en vez de hominem).

El diccionario conciso de menciones extranjeras (Londres 1998), atribuye la cita a san Agustín de Hipona.

Otras atribuciones se dirigen a Plinio el Joven, Séneca o Quintiliano, pero la existencia de la frase no parece encontrarse en momento anterior al periodo moderno temprano.^[2]

↑ Taylor, Jeremy (1649): The great exemplar of sanctity and holy life... described in the history of... Jesus Christ (‘el gran ejemplo de santidad y vida santa descrito en la historia de Jesucristo’), también conocido como Life of Christ (‘la vida de Cristo’), parte II, sección II, discusión II, pág. 16.
↑ Fritsch, Andreas (1983): «Timeo lectorem unius libri», en Vox latina, 19, pág. 309 ff; 1983.
Pliny did express a comparable sentiment.
CAVE AB HOMINE UNIUS LIBRI.
Never was this old Latin proverb of greater import, never did it convey a deeper meaning than in this, our own century, when everyone appears to have become an “heluo librorum”. Since most men seem to know a little of everything and not much of anything, the man of one book, the reader who is intimate with one great author, whom he has chosen for his favorite, who has imbibed the spirit of his model, and fashioned almost insensibly his own mind after that of his exemplar, is, indeed, a formidable antagonist. Pliny tells us that we should read much, but not many books.
The Stylus, volumen III, número 3, 1 de abril de 1885. newspapers.bc.edu

[1] Taylor, Jeremy (1649): The great exemplar of sanctity and holy life... described in the history of... Jesus Christ (‘el gran ejemplo de santidad y vida santa descrito en la historia de Jesucristo’), también conocido como Life of Christ (‘la vida de Cristo’), parte II, sección II, discusión II, pág. 16.

[2] Fritsch, Andreas (1983): «Timeo lectorem unius libri», en Vox latina, 19, pág. 309 ff; 1983.
Pliny did express a comparable sentiment.
CAVE AB HOMINE UNIUS LIBRI.
Never was this old Latin proverb of greater import, never did it convey a deeper meaning than in this, our own century, when everyone appears to have become an “heluo librorum”. Since most men seem to know a little of everything and not much of anything, the man of one book, the reader who is intimate with one great author, whom he has chosen for his favorite, who has imbibed the spirit of his model, and fashioned almost insensibly his own mind after that of his exemplar, is, indeed, a formidable antagonist. Pliny tells us that we should read much, but not many books.
The Stylus, volumen III, número 3, 1 de abril de 1885. newspapers.bc.edu

[1]

[2]