, 1877-08-01

8UH1JN4 L1HKANIES.
From - LnfesbfHsA." BY Ltltnes r. Frthfs
/ think 1t wns jean Paul who said hc always
looked On library ab 1car,lcl conversation.
Bu. thc1e aro libraries aud libraries II. L. told
me he oucc found foolish, pedantfc old MILL
tonniro curlcd up In q luxurious apartiucnt,
walled With richly.bound Looks, not ono Of
which ho had ever read, but oil OF which he pre-
tended to havo dcvourctl. L. says that, when he
entered this room, bcstuddcti With g'ittcring
tones, tue proprietor exclaimed: s.And so you
llavc found mo out at lost, aiono with my booksi
Here's wl'cro hide away from tho fa,nily, day
after day. and nabody's none tho wtscrl'
Plcrco Egan has MI ancgsloto Of anotll-
cs "lItcrary eharaetcr," which I quote
in. this connection without comment:
"a 1ndy. resident in .Dcvonshirc, gotng Into
llad found bis way fnto t.e room and cnre:llly
closed tic door upon himself lie llal evidently
not been l0nG In this situation before lle hail
nihbicd part Of cicero's urattons, antl eaten
nearly all the Index Vi folio edltioti ol Sc1leca
III Latin, q large Pnrt of volume Uf La nruy-
crc's Mnxims IN French, aiId sGycral pages Ut
'Cccilh.' Ho bad done no other mischief What
Tic library OF old sir John Dnnyers, "a
dcsrribcd bY bcrnanl, must ttayo been q
curiosity. 1t abounleti with tho best works of
the best authors, but there sas not ouu pcrfcct
volume tn Il: So eager had been s'r Jnhn III
had Inspected every bo0k In hfs collection, and,
wherever passage pleased him, he ture out tho
leaf Anl thrust 1t In lis ja,ckct!
There nrc sotnU household libraries which.
once visited can never b. f0rgUttcu. Il. W. haa
one, "iilcu to oycrllowIng with delight" You
cann0t ruoyc al,ont It anywhere and not b. en-
chantul. Thcre Is scarcuIy an edition Of any
ltcrury work worth owning that cannut bc dls-
covered OH Ills shelves, a,ld II yuu have yvar
at your disposal 1t Is tuIe too Ioug to spend III
that "house ot fame" DIS collection Is rIrs
oee, but he will tnsist on telling you tie coat Of
cxuspcrate you with financial ralucs when you
only wish for literary chtimaies. What do I
cure how muel. hs pail IN gold d" for thp hintl-
inss Of Ills various shakspcarrat It is tho I'M
glortes on the outside! Arsiaa tells u tic
urecks thought It n calamity to dis without
having seen tho olymptsA zcua by phfdtas, and
D.; a. tho samu opini9n Ct shoso unhappy mon;
Ills sutupsuous HORACE in uayday's magnificent
mDrucc.j.
Thu btogsapher Of Dickens {John Forstcs) had
Lamb calls "tsreat Naturp's slercotypes," tho
'seteEne" coplea Tint ncycr cau rrow stale os
unprolurtlyc, aud to have snent q day in 1t witt,
thu Mst tur Indicator, and DIckcns for cocn-
thMsast, Ia amcnory forever Manuseripts OF
!;ol4s,.,ttA, swltt, Juhnson, stcrau, AtiuIso,,,
Burke. Fi.ldImg, und snollctt, together with
~ 1fnf t.Yss INT 81 s9d o3,e cGppsflstd"
tic sa,nc glnwlug lunA aud brain, wcra not to
be hunilvd without thriill
II once bud tlis privilege of walking stout In
Vonsxurth's ltorary, md leil't: shown hy shu
post himself many u the icwrIa It rnnt2lne.l.
rcrxll whit saw aud heard tllerU with kind
Vt trussK,rt even n,w, although It IL Inure thau
twenty y-tyc years slIte stood beside the yc1,er-
nbc authur Ut t'Tnc Excurslul." while l.e ta,.lt-
I'd uut III tho tnarE!ns Ut its books wilat Coe-
ridge, l.utnL, a,nl e',utAcy l'a4l notcu tiers.
Lord ilousl'toM's iii'rary, also, Is QUE Of tho
most a.l,actlyt iq EugIal.i especially In poetry
AMI autographs. Alexander Dycr, tEiu editor vi
''beaulI,0nt un Flct.llcr," had nlaEyeIs to show
.nu in hia tine old lHUk.roonls ln GrRy's i'm,
| thirty years agu. but PERHAPS tho ,uost inter
estlnE to inc of all tic private libraries hare
ever keeu IN England was the 4lall collection Of
cliarlra al.l slary lamu, Witch Edward Mo1ul,,
thc publisher, unlocked Ius me Wien waa tlr.i
III England, tcf1rc tho ts,oka were dlspersel, ID
they never ought to have BEEN. Then and tleru
| lovingly bundled his Kit Marlowc, l,ia Drum
rlou1 0t ti!awtL.of.le.s, his ursytun, his cowiuy,
snd hts burton ! remember h}w S1o1on's
wllulu family stued around that "Ltfs u thu
Duke VI Newcastle hy tts Duchess" and told
| st0res Ut Lnul6's enthusiasm over tue book, q
volume about which he has written. No cuskct
ID rIch enough, no rasipg sufficiently dura1lc, tu
honuE aud keep safc such y fuwel"