New-York tribune., 1878-06-26
RRh1KING UP!

There is nothing gathered togeShet "I''H
not be scattered-libraries museums picture s"i
leries stately halls of sculpture. all at some Ir o
indefinite PERIOD will be stripped OF thelr eo"1cue'
and themselves fall into ruin We do not emo" VIZ, WY
Mr.. r. O. Bohn. theeminent bookseller, has resolved
TO sell his fine collection of ceramics, the pest'
largest. and most costly, it is said, in England
perbans he has a new craze; possibly he may Dc
changing his house. aud has no room in the new one
for his pots, vases. plates, and tea cupsi
perbaps he wants the money which they
will hiring for other uses This danger
of dispersion is tho one great drawback TO tne
pleasure of gathering odd and rare things man,
for instance spends goo part OF his hfetiae' anu
possibly more money than he can afford, in getthg
together "A library. He haunts stalls; lie attenus
auctions; he dives into cellars; he studies cat%
Iogues and at last when his frenzy is at its height
he begins to buy duplicates, or at least TO mulupIy
editions upon his shelves All his walls are hned
all his floors are heaped all bis closets are crowoed
with books from stately folios to little twentytours'
while greatsheaves Of pamphlets, audpOssibly heavy
flesof newspapers demand their share Of house room
The exauisite pleasure of adding to this enormous
mass of printed matter the joy OF feeling that
though he should read for a century he could never
read it ALL the sense of incompatible wealth AKIN
TO that of the mser handling his heaps OF gOld-who
can know these save through practical and ex-
pensive experience The bibliomaniac is laughed
at. but little he cares for that. We may know now
ridiculous his folly is, but he cannot so ne
goes on, buying borrowing never to return
stealing sometimes, it must with mortihcatlon
be ad nitted-and for what 7 For what but the
inevitable auction No doubt the possession of
good library greatly pro!ongs life, for bookish
atmosphere is healthy one to breathe but pale
n FOO eLq At be
man of many a Sch6Her or Fr1benius, as well as
al that of him whose whole collection consists only
Of Bible and Webster's Dictionary.
Now. it is not often that a book collectors
wife and children share in his peculiar tastes
the good woman who has groaned for
years at the increasing clntter, and who
has asked ironically where she is TO put the
latest purchases, has now her mild revenge She
sends for an auctioneer; he makes a catalogue; he
carries off all the property by the cart-load there
is a sale and there ia a mournful scattering. The
Ghost Of the departed virtncso, if permitted to at
tend The auction. must suffer dreadfuy one pre-
cous volume after another is disposed Of for tithe
Of what il cost Here there, everywhere, 60 the
treasured books which were so long companions;
strangers viii glance at the book-plate, and then
deliberately proceed to etflce it, while neat bind
ngs Will grow dusty the street stalls, and con
siderable part Of the pamphlets and newspapers go
to the paper mills
As il is with books so il is with pictures, engrav
ings, autographs, coins and crockeries The disad-
vantage of this is that frequently the world loses
tho opportunity Of studying the mind OF an able
man as exhibited in his collections. The advantage
il that il gives other collectors chance. How Is
one ever to have unique.f Libraries are never sold
and dspersedi Always keeping them together
would be like putting all the gold in the world into
an immense vault, locking Il mp and throwing
away the key. rcnlaton is the condition OF col
lecting Breaking up Of Libraries is the life of that
charming dissipation. The books 20 from those
who would not care for them, cannot afford
to keen them. TO those who bid them
CHEEKY welcome will dust them, arrange
then. rebind them, do anything but read them
For a true book collector does not need TO peruse
volume from tite-page t2 colophon to know what Is
IN IT, He arrives at his knowledge of IL by smelling
If IT, by measuring It, by colatiug its pages and by
lovingly putting 1t upon the shelf, so that he NAV
gaze his il at the ribbed aud golden back. SO we
VIII not mourn TOO much NJ the dispersion OF col
lections But for this we should be without the
generous guild of secondhand booksellers. those
paragons Of honorable tradesmen, who were never
known to charge sixpence more for book than Its
worth.
Those who are Just now manly possessed Dy the
craze for old pottery, may rest assured that their
treasures will not fare any better than the books
Nav. hardly so well Tuere is nd fashion about
book collecting; what it IN the days of monas-
teries il is uow aud it will contnue 10 be followed
So long as the art preServatye of arts Is itself pre-
served Yes; there are auctions for everything
The only way to save collection is to give it to
library or museum, and dire experience has shown
that even this is not certain resource. But
the fascinating joy Of acqmriug-therc Us nothing
which can take that away only death itself can
stop it. Only death; for who does not know that
approximate insolvency is no bar TO the pursuit !
A man who cannot buy the costly can buy the
obeap. and sometimes the cheap turns out TO be
beyond price. Talk of death TO happy youth in the
full dush of its carly strength. but do not talk of
giving up his hobby TO a collector! He will buy
old shop-bls rather than buy nothingI Leave
him TO his pleasant # Improbable devices
When statesmanke persons at Washington wish