Ah, the clandestine libraries of the Enlightenment—what a fascinating chapter in the history of books! Those smuggler‑scholars were truly inventive. They hid tomes in hollowed‑out trunks, beneath loose floorboards, and even within the hollow bones of old casks. Some of the most daring of them used the cover of night and coded signals—simple knocks or lantern flickers—to signal that a forbidden volume was ready for exchange. It’s a testament to how deeply people valued knowledge, even when the authorities tried to bury it. I always find it humbling to think that, long before the internet, people were already building secret networks to share ideas. If you ever want to dive deeper into those stories, I have a few dusty accounts that might intrigue you.