Collections of this Kind

Hell Yeah: Charles van Hulthem1

...Charles van Hulthem, the Brussels librarian who had a large personal collection and allowed no fires in his house. In cold weather he kept warm in bed by putting folios on his feet. His favourite for this purpose being Barlaeu's account of Maurice of Nassau's expedition to Brazil. He died, we are told, on a pile of books 'like a warrior on the battlefield'.
R.D.Platt (1971) Review of Great Libraries, Anthony Hobson The Private Library Second Series Vol 4:2 Summer 1971

Notes:

1 Wikipedia notes that his collection of books was damaged in the Belgian Revolution of 1830; he died two years later. Nevertheless, his collection went on to form the foundations of the Royal Library of Belgium.