The Book Lovers' Anthology

S COMME

er, George Herbert, Milton, Cowley, Dryden, Pope, and Burns, often throw more rich and brilliant colours, and sometimes even more clear and steady lights, on the times and doings of our forefathers, than are to be gathe

F READING PR

eading, and make you many times grossly to slip and mistake in your discourse. When, therefore, you set to your book, have by you Helvicus, his Chronology, and a map of the country in which you are conversant; and repair unto

y are to play, so it shall not be amiss for you first to take a general view of that ground, which you mean more particularly to trav

ved, we come to the method of observation. What order we are for

ork comes to perfection, yet it is but like the silver mines in Wales, the profit will hardly quit the pains. I have often doubted with myself whether or no there were any necessity of being so exactly methodical. First, because there hath not yet been found a method of that latitude, but little reading would furnish you with some things, which would fall without the compass of it. Secondly, because men of confused, dark and cloudy understandings, no beam or light of order and method can ever rectify; whereas men of clear understanding, though but in a mediocrity, if they read good books carefully, and note diligently, it is impossible but they should find incredible profit, tho

IT

h most of all in divinity itself. Indeed books of commonplaces be very necessary to induce a man into an orderly general knowledge, how to refer orderly all that he readeth, ad certa rerum capita, and not wander in study.... But to dwell in epitomes, and books of commonplaces, and not to bind himself daily by orderly study, to read with all dili

CTS OF

ranched into particular essays; and I can still read, without contempt, a dissertat

h I do not strenuously recommend. The action of the pen will doubtless imprint an idea on the mind as well as on the paper: but I much question whether the benefits of this laborio

sal till I had finished the task of self-examination, till I had revolved, in a solitary walk, all that I knew, or believed, or had thought on the subject of the whole work, or of some particular chapter: I

BLING W

igently read and run over many years before, and all bescribbled with my notes: I have a while since accustomed myself to note at the end of my book (I mean such as I purpose to read but once) the time I made an en

TO BE

y your eye running over the paragraphs which your pencil has noted. It is but a very weak objection against this practice to say, 'I shall spoil my book;' for I persuade myself that you did not buy it as a bo

RSCO

the historical or illustrative elements of an argument or exposition, the abstract became an analysis very serviceable for ready reference. He mentioned that this principle had been carried to a ludicrous extreme in the publication of a coloured New Testament by an Anglicized German, Wirgmann by name.... In this book, entitled Divarication of the New Testament into Doctrine and History, the pages were all coloured, most of them parti-coloured, the doctrine

'S ACCESSO

rehouse of his sermons, and which he preacheth all his life; but diversely clothed, illustrated, and enlarged. For though the world is full of such composures, yet every man's own is fittest, readie

NPLAC

se it is but a counterfeit thing in knowledges to be forward and pregnant, except a man be deep and full, I hold the entry of commonplaces to be a matter of great use and essence in studying, as that which assureth copy of invention, and contracteth judgement to a strength. But this is true, that of th

D OF A COMM

red. I then cut them perpendicularly by other lines that I draw from the top to the bottom of the page. I put about the middle of each five spaces one of the twenty letters I des

er pages of the book, of about the largeness of an inch, in a volume in

to be some important and essential word to the matter in hand, and in that word regard is to be had to th

ve used this method.... When I meet with anything that I think fit to put into my commonplace book, I first find a proper head. Suppose, for example, that the head be Epistola, I look into the index for the first letter and the following vowel, which in this instance are E i; if in the space marked E i there is any number that directs me to the page designed for words that begin with an E, and whose first vowel after the initial l

at the same time both the first letter of the word and the characte

vided the nominative case be always kept to.... But it is not of much consequence what language is made u

nce the owner may draw out an army into the field on comp

h commonplace, but 'twill never make a clear h

ES AND COMMO

t sentiments. Thus they load their minds with superfluous attention, repress the vehemence of curiosity by useless deliberation, and by frequen

monplace book. Yet, why any part of a book, which can be consulted at pleasure, should be copied, I was never able to discover. The hand has no closer correspondence with the memory than the ey

h care, nor agitated by pleasure. If the repositories of thought are already full, what can they receive? If the mind is employed on the past or the future, the book will be held before the eyes in vain. What is read with

AND THE

an from libraries skimmed over by a wandering eye. A cottage flower gives honey to the bee

PING

delight myself: or if I study, I only endeavour to find out the knowledge that teacheth or han

sudet oportet eq

must swea

s goal m

fected to new books, because ancient authors are, in my judgement, more full and pithy: nor am I much addicted to Greek books, forasmuch as my understanding cannot well rid his work with a childish and apprentice intelligence. Amongst modern books merely pleasant, I esteem Boccaccio his Decameron, Rabelais, and the Kisses of John the Second (if they may be placed under this title), worth the pains-taking to read them. As for Amadis and such like trash of writings, they had never the credit so much as to allure my youth to delight in them. This I will say more, either boldly or rashly, that this old and heavy-paced mind of mine will no more be pleased with Aristotle, or tickled with good Ovid: his facility and

E REA

iosa locis mo

veneris, sine p

at populum mel

pes rerum nugae

han once with the writings of a prelate; and know a friend of mine, who, for these several years, has converted the essays of a man of quality into a kind of fringe for his candlesticks. I remember in particular, after having read over a poem of an eminent author on a victory, I met with several fragments of it upon the next rejoicing day, which had been employed in squibs and crackers, and by that means celebrated its subject in a double capacity. I once met with a page of Mr. Baxter under a Christmas pie. Whether or no the pastry-cook had made use of it through chance or waggery, for the defence of that superstitio

ING

ry way, running from one book to another, as birds skip from one bough to another, without design, that it is no marvel if they get

as I happen to light upon them, for my recreation; and I would make the best advantage that I could of them; but I would fix my study upon those only that are of most importance to fit me for action, which is the true end of all learning, and for the service of God, which is the true end of all action. Lord, teach me so to study other men's works as not to neglect mine own; and so to study Thy word, which is Thy w

TE AND

herefore, which better discipline might soon have converted into a thirst for knowledge, young Waverley drove through the sea of books, like a vessel without a pilot or a rudder. Nothing perhaps increases by indulgence more than a desultory habit of reading, especially under such opportunities of gratifying it. I believe one reason why such numerous instances of erudition occur among the lower ranks is, that, with the same powers of mind, the poor student is limited to a narrow circle for indulging his passion for books, and mus

OF CASUA

r some such kind of reasons; there are, even of the few who read for their own entertainment, and have a real cu

om different occasions, I have often wished that it had been the custom to lay before people nothing in matters of argument

r, this idle way of reading and considering things. By this means, time even in solitude is happily got rid of, without the pain of attention; neither is any part of it more

S CURSOR

ed into it.' 'What (said Elphinston), have you not read it through?' Johnson, offended at being thus pressed, and so obli

TORY

ention, which of all our faculties most needs care, and is most improved by it. But a well-regulated course of study will no more weaken the mind, than hard exercise will weaken the body: nor will a strong understand

RKS BE NOT ALWAY

common proverb than this, That the Greatest Clerks be not always the wisest men, and reason for it, being a very uneven rule to square all actions, and consultations, only by book precedents. Time hath so many changes, and alterations, and such variety of occasions and opportunities, intervening, and mingled, that it is impossible to go

ISH AM

et keep their heads empty of knowledge: to desire to have many books, and never to use them, is like a chil

RIES AND E

hout profaneness) that the Devil could not tempt them to come near the tree of knowledge; I cannot say these are in a state of innocency, but I am sure they are in a state of simplicity. But among those few persons (especially those of quality) that pretend to look after books, how many are there that affect rather to look upon them, than in them? Some covet to have libraries in their houses, as ladies desire to have cup

OOD OR B

en these followin

ike a botcher,

om some reader

erse the better

r idioms, acce

, colons, and

nd periods, br

eaders underst

res my book to

read or spell

erence Geese, the

s to tatters wit

st, if bache

ook, and lear

they be, let

heir horn-boo

ose to be read: with a Proviso, that

NDER TO

alone in the posture of meditation, and has a book still before his face in the fields. His pocket is seldom without a Greek Testament, or Hebrew Bible, which he opens only in the church, and this when some s

ICIAL

atural desi

is for interest

ke more pains to

than all the h

study is no

nowledge, but s

ss for learnèd,

each beyond t

se that drudge

understandin

library by t

for quartos a

are the inde

no further th

th their table

in their classi

udent knows o

own but under

ces not in h

chman's money,

can make of i

ee per cent.

he will ev

n possessio

oks of past an

urther than th

he author's n

, those of the

llenge intima

arnèd Moderns a

lemen were w

t the rabble

rs in their tr

ith the meanes

ean contemp

suffrages of

, by authors'

small improveme

ed the learnede

argest catalog

tire upon the

of human

ADING

rous fools, by

b, and oft di

oxcomb is of

et, and a ju

idle Indust

ut perverts, an

tinate, in w

ager, positiv

last the self-a

tters, chaff and

ed to swell e

e toys from R

omer, Paris c

s cap were ro

, where Dido f

ned her heels,

quoted or th

lame ascends an

study, without s

ave impertinen

ays, the noon-da

ill remark, it

ynkyn, each ol

the readi

trifling, acc

and toil-to be a

G TO K

an's delirium, so as to people the barrenness of an hundred other brains afflicted with the same trance or suspension of all common sense and all definite purpose. We should therefore transfer this species of amusement (if indeed those can be said to retire a musis, who were never in their company, or relaxation be attributable to those whose bows are never bent) from the genus reading to the comprehensive class characterized by the power of reconciling the two contrary yet co-existing propensities of human n

G FROM

people to talk from books; to retail the sentiments of others, and not their own; in short, to converse without a

ut books, or perhaps, who read books, so

T CUT

may stand some chance of being reckoned a great scholar. In short, whoever wishes to strike out of the great road, and to make a short cut to fame, let him neglect Homer, and Virgil, and Horace, and Ariosto and Milton, and, instead of these, read and talk of Frascatorius, Sannazarius, Lorenzini, Pastorini, and the thirty-six primary sonneteers of Bettinelli;-let him neglect everything which the suffrage of ages has made venerable and grand, and dig out of their graves a set of decayed scrib

E-RE

first page of an author not unfrequently suffices for all the purposes of this latter class: of whom it has been said, that they tr

almost as bad as a mother who talks about her

OF DON QUI

se cursed books of knight-errantry which he keeps, and is so often reading, have turned his brain; and now I think of it, I have often heard him say, talking to himself, that he would turn knight-errant, and go about the world in quest of adventures. The devil and Barabbas take all such books, that have thus spoiled the finest understanding in all La Mancha. The niece joined with her, and said moreover: Know, master Nicholas (for that was the barber's name), that it has often happe

e room in great haste, and immediately returned with a pot of holy water and a bunch of hyssop, and said: Se?or Licentiate, take this and sprinkle the room, lest some enchanter, of the many these books abound with, should enchant us in revenge for what we intend to do, in banishing them out of the world. The priest smiled at the housekeeper's simplicity, and ordered the barber to reach him the bo

ard [whither they had been cast], and in the house too; and some must have perishe

QUASHED

e piled such a load of books on their heads, their brains have see

NERATED

ld not be exchanged but at great loss. It deserves attention that the greatest men have been formed without the studies which at present are thought by many most needful to improvement. Homer, Plato, Demosthenes, never heard the name of chemistry, and k

ING THE

much, and ne

eedy eater o

s his stomach

y they do hi

ster. Te

-REA

aking them too curious and irresolute by variety of reading, or too peremptory or positive by strictness of rules and axioms, or too immoderate and overweening by reason of the greatness of examples, or too incompatible and differing from the times by reason of the dissimilit

eaketh of: Quidam tam sunt umbratiles, ut putent in turbido esse quicquid in luce est; and not of learning: well may it be that such a point of a man's nature m

BOOKS AND SHA

y b

said, are wear

nd to his read

udgement, equa

gs, what needs he

d unsettled

books, and shal

oxicate, col

choice matters

thering pebble

. Paradis

WING T

he

useful lesso

iser grow with

wisdom, far

no connexion. K

te with though

ds attentive

rude unprof

ials with whic

d squared and fi

ber whom it se

oud that he has

ble that he k

seldom talisma

magic art of

inking multit

fascinatio

ent, hood-winked

d through laby

s them by a t

duces more, to

table fatigu

herefore, without

st unsifted,

rivulets whos

ck of winter,

populous with

hich the primr

moss that clothes

dent. Wisdom t

n the world,

icitation,

ght, and fix it

The Winter

eating, wholly useless w

er men, I should have been a

AND IL

literate', uneducated person; but ... if you read ten pages of a good book, letter by letter,-that is to say

INTELLECTUA

we all generally err by reading too much, or out of proportion to what we think. I should be wiser, I am persuaded, if I had not read half as much-should have had stronger and better exercised

S AN

but little of his own, will find himself as completely at a loss on occasions of common and of constant recurrence, as a Dutchman withou

the heaven's

deep-searched w

ntinual plodd

hority from o

re. Love's L

S AN

isure and his

what of noblest

s that sometime

k and less del

empted to exc

were it might

sweet conver

choicest spiri

nd in letters

with, alway

bidding, at o

e society no

re by intercou

ver men have t

great orb of

st unwelcome t

summons biddin

on turn from o

ener atmosphe

rce acquainted

e discord of t

noble work ben

elings occup

found utteranc

work was finis

homeward-alte

ith a better,

s thankf

at thu

as by a gen

ages of dead

the fair pag

iving page o

earn-not mere

woofs around m

own coil I

out the light

by which men br

home unto my

doom more pit

tance hears lif

or ever on a

pwrecked mariner

me, some mome

entle murm

eep, and lull hi

boasts he has

himself, in s

irst his prison

nch. Anti

IGHTY

us let

converse with

ent time, as

icent, who bl

arms, and huma

nspiring though

g-lived

on. The

SSAGE

rent to them, and nothing better than the reputation of knowing a great deal about them; and yet that, after all, we do not know them in the same way as we know our fellow-creatures, not even in the way we know any dumb animal that we walk with or play with. This is a great misfortune, in my opinion, and one which I am afraid is increasing as what we call 'the taste for literature' increases. It is very pleasant to think in what distant pa

THE VIRTU

indispensable. They are not creative powers in any sense; they are merely helps, instruments, tools; and even as tools they are only artificial tools, superadded to those with which the wise prevision of Nature has equipped us, like telescopes and microscopes, whose assistance in many researches reveals unimagined wonders, but the use of which should never tempt us to undervalue or to neglect the exer

ead, to reason

re. Love's L

ENEMY T

leasure he takes in them.... Books are delightful; but if by continual frequenting them, we in the end lose both health and cheerfulness (our best parts) let us leave them. I am one of those who thin

g I studied for ostentation; then a little to enable myself and become wiser; now for delight and recreation, never for gain.... Books have and contain divers pleasing qualities to those that can duly choose them. But no good without pains; no roses without prickles. It is a pleasure not absolutely pure and neat; no more than all oth

PROFI

when all our la

sted, and our

ll the learnèd

's wits both he

now or what c

On the Immortal

AND EY

ts are vain; bu

n purchased dot

ly to pore

t of truth; whil

lind the eyesi

ght doth light o

d where light i

s dark by losin

re. Love's L

TO

the day. It were an excellent posture to paint Caesar in, as he swum with a book in the one hand, and a sword in the other; since he made his tent an academy, and was at leisure to read the physiognomy of the heavens in military tumults. T

dom concur, because the former is got sub umbra, but business doth winnow observations, and the better acquain

of fainting flesh? Unseasonable times of study are very obnoxious, as after meals, when Nature is wholly retired to concoction; or at night times, when she begins to droop for want of rest, hence so many rheums, defluxi

TEAD OF S

s to which all worn men, both of the higher and lower classes, are tempted, to take down my Sophocles or my Plato (for Plato was a poet), my Goethe, or my Dante, Shakespeare, Shelley, Wordsworth, or Tennyson; and I know what it is to feel the jar

RMACY O

ut sufficiently searching to the highest-new language-Greek, Arabic, Scandinavian, Chinese, or Welsh! For the loss of fortune the dose should be applied less directly to the understanding-I would administer something elegant and cordial. For as the heart is crushed and lacerated by a loss in the affections, so it is rather the head that aches and suffers by the loss of money. Here we find the higher class of poets a very valuable remedy. For observe that poets of the grander and more comprehensive kind of genius have in them two separate men quite distinct from each other-the imaginative man, and the practical, circumstantial man; and it is the happy mixture of these that suits diseases of the mind, half imaginative and half practical.... For hypochondria and satiety what is better than a brisk alterative course of travels-especially early, out-of-the-way, marvellous, legendary travels! How they freshen up the spirits! How they take you out of the humdrum yawning state you

gical constitution, since then, has become so robust that he has eaten up two livings and a deanery! In fact, I have a plan for a library that, instead of heading its compartments, 'Philology, Natural Science, Poetry,' &c., one shall head them according to the diseases for which they are severally good, bodily and mental-up from a dire calamity, or the pangs of the gout, down to a fit of the spleen or a slight catarrh; for which last your light reading comes in with a whey-posset and barle

RATURA

ainy-day wish that we had a little more of it. It ought to be collected. There should be a joyous set of elegant extracts-a Literatura Hilaris or Gaudens,-in a score of volumes, that we could have at hand, like a cellaret of good wine, against April or November weather. Fielding should be the port, and Farquhar the champagne, and Sterne the mal

CHLOROFORM

and yet what a blessed boon even that is! Conceive the hours of inertia (a thing different from idleness) that it has mercifully consumed for us! hours wherein nothing could be done, nothing, perhaps, be thought, of our own selves, by reason of some impending calamity. Wisely does the dentist furnish his hateful antechamber with books of all sorts. Who could abide for an hour in such an apartment with nothing to occupy his thoughts save the expectation of that wrench to come!... Indeed, it must be confessed that where Books fail as an anodyne, is rather in cases of physical than of mental pain. Through the long watches of the night, and by the bedside of some slowly dying dear one,

GING

nnui, or when in waiting for company. Some novels, gay poetry, odd whimsical authors, as Rabelais, &c.

E THE N

saw I migh

te, this o

edde I sa

on reche

, and he h

dryve the

oghte it

ither at ches

The Book of

ING

s late as it was) to Paul's church-yard for this favourite of yours, Religio Medici: which after awhile found me in a condition fit to receive a blessing by a visit from any of such masterpieces, as you look upon with gracious eyes; for I was newly gotten into my bed. This good-natured creature I could easily persuade to be my bedfellow, and to wake with me as long as I had any edge to entertain myself with the delights I sucked from so noble a conversation. And truly, my lord, I closed not my eyes till I had enriched myself with, or

AND ME

ld forget that I ever studied. A full mind takes away the body's appetite, no less

G AND

dying. 'He knows how to read better than any one (said Mrs. Knowles); he gets at the substance of a book directly; he tears out the heart of it.' He kept it wrapt up in the tablecloth in his lap during the time of dinner, from an avidity to have o

OF GOO

the candle (my usual supper), or peradventure a stray ash of tobacco wafted into the crevices, look to th

AT MEA

ppointed to serve me for taking of my bodily refection, that is, whilst I was eating and drinking. And, indeed, that is the fittest and most proper hour, wherein to write these high matters and deep sentences: as Homer knew very well, the paragon o

-DOORS

nd eleven in the morning, studying a volume of Lardner. I own this to have been a strain of abstraction beyond my reach. I used to admire how he sidled along, keeping clear of secular contacts. An illiterate encounte

R A

ke and a sh

n-a-door

e leaves whisp

eete cryes

Reade all

the Newe

oode Booke whe

to me th

Wil

O BOOKS IN

to bokes th

hat olde thinge

ctrine of the

ce, in every

these olde a

, of regnes,

te, of other s

may not make

olde bokes

of remembra

than on old

is non other

, though that

r to rede I

rte have hem

swich lust and

s wel uneth

y bokes mak

ther up-on t

the joly t

ere the smale

loures ginne f

die, as lasti

The Legend o

ABLES

iend, and qui

you'll g

iend, and cle

is toil an

ove the mou

ning lus

long green fie

sweet even

a dull and e

the woodl

his music!

ore of wi

blithe the t

is no mea

nto the ligh

e be your

world of r

and hearts

wisdom breat

thed by ch

e from a v

h you mo

evil an

l the s

love which

dling i

beauteous for

er to d

Science

those bar

and bring wi

ches and

ords

AR

o some st

h some wo

imber-ski

illow-sha

ng the ro

hoes swee

arsely-cro

on the tr

to some

rom the w

lare dispe

golden ev

rks of searc

ks, may st

se of old h

ied the mee

-dead tongues

rts in oth

o my eyes

eeds of ol

purify th

f the lea

f the litt

when friend

Bar

BOOKS

ding, win

ings, tingl

bins, win

icture st

is turne

d I can

ind the fl

cture sto

retty thi

the chil

epherds, tre

cture sto

how all t

ities, nea

lying fai

cture sto

to sing y

imney-co

fe in nurs

icture st

n. A Child's G

HORN

Book, most v

st cradle, and

mbered volume

aries are sto

es, to thy suf

esume to add o

ng, in comely

rge enclosing

orn before, fr

thy inval

tron saint in

ance, to guard t

urser's feet t

blood thy scar

handle's at th

critics should

er-bread thou

learning to th

e, o'erspread w

treasure of t

lt be my song-

oke; Cadmus my

ho the first m

ing which has si

te! for mortals

ned of old the C

ctate, or what

nce e'en to our

me of every p

each peasant k

n mysterious

tient, and enha

etters of our

rawls, a myster

ected, puzzlin

strike out a

ters adorn the

uth catch at th

oys the noisy

lta's, make thei

sounds amaze

common never

ues the Horn-bo

ecian master, or

I thy endles

durst all othe

bs thy spotles

-ears thy smoot

ges no err

unders of the

dedication

erse, to praise

h no tedious n

adings to conf

n thy literal

t centre of

records of a

modern hist

im what wonders

letters taken

loods of passio

oman youth's i

r furnished sc

deaths of wor

ll the weaker

fice to stem t

ne he did but

rm, and cooled t

tes, like angel

s, and soothe

sant, on hi

riend some god

dson thy known

up) this savour

ravely read: th

ls and hollow

cient reared hi

tars that Hodge h

ounker bawls; O

omforts in the

l! 'Great C,' pr

dies with ec

ands such ign

scarce know thy

reds Fame giv

en, says many

man to whom thou'

extent of thy v

ders magic s

ir, in sea, in

und and dark wis

cow an angel'

chantments sag

, fierce monst

, are all con

s, and every

imits of thy

ot all learning'

ams from thy dee

e thus thy wo

l the power of

out his forme

now, and less

hains which boun

pain from ever

ength comes ev

ep, I walk, a

ase, my hobbli

andle hang m

Tic

TORY

Story Books! we owe

in Memory's warp, of whi

? who can spurn t

e lisping girl an

win my heart when e

stamping rage, or b

as enough, and I tur

ughty 'pig that would

days of yore where

ion in my head an

and crinkled cakes m

pon a string appear

the peppermint was

'hero Jack', who

alanced long, before

eye-but, forsooth! 'J

gold embossed', 'moroc

w wraps of old wer

-well we know that

eard' swings aloft his

w! what history of ba

s 'all about sweet

wonders that e'er s

as performed by 'M

r luckless child! my he

n 'grandmamma's' best b

n innocence, she me

'great eyes', and won

Jack built', and the 'B

brothers', on their

ked and plastered head

s, make 'vulgar Jack'

loved him well; but,

her in her arms with

o'er the page, thoug

all untouched to fa

is merry men', a n

e like again, go h

th bow and barb, ra

wy forest paths, clos

her 'shoe' kept long

d longer themes begu

ous sailor he, allu

when he flung the ol

matchless tale that

be of fur, and 'Friday'

t, and again, in sl

s on the sand-the

Story Books! I doub

pleases more than '

ledger-leaves that

those that told of 'M

Old Story Books!

tive glance-right lov

may arise-that ye

Hubbard's Dog' and

za

AUTHORS

of danger, let them read both the old and the new; but no less take heed that their new flowers and sweetness do not as much corrupt as the others' dryness and squalor, if they choose not carefully. Spenser, in affecting the ancients, writ no language: yet I would have him read for his matter, but as Virgil read Ennius. The reading of Homer and Virgil is counselled

AND TH

r time, &c. The end which I propose by your education is, to unite in you all the knowledge of a scholar, with the manners of a courtier, and to join, what is seldom joined in any of my countrymen, Books and the World. They are commonly twenty years old before they have spoken to anybody above their Schoolmaster and the Fellows of their college. If they happen to have learning, it is only G

E TO

l make me think some of the first advice given in it a little harsh, perhaps; but, although he has not read it through, only having dipped into it here and there, he believes, from the name of the author, I cannot have a

A BOY

d any English book which happens to engage his attention; because you have done a great deal when you have b

E IN TH

hat he takes a liking to, from a notion that it is above his reach. If that be the case, the child will soon find it out and desist; if not, he of cour

BOOKS THE

no longer either hurt or serve us, except through the influence which they exert over the mind. We feel the presence of that power which gives immortality to human thoughts and actions, and catch the flame of enthusiasm from all ages and nations.... As to the books you will have to read by choice or for amusement, the best are the commonest. The names of many of them are already familiar to you. Read them as you grow up wi

E'S EARL

th doth commonly amuse itself, I was not so much as acquainted with their names, and to this day know not their bodies, nor what they contain, so exact was my discipline. Whereby I became more careless to study my other prescript lessons. And well did it fall out for my purpose that I had to deal with a very discreet master, who out of his judgement could with such dexterity wink at and second my untowardliness, and such other faults that were in me. For by that means I read over Virgil's Aeneas, Terence, Plautus, and other Italian comedies, allured thereunto b

'S EARL

nt, to be sure, was not so good; but I had all the facts. I remember very well, when I was at Oxford, an old gentleman said to me, 'Young man, ply your book diligentl

S EARLY

ch may adorn the shelves of the rich, that of Ernesti, which should lie on the table of the learned, were not within my reach. For the familiar epistles I used the text and English commentary of Bishop Ross; but my general edition was th

e: in its maturity, the most trifling performance could exercise my taste or judgement; and more than o

H OF I

own to read, on the shady side of a haystack. The book was so different from anything I had read before-it was something so new to my mind, that, though I could not at all understand some parts of it, still it delighted me beyond measure, and produced, what I have always considered, a sort of birth of intellect. I read on till it was dark, without any thought of supper

TH'S EAR

easure had I

low, canvas-

tract of the

mpanions in

rnt, that this d

k hewn from a

four large vol

atter, 'twas t

arcely earth

richer than m

hat each sho

possessed, and

t savings had

k our own. Throu

ll temptation

at vow; but fi

ever masters

eafter to my

returned me,

ore of books w

ine! How often

espites, though

aters to the

day together

e, O Derwent! m

nes, and in th

e read, devou

he day's glo

dden bound of

ler deals wit

ort betook

rit o'er this

heart of ma

works of unre

benign, dir

now not, think

charm away th

omances; le

dim light of

ladies of thei

ires; adventure

ntled warrio

wels of those

youth did fir

e day, and somet

ive till man sh

, hidden appet

ve their food. O

ildhood, sits

power than al

at this tells

ugurs of the

and, in that

when we firs

earth, to rec

ong probation

rial, ere we

ent with our

s state of me

forgo, conf

unsettled,

ttlesome, and

wn;-oh! then w

have friends. Y

ing tales! we

vellers, dotar

ill call you

ow great might y

h, our power, ou

possession,

erve; all Fac

the elements a

en filled up with

there, and ever

orth. The

SHIONE

alone I r

hardly more

with the

Prior, Sw

h, or that

to the lone

d I to Spens

er's Cante

ng past, an

congenia

oul was h

scene: the '

under Milt

mute: he b

other amb

with lov

. La

NT'S EAR

I was at school, I had no fields to run into, or I should certainly have gone there; and I must own to having played a great deal; but then I drew my sports as much as possible out of books, playing at Trojan wars, chivalrous encounters with coal-staves, and even at religious mysteries. When

NDLY

he brownish paper of the old duodecimo Tales of My Landlord!... Oh! for a half-holiday, and a quiet corner, and one of those books again! Those books, and perhaps those eyes with which we read them; and, it may be, the brains behind the eyes! It may be the tar

CKENS'S EA

w nothing of it. It is astonishing to me now, how I found time, in the midst of my porings and blunderings over heavier themes, to read those books as I did. It is curious to me how I could ever have consoled myself under my small troubles (which were great troubles to me), by impersonating my favourite characters in them-as I did-and by putting Mr. and Miss Murdstone into all the bad ones-which I did too. I have been Tom Jones (a child's Tom Jones, a harmless creature) for a week together. I have sustained my own idea of Roderick Random for a month at a stretch, I verily believe. I had a greedy

yard, and I sitting on my bed, reading as if for life. Every barn in the neighbourhood, every stone in the church, and every foot of the churchyard, h

SIONAR

can I revive the same interest in them as formerly. I perc

lonna' is a

read over his rich poetic blazonry, just flit across my fancy; the gorgeous twilight window which he has painted over again in his verse, to me 'blushes' almost in vain 'with blood of queens and kings'. I know how I shoul

FOR LO

ive my well-

eath my bones wit

fortune once

e lines of thy

ith the better

y be outstripp

r my love, not

the height o

fe me but this

Muse grown with

than this his l

ranks of bet

ied, and poets

style I'll read,

peare. So

TION TO

ow (dear love) w

stiny, as s

ay, though she

erity shall

e may ou

glory, a

m Pindar co

h whose help Lu

k (they say) Homer

nuscripts, t

h have passed 't

ur annals, and

ove's sublimi

d examp

faith of

ic will dar

Love this grac

, to use, to be

long-lived a

d's form, this

rit, or new

clergy only ar

book is

gain the

d the Goth

safe; in thi

sciences, spheres

divines-sinc

nder-may find

ct spiritual l

aled with what

th so

firmity, t

ich they may

be the heaven, wh

ient type may b

in their books

titles mistre

gative these

om Love himsel

h from hea

t great s

m who on t

se, honour or c

as they or the

or of them, the

occupation fi

r art, alike i

er what 'tis

they d

resent go

s none doth,

, such will ther

e some can fin

houghts; abroad

r off, that grea

is, presence be

es how long thi

e a la

rs, are fit

ightest, bu

s, what othe

and where the d

Don

K OF TH

he table o

y all trivial

s, all forms, al

d observation

ndment all al

ok and volume

espeare

S PUR

rief than to

misery is at

instructor.

ent to know t

ur love gat b

ps and tells hi

ght we read

hralled. Alone

us. Oft-times

drawn togeth

ltered cheek. B

When of that

mile so rapt

in love, then

separate, at

issed. The book

veyors. In its

ad no

. Inf

OUBLE

Padua, o

ly let the

hin some p

and water

th white and

truth-illu

ines and wor

cell, from y

Preceptor

ne'er befo

hat scholar

t fellow-le

ge unfolds

stling leaf

st o'er thy st

e all was d

is the bo

of hero

e now his e

e taught them

him the sch

give the fa

read the si

hat sages n

wealth of cou

within his g

he not peru

more than Ig

language, ol

to nations

language yet

teach him-ti

his lesson,

else hath

ill nearer

et closer o

on, now fast

is the page

eems to both

chanting gr

yields a te

r loses a

droops as

reading wit

raised a mo

nd joy, and

oh, Maiden! d

hear his sigh

sound indeed

of that li

tinklings,

near a la

Padua, mus

to thy radi

ee in thy fat

from a fat

omes with so

, pleasures,

Paduan Mai

cast, he co

given, and

vails, the L

y inmost hea

lt be a stud

an Bla

THE BOOK

any thing

ch esteeme

for his P

e boy in se

he book was

from his pr

shot with al

uch prodigi

he feeble vo

ansfixed he

more moving

oint that pier

directly to

known increas

Cadenus an

AS SPO

oks be then

agers of my s

peare. So

OOK: OF

es, when as th

ife in their de

, and hold in lo

rembling at the

s on which, wi

es will deign so

sorrows of my

rs in heart's cl

es bathed in t

whence she

d that Angel'

lackèd food, my

d rhymes, seek he

ease, I care

ser. Am

LUCY, COUNTE

course of know

learned Lady,

ertain way th

lory, to tr

on earth be

th such vain

ose our rest

eluded with

d you else th

prison of you

ut of weakne

to the freedom

there where

world, and vi

how the outs

d being of the

ur ill-cast a

alue and of

ood we have res

oportions o

rom out confus

our selves, and

s, madam, canno

bring apt to

rectify it i

o, as that it

lies: and thou

ace of truth,

n us near ab

oul the best d

, and most our

f glory, and

Dan

F FLESH

lady for

of flesh and b

a fair letter

with all

rry her, that's

print her w

rius; a t

eresies; and w

, who dares ca

ey. The

N'S

eyes this doc

ill the right P

ooks, the arts

ain, and nouris

re. Love's L

nly

oman's

all they'v

Moo

POTHêKê E

s! The swift hou

own an

harm to lure t

oss ha

eep! The dream

il and

, and its gol

in mi

gaze astonied

nely

answer for th

ale i

lly cradled, sw

ust a

rom pronounce

allo

tudious native

at low

ary blossoms

nt an

asings of th

lutter

mmits, where w

es the

d in solitary

ung th

days of silen

ore

heritage and

love-

st barter for th

deso

. Sy

STUDENT THAT PLAY

at his bo

h he might

wife did fl

lth to w

th played a

gling fir

g of himse

he hat

. Mor

GE AND

, proceeding from the black humour of melancholy: moreover, I have observed that he is too much given to his study and self-society, 'specially to converse with dead men, I mean Books: you know a

MY YEARS

e! alas! my ye

is my study

dalliance wi

irst Part of King

ND THE

ver long even in the society of her I love without a yearning for the company of

TER AT

known a ho

quest of lor

ufficient to

ohu, heaped

uck to The

umbling o'e

all that's le

boy, he li

the window

e damsel fa

brightly tur

s were on

folios, wide

aurelled brow

eadlong sent,

d eye of St

quits each

for thy lo

unlike the b

s are thy f

e dear err

page in al

Devil among

COS

in September, 1676,

t, go to that

only wast a

read in thee,

the fair volu

ystem, where

morals, which i

ft air, there

f in brass the

Old

BOOK SENT

ttle volume,

f new-bo

ive fires

folded, and

ignoble

ore come

from thy k

nfiden

nd th

inding in y

hoice handful,

l host; encam

true, school

gels in one p

e's great

racts itself, a

your white bosom;

owy fortress

hostly foes to

e hold of your

armoury

use but kee

find it

nds and hu

ords an

snares, or h

be

ands

ese weapons,

rtles, chas

l, and

iend shall f

s book befor

alone to pl

Cra

S 'THE TEMPLE' SEN

air, on wha

ove lies i

ire from yo

this his

nds untie th

e an angel b

ladly woul

on each mo

r in the

ell-perfu

lumes of his

ay to heaven

aintance of

smooth-faced

Herbert's

tions, fai

s lay them

te hand, th

Cra

H

f of Keble's Christian Y

for its go

praise, of dre

y finds fi

ope, fear, gr

loved, and s

instrel's v

the volume

a smile upo

thinks, I r

he reason,

to me the

ore conned, a

quite the d

e'er was bo

not here

y secret s

ot here a

ng thy hea

hies up-spr

the future,

st links b

spirit, mi

ether wand

volume's pr

alternate sm

h themes a

hope, of

joy, of chas

orne, the si

earth, the m

h surely

at confiden

ch happy mo

h soul had co

he snares and

husband an

. Pr

WITH

ume, warm

rows that

on's pepp

d skim-milk

nts not, self

Attic gra

Genius nev

re's gin

. La

AND

sometimes by a biped beast; woman to wit,-whose cohabitation was formerly shunned by the clergy, from whom we have ever taught our pupils to fly, more than from the asp and the basilisk; wherefore this beast, ever jealous of our studies, and at all times implacable, spying us at last in a corner, protected only by the web of some long-deceased spider, drawing her forehead into

T OF BET

uch minded them, had it not been for the peculiarly hollow sound in which they were uttered. 'Know, then,' she said, in the same unearthly accents, 'that I am the spirit of Betty Barnes.'-'Who hanged herself for love of the stage-coachman,' thought I; 'this is a very proper spot of work!'-'Of that unhappy Elizabeth or Betty Barnes, long cook-maid to Mr. Warburton, the painful collector, but ah! the too careless custodier, of the largest collection of ancient plays ever known-of most of which the titles only are left to

ND LASTIN

pleasures, which is what no mortal will bear. Trash, lumber, sad stuff, are the titles you give to my favourite amusement. If I called a white staff a stick of wood, a gold key gilded brass, and the ensigns of illustrious orders coloured strings, this may be philosophically true, but would be very ill received. We have all our playthings; happy are they that can be contented with those they can obtain: those hours are spent in the wisest manner that can easiest shade the ills of life, and are least productive of ill consequences. I think my time better employed in reading the adventures of imaginary people, than the Duchess of Marlborough's, who passed the latter years of her life in paddling with her will, and contriving schemes of plaguing some, and extracting praise from others to no purpose; eternally disappointed and eternally fretting. The active scenes are over at m

PO

her praying, did I

s, or instruments mo

rts of Spenser-or th

nnets-here's the book-

volume,-Wordsworth's

rse, or Tennyson's

omegranate', which, if c

n blood-tinctured,

. Lady Geraldi

RLD OF

in my cham

and thought my th

hout the vicar

dering whethe

Mark, there.

enerous, eve

ing profits,

eading. It i

forget ourse

eadlong, into a

its beauty and

et the right g

What my fathe

volume, Love

f-same pages

ith the memor

e mine wet. Th

had taught m

wrestling or th

nown,-most like

ingle platter w

berries; or

one, and so gi

as it, rathe

orthy. Thus, m

s did the w

les, when they

's audacious f

ughs the silver

little daught

careless did

ad and good-so

ims not always

pades turn up i

eyards even);

definitely, t

ined the other

by suggestion

to licence;

from the h

s, which set y

,-aye, and mel

laugh that any

nted life for

oks is still th

have God's provi

p and

wning. Au

CAL EDUCAT

is weeping gaoler. But surely these complaints have very little foundation. We would by no means disparage the ladies of the sixteenth century or their pursuits. But we conceive that those who extol them at the expense of the women of our time forget one very obvious and very important circumstance. In the time of Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth, a person who did not read Greek and Latin could read nothing, or next to nothing. The Italian was the only modern language which possessed anything that could be called a literature. All the valuable books then extant

S' R

ed be no choosing at all. Keep the modern magazine and novel out of your girl's way: turn her loose into the old library every wet day, and let her alone. She will find what is good for her; you cannot: for there is just this difference between the making of a girl's character and a boy's-you may chisel a boy into shape, as you would a rock, or hammer him into it, if he be of a better kind, as you would a piece of bro

d motions li

of virgi

nty times better than you; and the good ones too, and will eat some bitter and prickly ones,

most, if books,

, pleased them

er. Tir

Y AND

llection of all our English poets. For, she says, one cannot have a t

it is much commended for style and language, and she can tell wh

Y'S L

lo calathis

assueta ma

of the folios (which were finely bound and gilt) were great jars of china placed one above another in a very noble piece of architecture. The quartos were separated from the octavos by a pile of smaller vessels, which rose in a delightful pyramid. The octavos were bounded by tea-dishes of all shapes, colours, and sizes, which were so disposed on a wooden frame, that they looked like one continued pillar indented with the finest strokes of sculpture, and stained with the greatest variety of dyes. That part of the library which was designed for the reception of plays and pamphlets, and other loose papers, was enclosed in a kind of square, consisting of one of the prettiest grotesque

but that most of them had been got together, either because she had heard them praised, or because s

Temple's Essays. Father Malebranche's Search after Truth, translated into English. A book of Novels. The Academy of Compliments. Culpepper's Midwifery. The Ladies' Calling. Tales in Verse by Dr. D'Urfey: bound in red leather, gilt on the back, and doubled down in several places. All the Classic authors, in wood. A set of Elzevirs by the same hand. Clelia: which opene

of these and several other authors, when

N'S

d much more than men; but, for want of a plan, a method, a fixed object, their

R A LADY

ope dissent

rio multum d

m? quid

o

and that therefore they cannot peruse a better book than Dalton's Country Justice: another thinks they cannot be without The Compleat Jockey. A third, observing the curiosity and desire of prying into secrets, which he tells me is natural to the fair sex, is of opinion this female inclination, if well directed, might turn very much to their advantage, and therefore recommends to me Mr. Mede upon the Revelations. A fourth lays it down as an unquestioned truth, that a lady cannot be thoroughly accomplished

rase on the History of Susanna. Rules to keep Lent. The Christian's Overthrow prevented. A Dissuasive from the Playhouse. The Virtues of Camphire, with Directions to make Camphire Tea. The pleasures of a Country Life. The Government of th

knees with manuals of devotion, nor of scorching their faces with books of housewifery. Florella desires to know if there are any books written against prudes, and entreats me, if there are, to give them a place in my library. Plays of all sorts have their several advocates: All for Love is mentioned in above fifteen

NG HER LIBRARY AT

roportion i

mixed with

show the g

r the Cypr

ce througho

the passions

g canvas w

s or a Tit

ough every

clime, each

a rich

om in e

ce and tast

at could se

all their be

d improve

st own an e

ose charms no

ith such corr

ther's tas

our merit

can be ref

J

AND THE CIRCU

n in search of it: I don't believe there's a

could not you get Th

, indeed

The Fatal

, indeed

he Mistakes

ave it, Mr. Bull said Miss Sukey

d you inquire for T

and I might have brought it from Mr. Frederick's, but Lady Slattern Lounger, who had jus

She has a most observing thumb; and I believe cherishes her nails for the c

h! here

under her cloak, an

Sensibility, and Humphrey Clinker. This is The Memoirs of a Lady of Quality

What are those bo

The Whole Duty of Man, where

they are both co

e closet-put The Innocent Adultery into The Whole Duty of Man-thrust Lord Aimworth under the sofa-cram Ovid behind the bolster-t

the hairdresser has torn a

briety. Fling me Lord Cheste

r Anthony Absolute en

ered to

re's a little intr

l consequence of teaching girls to read. Had I a thousand daughters, b

, Sir Anthony, you are

from a circulating library! She had a book in each hand-they were half-bound volumes, wi

Those are vile

nowledge! It blossoms through the year! And depend on it, Mrs. Malaprop, that they who are

BACHELOR

anged; I now pre

reading of un

ious, but by ch

nterest in th

e, we know, wh

pabulum our h

ad we feel, a

heroic men o

ter life thes

the heroes

liffords, Mordau

annot be so

hty deeds and m

ghts we never

rowess of each

mes create the

ward youth mig

ever,-that he

nds us in th

ce, of our d

fancy mighty

ore than fan

heroes of a

conquering, to

eel the vani

ves what we a

ve the modern

ealm with Trist

uixote, I cou

ld call me to s

luntary weak

alled, I wil

. Tales o

, whereon

d thing, bein

ared and

re. Measure

SCHOLAR A

r was of Ox

logik hadde

his hors a

at right fat

lwe, and the

was his ove

eten him yet

rldly for to

ever have at

s, clad in

e and his p

e, or fithele,

at he was a

but litel g

mighte of his

on lerninge

gan for the

af him wher-w

he most cure

spak he more

seyd in forme

quik, and ful

oral vertu wa

de he lerne, a

The Canter

CHIE

fool of all t

op, the helm a

mind, this one

ve great plent

dom by them,

ve not: and the

l and all that

hip the chief

sea with fo

plain and eas

busy books

enty it is a p

and to have t

mean do I no

ve them in g

ing them from f

shing and mu

ound in pleas

tin, or else

fearing lest the

the cunning whe

rtune that a

use fall to

rtain to show

cunning should

to fall in

ommune, my books

them, and noth

e rich cause

orld good book

is command

had and in hi

earthly treasur

less he did

ctrine, but l

se of books

ad, and fewe

heir doctrine,

to bear a b

much to be i

nd to look wi

n the fair cov

tudy to hurt m

mind with st

e which stud

by shall they

isdom can they

study so muc

they fall out

tered that now

lerk that ha

l lawyers that

promoted are

now fortune t

ne know but t

have a gent

ise, I am i

t can, I would

set another

or me my bo

ll ensue the

cedo to eve

eech my Latin s

of Folys of t

SLATOR EXHORTING THE FOOLES ACCLOYED

octors and c

of books to ha

ctrines through

d dsitract and

n awake, out o

l needs your

endeavour you

Bar

ER-F

of these our university men or bookish scholars return from school, after he hath there spent ten or twelve years under a pedant's charge: who is so inapt for any matter? who so unfit for any company? who so to seek if he come into the world? all the advantage you discover in him is that his Latin and Greek have ma

HAT ARE BR

r, as it were; he hath not drunk ink: his intellect is not replenished; he is only

NTIQ

s a novelty of this latter age; but a manuscript he pores on everlastingly, especially if the cover be all moth-eaten, and the dust make a parenthesis between every sylla

ANT BOOK

Codrus! is th

earning, and th

es with crimson

tus is a p

hee bound up

e them, devote

furniture. Met

ould be purchas

ned upholster

eather to fi

me peculiar

ecious triflin

est a seco

sport alon

ey who the mer

hicket where t

oks Lorenzo

ngth that it re

flown; when lo!

ection! What

st; for he the

house, nay want

generous ard

Greeks, and

rawn, and brought

d the bargain

of books ass

e the guardia

authors' li

erudite amb

ous, at high

d what Codrus w

ost, another

, who says th

ows, and Inde

to -- what

s who shuns the

contented wi

The Love

IBLIO

es, what restle

n, who feels t

tune cramp his

nch the spark by

lance his achi

copy, clad in

Book-case, with

ards, the tempti

rdin viewed,

ine immured i

ew, by happier

you, with talents,

obly, with j

sures from each

nk illumed his

ess defies the

ou infernal t

us starved on

us loads your

lzevirs, lik

forms amidst the

type the Gi

oni stamps h

ouvre opes it

ot lends his b

pes, and costly s

te charms your

lendid tablet

glorious thoug

e, the theme o

riot-blood, and

honours from th

am which mour

ft from every

ctor meaner pa

rgin's breadth h

road, the type

Homer roll the

e, or Tully ch

allas' ire, the

e, or near, t

exclaims, wit

rns in haste, a

Pybus rears h

s conceals its

nes in polish

margin spreads

stes, that edge

glare, and lull

oks, neglecte

ish in many

sh Midwinter

hyming sons,

ion, bent on

atalogue with

slim italics

are his arden

ns, in Tuscan

ger o'er obl

rest names from

n or Fletcher

o dressed he

rder, or the

lads, sung to

t for thrice thei

onoured dead b

ll sweet and blos

Shirley boast

rikes, by fits,

ms like midnight

oom succeeds, i

still meets so

ew his Paynter'

ief, while pens

relics of her

er, for which

earth, and secre

ch gems as M

ealth Aladdin

e in what mys

red bards have f

ldering tower, o

er, sweetest

ntimachus' fo

appho's still

hief the laug

th softest acc

in strains so

n has proved th

t less Science

wars remit the

st demands so

Julius, ye

s that saw our

ay oppressed th

pine seized the

ands defaced t

tatues and thei

hest, with anci

ous scrolls wer

anuscripts, pr

hurls' devou

lectors date t

sta's domes in

sled, may yet so

ides a book-co

t from Learnin

au displayed his

se, and told o

le words to p

rowd to prize a

ed, nor 'blushed

op now takes a

furniture, de

lsterers eye wi

pedant of an

rford, and by G

s, superbly g

injured volume

eads, in chro

r destined pag

counsel, and

roke, nor Field's

res, and one-e

aders seek t

busy fool, who

ows, with man

subjects of the

actions and the

ever in the

rn, in vain co

ate, and learn t

t to tame their

ion drags them

d of ease, and

nxious toil, it

oy, when first

volume, black wi

restless, like

f wit, or song

rings, new-bubbli

breast some pleas

ossi's terse an

ales awake a t

otley stores my

eading, and wit

tomes a gratef

t of Stanley's

ed, through fad

ets with gen

een delight, th

squin braves th

ins should tell

alls, inveterat

Demon claps hi

ocks, and scours

blasts, or summ

anger, and to

Margate every

oets long for s

des exclude the

reathe, and wat

averts, by ta

usings, and fro

checks the bett

arsals to prot

social rites o

rtfolio would

rhymes your patie

indness, drive

veller's hasty

lava on Ves

thunders from t

ires incite hi

s, while rattlin

ry saint for

zed, he seeks t

pt the dangerou

r. The Bi

IOSO

BIBLIOSOPHIA,-which I would define-an appetite for COLLECTING Books-carefully distinguish

s of superiority, which distinguish the Collector, when b

uisitive fraternity have agreed to consecrate the epithet 'curious'; and all of these-with the requisite allowance of cash, cunning, luck, patience, and time-he is within the 'potentiality' of drawing, sooner or later, within his clutches:-whereas the St

ng been printed, long before the Art had approached towards any tolerable degree of improvement; or, that it possesses some one, or more, of those curious advantages, upon which a fitter occasion for expatiating will present itself by and by:-and now, how stands the point of possession, with the Student?-unprosperously indeed!-for besides that, as already observed, he can never possibly possess, in his sense of that expression, more than a wretched modicum of his coveted treasures, he is doomed t

MES! RICHES

mes! riches

delicious

es rejoic

ds in rapt

wits and m

eamed throug

onscious leave

trust you wit

r hope of fa

!-you have n

y, and his volumes are still eagerly purchased, bearing his autograph on the last page. A celebrated amateur was Grollier, whose library was opulent in these luxuries; the Muses themselves could not more ingeniously have ornamented their favourite works. I have seen several in the libraries of our own curious collectors. He embellished their outside with taste and ingenuity. They are gilde

Y OF WE

when they keep it on their shelves. Their motley libraries have been called the madhouses of the human mind; and again, the tomb of books, when the possessor will not communicate them, and coffins

RTHY PR

I am an arrant bibliomaniac-that I love books dea

enounced your profession-you talk of reading books-do bi

BLIO

he gaiety and shrewdness of his remarks, the circle that more immediately surrounds him. Some there are who will not bid till Lepidus bids; and who surrender all discretion and opinion of their own to his universal book-knowledge. The consequence is that Lepidus can, with difficulty, make purchases for his own library, and a thousand dexterous and happy manoeuvres are of necessity obliged to be practised by him, whenever a rare or curious book turns up.... Justly respectable as are his scholarship and good sense, he is not what you may call a fashion

IABLE B

ch, he is respectable. He browses on the husk and leaves of books, as the young fawn browses on the bark and leaves of trees. Such a one lives all his life in a dream of learning, and has never once had his sleep broken by a real sense of things. He believes implicitly in genius, truth, virtue, liberty, because he finds the names of these things in books. He thinks that love and friendship are the finest things imaginable, both in practice and theory. The legend of good women is to him no fiction. When he steals from the twilight of his cell, the scene breaks upon him like an illuminated missal, and all the people he sees are but so many figures in a camera obscura. He reads the world, like a favourite

AILED

e takes part with his ignorance; and his self-importance rises with the number of things of which he does not know the value, and which he therefore despises as unworthy of his notice. He knows nothing of pictures,-'of the colouring of Titian, the grace of Raphael, the purity of Domenichino, the corregioscity of Correggio, the learning of Poussin, the airs of Guido, the taste of the Caracci, or the grand contour of Michael Angelo',-of all those glories of the Italian and miracles of the Flemish school, which have filled the eyes of mankind with delight, and to the study and imitation of which thousands have in vain devoted their lives. These are to him as if they had never been, a mere dead letter, a byword; and no wonder, for he neither sees nor understands their prototypes in nature. A print of Rubens' Watering-place, or Claude's Enchanted Castle may be hanging on the walls of his room for months without his on

QUARY'S

of a school Corderius.' ... 'Even I, sir,' he went on, 'though far inferior in industry and discernment and presence of mind to that great man, can show you a few-a very few things, which I have collected, not by force of money, as any wealthy man might,-although, as my friend Lucian says, he might chance to throw away his coin only to illustrate his ignorance,-but gained in a manner that shows I know something of the matter. See this bundle of ballads, not one of them later than 1700, and some of them a hundred years older. I wheedled an old woman out of these, who loved them better than her psalm-book. Tobacco, sir, snuff, and the Complete Syren, were the equivalent! For that mutilated copy of the Complaynt of Scotland, I sat out the drinking of two dozen bottles of strong ale with the late learned proprietor, who, in gratitude, bequeathed it to me by his last will. These little Elzevirs are the memoranda and trophies of many a walk by night and morning through the Cowgate, the Canongate, the Bow, Saint Mary's Wynd,-wherever, in fine, there were to be found brokers and traders, those miscellaneous de

t because it had them not. One was precious because it was a folio, another because it was a duodecimo; some because they were tall, some because they were short; the merit of this lay in the title-page-of that in the arrangement of the letters in

et with plenty of books than a king wh

NG A

but for their making me love the very books themselves, and delight to be in contact with them. I looked sideways at my Spenser, my Theocritus, and my Arabian Nights; then above them at my Italian poets; then behind me at my Dryden and Pope, my romances, and my Boccaccio; then on my left side at my Chaucer, who lay on a writing-desk; and thought how natural it was in C[harles] L[amb] to give a kiss to an old folio, as I once s

TERARY

e; the books I love because they are fair to look upon, prized by collectors, endeared by old associations, secret treasures that nobody else knows anything about; books, in short, that I like for insufficient reasons it may be, but peremptorily, and mean to like and t

RD T

ay among

f God was i

atues in

r Maximil

lumes from

, silent as

and will

storied p

re his l

heirs, how

ifeless b

, who was

avellers ha

or tarry

in what r

lanet, in

ast, aeri

light upo

gardens

weary fee

, whose la

land on t

sung, with

on's life,

uins of

perfect flo

t yesterda

ee their lo

they toll

ad beyon

d among t

f God in al

Long

INI

e different sets of persons who meddle with books, I subjoin the following definitions, as rendered in d

and colophons, and in editions; the place and year when print

criber of books and othe

cumulator, who blunders faster than h

s the only one in the class who appea

, by keeping them under lock, o

that it ought to be translated as a grave of books, and that the proper technical expression for the performer referred to by Rive is bibliotapht. He adds to the nomenclature bibliolyte, as a destroyer of books; bibliolo

EDITION

e editors are not blockheads; for they may profit of the former. But take care not to understand editions and tit

S SCHAFN

all your ped

what I hold

ck was so go

rubbish to cu

was a book

aper and bou

the white of

e birds sang

den I brough

he arbute a

help me grac

-page to c

chapter d

traveller cou

the morta

oceeded to

plum-tree w

build in, wer

moss, like a

e of the m

lip of gum,

rivate, there

in his lad

vice I droppe

he, as unde

bottom rain-dri

ul of blosso

ith, my books

ndoors, broug

, and a bottl

grass and f

y chapter o

orning, bet

locked our fr

d spun his

he midst wit

ity, for lea

undis, accen

oth I, as I

ed his delect

ve it, dry

binding all

spots where t

treaks that w

e so beautif

e droppings play

w toadstools gr

tuck in his

e it when the

used and brows

, eft, with se

one, for his r

beetle with grea

eggs the sta

rowed just so mu

top of his bla

fe and fun

ing and twisti

poor friend's lea

cracking and c

d carried so

se at Paris, Vi

m into a fr

he ballet with t

r! What, tormen

shall you take

r-beetle; husba

iche I have ma

prop you up, B.'

e grave with,

ach side, and F.

se till the J

ng. Garde

TUD

cient scro

soul in wi

a moment, s

whispering

th the stars

lf human, h

f (not to br

hand laid

l my heart

eat deeds o

ile with thos

fro a falt

theme I pon

between rig

check such v

little qui

solve the p

that myste

eave such rea

wo blue ple

best to giv

o save my

I turn asi

ps laid up

fled-the worl

ere is of pa

e closed up

old heart

sunbeams

always wrap

reams-they

to some tr

ream of the

r heed, or q

student, c

r hand as

eems to w

o anything

dream of twi

ing of an a

e Anne

NDLIN

ty if we just handle so as not to injure them, then return them to their proper places, and commend them to undefiling custod

y may neither be unclasped with precipitous haste, nor thrown aside after inspection without being

ashamed to eat fruit and cheese over an open book, and to transfer his empty cup from side to side upon it: and because he has not his alms-bag at hand, he leaves the rest of the fragments in his books.... He

adest margin about the text, they furnish it with a monstrous alphabet, or their unchastened pen immediately presumes to draw any other frivolous thing whatever, that occurs to their imagination.... There are also certain thieves who enormously dismember books by

precede reading, as often as he returns from his meals to study, before his fingers, besm

NS FROM

ry, which was made of imperishable Shittim wood, and covered all over inside and out with gold! But our Saviour also, by his own example, precludes all unseemly negligence in the treatment of books, as may be read in Luke iv. For when he had read over the scriptural prophecy written about

e leaf tu

left r

eare. Juli

TION D

e book loosened

illumined all w

tured with gras

ies and fresh

h flowers and

res well touch

a man whole that

it was garni

r with gold o

llions were worth

carbuncles the b

osaicum ever

writ

n. A Replyc

yong Sc

S TO B

by them, when you have done with them: neither suffer them through negligence to mould and be moth-eaten or want their strings and covers. King Alphonsus, about to lay the foundation of a castle at Naples, called for Vitruvius his book of architecture; the book was brought in very bad case, all dusty and without covers; which the king observing said, 'He that

S AND A GO

ook of love, th

him, only la

in the sea, and

out the fair

any eyes doth

asps locks in t

are. Romeo

THAN

? O ra

our fangled wo

at it covers:

be most unlike

d as p

speare.

LININGS, AND BO

hes, so likewi

forcing buckra

Her

-WO

ng cut, that seems to float amidst a satin sea of cream-(it is impossible to be watching after one's metaphors on such inspiring occasions)-roves, in gazing ecstasy, from page to page, till here and there arrested by the choice vignette or richly tinctured plate: at length, 'lassatus, necdum satiatus' with the beauties of the interior, he reverently cl

BIND

ght enjoys a

lves, in emblem

sparkle in th

mediums the rich

in scarlet, b

urnished gold, o

sed the owner's

rth-their age-an

ussia stands

rs not, nor vil

ing from its

r to these thri

arranged in

skill of many

se of sinew

ian leaves are

square as by

mpression of the

tawny calf a

d fillets beaute

de the virgin

old-as breast

the silken hea

maid with skil

ck falls loose,

page lies ope

traces the u

nts the forms o

works, as in

lendour by thei

accr

'll have them ve

love, see tha

e. The Taming

NATION I

The exterior of them (the things themselves being so common), strange to say, raises no sweet emotions, no tickling sense of property in the owner. Thomson's Seasons, again, looks best (I maintain it) a little torn, and dog's-eared. How beautiful to a genuine lover of reading are the sullied leaves, and worn out appearance, nay, the very odour (beyond Russia), if we would not forget kind feelings in fastidiousness, of an old 'Circulating Library' Tom Jones, or Vicar of Wakefi

self-reproductive volumes-Great Nature's Stereotypes-we see them individually perish with less regret, because we know the copies of

ere is that Pr

its light

astle, by his Duchess-no casket is rich enough, no casing

ny supposable emulation with it, are so much better than the Shakespeare gallery engravings, which did. I have a community of feeling with my countrymen about his Plays, and I like those editions of him best, which have been oftenest tumbled about and handled.-On the contrary, I cannot read Beaumont and Fletcher but in Folio. The Octavo editions are painful to look at. I have no sympathy with them. If they were as much read as the current editions of the other poet, I should prefer them in that shape to the older one. I do not know a more heartless sight than the reprint of the Anatomy of Melancholy. What need was there of unearthing the bones of that fantastic old great man, to expose them in a winding-sheet

se sapient trouble-tombs.-C. Lamb. D

BLE B

it from the insults of the vulgar, and the more cutting slights of the fair. But if it be a rare book, 'the lone survivor of a numerous race,' the one of its family that has escaped the trunk-makers and pastry-cooks, we would counsel a little extravagance in arranging it. Let no book perish, unless it be such

ey remind us of the pious liberality of the Catholics, who dress in silk and gold the images of saints, part of whose saintship consisted in wearing rags and hair-cloth. The costume of a volume should also be in keeping with its subject, and with the character of its author. How absurd to see the works of William

LLY TO

r the outside, is the proper relation between a man of se

SIDE OF

y, from repeated experience, a pure and unmixed pleasure to have a goodly volume lying before you, and to know that you may open it if you please, and need not open it unless you please. It is a resource against ennui, if ennui should come upon you. To have the resource and not to feel the ennu

MAY HOLD I

ble. 'Books,' said he, 'that you may carry to the fire, and hold readily

TRATIONS A

ard, had in all probability been alarmed by the images which the reading of these books had created; and I guess that it was from such frightful objects, rather than from the ghosts of his murdered brethren, that he was compelled to pass a sleepless night before the memorable battle of Bosworth Field. If one of those artists who used to design the horrible pictures which are engraved in many old didactic volumes of the period, had ventured t

IN BOO

ood-natured speculations as Plutarch's Morals. For most of these I like a plain good old binding, never mind how old, provided it wears well; but my Arabian Nights may be bound in as fine and flowery a style as possible, and I should love an engraving to every dozen pages. Book-prints of all sorts, bad and good, take with me as much as when I was a child: and I think some books, such as Prior's Poems, ought always t

ty F

lgrims suff

book; and even of the careless schoolboy hats, and the prim stomachers and cottage bonnets, of such golden-age antiquities as the Village School. The oldest and most worn-out woodcut, representing King Pippin, Goody Two Shoes, or the grim Soldan, sitti

RIVULET

er, Sir Benjamin, you

s and lampoons on particular people, I find they circulate more by giving copies in confidence to the friends of the

lize you!-you will be handed down to posterity

them on a beautiful quarto page, where a neat rivulet of text shall mea

BOOK

hrough the in

, make you

pect his lor

his golden

Bur

BOOK

, boy, we'l

, ravening b

parent Ear

orts it, wi

c hunger w

housand aut

he fields of

head with clu

ithout, and

to serve hi

nearly, le

e bards of

he vale o

e modern wr

orner fix

one he sli

is teeth a

him from his

shelter's fo

d Virgil,

leaf, from

he tadpole

he gilded e

scuds the

doubles, th

have him, ca

rute, whose

t servants

er offer

e in the a

nipped in

creon mourn

y Ovid wo

Lesbia's Sp

eeth have h

f love in

Belinda's

the Blouze

or every s

justice bid

a victim t

riest, my de

r, Virgil,

sacred a

hy hand outr

he plays that

me Philips'

our mortal

he victim,-t

tween his n

erable d

ripts just

t in my h

bation's y

poets! all

bread, as we

ey seek, and

illed with

riches spoi

make them

he weapon,

y tuneful pe

scales that a

thrice I pri

altar float

dies, and n

e son of Jo

tretched ben

monster's e

dangers thr

at sonnets

anslations o

this lobe is

efore the mo

efore I clo

altar shoul

adwell's s

hy pert and

forgive me

ed your work

leaves to wip

ay you plea

chance to wa

he songs of

e corpse, on

cales that b

studious m

y own inscr

y from the

n which the

ll, glorying

shelves, the

ance and H

of wit to r

ance and H

n one I se

who my la

the triumph

born to ve

e grand all

Par

MO

holds in t

beauty, se

distichs ro

d shattered s

sulting conq

heaps of r

mounted, vi

harmonious

mself from

odged, in ve

(?) Bibl

E FOR B

a sort of

he fairest

holes throu

gh every le

merits naug

hey aught

ss tooth will

atriot, sag

ng wit no

'd know the

f reasons

to the po

snuff, or '

calf they m

ould sons

rankling rep

let their bo

he worms

M. Dov

TRONAGE

ce at Court at Windsor, praised the work of a writer who had translated a German book into English, s

my name, for fear I have judged ill: I picked it up on a st

me,' said Mrs. Del

er; and if they are not to be had at the bookseller's, they are n

TREA

grumbling opened his shop, and by the twinkling taper (for he was setting bed-wards) lighted out the relic from his dusty treasures-and when you lugged it home, wishing it were twice as cumbersome-and when you presented it to me-and when we were exploring the perfectness of it (collating you called it)-and while I was repairing some of the loose leaves with paste, which your impatience would not suffer to be left till daybreak-was there no pleasure in being a poor man? or can those neat black clothes, which you wear now, and are

T VALUA

hat has been coveted for a year at a bookstall, and bought out of saved halfpence; and perhaps a day or two'

RS AT THE

g tenderly, page after page, expecting every moment when he shall interpose his interdict, and yet unable to deny themselves the gratification, they 'snatch a fearful joy'. Martin B--, in this way, by daily fragments, got through two volumes of Clarissa, when the stall-keeper damped his laudable ambition, by asking

boy with

ook upon

as he'd de

the stall-m

boy I hear

you never

one you sha

d slowly on a

ever had been

rl's books he shoul

gs the poor

r can the

rceived a

as if he'd

hat day at

old meat in a

then thought I,

onging, thus w

ice of dainty

wish he ne'er ha