New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-09-16
NAN oRIGINN EDITION.

book, I'd never even heard o4pt, ana though, oil
course. the name of its autlor, Jean jacques
Rousseau, familiar enougiAto my. cars knew
little enough really of either Nmsclf or his writ
inos 10 desire 10 possess any az his works. BE-
yond a vague idea that he was aaGelebrated author
aud rather bad lot, | quite ignorant An
other thing too which prciudceame against the
man was that having ito my mindAt misfortune
20 be born a Frenchman, he habieiaily wrote IN
the French language
Now am not good linguist; the French Ian
ruage and indeed every other, except the one
which is my mother tongue IS TO me comparatively
unknown. ,.u
away and rcceding into the Inn distance of the
past Of painful and Intellectual struggles with GER
tain odious and irregular verbs the result OF whcn
was failure ana many n weary hour spent Ill tic
company of a slate and French grammar, wniie
the shouts of my schoolmatcs were borne by the
breeze upon nv longing cars from the playground
or the cricketield to the lonely schoolroom. where
sat immured, the victim of vlndlctlve verb
Consequently became possessed OF leeIlns OF
unutterable contempt for the benighted being VINO
voluntarily submitted 10 be born Frenchman
and form one of a nation which commonly spoke
of toothbrush as she, ana lndulgeu III the iih-
becility of a masculine muStard-pot
Have / advanced sufficient arguments 10 show
why /. above all people, should be free from the
weakness Of desiring 10 possess q work IN IAN
guage the understanding of which would involve
the necessity of searching out the meaning OF
every other word IN dictionary, t d,iidcr 80,
original edition. octave. bound n-what
couldn't exactly say; il wasn't calf but had rather
the appearance Of vcllum or parchment OF some
description, as far as | could Judge, who was no
connoisSeur of books or bindings Just the sort
Of thing you Will say, TO make an antiquarian's
mouth water. only l was no antiquarian, and my
bookcase, such it was rcjoiced IN goodly array
of books bound in all the colors of the rainbow,
blue and green and red. together with not neon
siderable number of the two-shilling railway
novels. such my soul loved When bought
book liked it to be brand new, with gilt edges,
and got up in q style which reflected credit on It's
pcssessor: none of your secondhand rubbish Tor
Why on earth, then. did buy that book which
didn't want in a language couldn't understand;
written by man knew nothing about? ASKED
myself at the tine and ask myself now, why
did do il ? and give the only answer have ever
been able TO give, at that or any other tlme-l
don't know and never shall know.
/ was walking calmly and peacefully along,
taking the middle of the road in preference to the
path which involved iostlng and being lostled
ny others who were IN hurry Inemseves , ana
on my hands. ] was walking. l repcst up the
middle of the narrow Thorough farc with my hat at
the back Of my head and my hands IN my pockets;
az peace with myself and the world: Even toward
those who came into collision with me- who trod
on nv toes vicously and polIed me in the ribs
aggressvelV had no feelings save that of gentle
pity, TO think that they so little understood the
art of taking things easily. when suddenly my eye
which, though the top shelf Of shop window.
and of no great size or of particularly alluring
aspect, seemed to stand out from its fellows and
forciby compel my attention.
Du Contrat Social. on Principles du Drcit Po-
htique, was what read on the tite-paSe and at
the same time ] WAS seized with perfectly ire
siStible and unaccOuntable desire to possess the
volume ] came to a full stop in The middle Of the
roadway, causing an impollte remark to issue from
the lips OF a stout gentleman carrying basket OF
strawberries, who walking Immediately behind
me. did not resent the remark: indeed, when
the strawberries rolling IN the gutter, felt
that under the circumstances 1t was even lusu-
fable.
] did not help him to pick them up, perhaps
should have done, for | was too much occu-
pied in feeling in my pockets and
making an inventory Of their contents Seventeen
and-sX cigar holder cracked, three baded
Euifc fvVo fnoflpicES and a loIPh-K OV the
sum total There was no p.ice marked on the
book, strange 20 say though all its companions
duly ticletcd. Did that moan that its value
was far above rnhie> or that no reasonable
. offer would he refused
was now standing on the pathway staring hard
~ the bait, which somehow or othe:. without my
having the iaintcSt idea why exercised such a
powerful influence over me-; then all at il
struck me what an cgresious ass was to think
of throwing away my money in purchasing what
didn't want and didn't want the thing in the
least. no, not l. So, jamming my hat firmly over
my eyes an expression Of determination and tax
ing my hands out OF my pocket. | set of al a
good round pace, for il might have been fifty
yards. more or less, probably less, when / suddenly
came 10 2 full stop II was no good | was think
wondering what il about (which never sue
ceeded in finding out, and to whom it had be-
ionged originally Hang it ALL | thought 10
myself I'll go and ask what the price is. Per
haps-and there was sense Of relief in the dea-
it's more than scventecn-and-SiX. old and shabby
a. 1t looks though | was not 50 Ignorant as TO
lie unaware that. generally speaking, it is the
oldest books which fetch the highest prices.
This time ] entered boldly a. the doc. of the
dark little den, which was piled from floor 10
ceiling with volumes OF every description and size
Tho proprietor was an unwashed gentleman of the
llebrac type, whO emerging from a background
Of much dust and cobwebS had the air Of n
species Of human spider in greasy smo1ing-cap !
and carpet slippers. To him. aftes prctencc of
turning over and examining Of tho mouldv- |
looking volumes which Uttered the counter, put
the question. Oh-cr-what do you want for that
book of what's-h'S-names? French chap you |
lUOVr-ROUS 1lp name I tbiDl, in f,n
window. ] don't particularly want it but if it's |
going cheap don't mind | stopped short for |
'he old reptile WIS regarding me with look /
couldn't understand. in which eXultation seemed /
10 struggle with malice and produce result which
was q, unbecoming 10 himself it TO the !
Social Ccnt.act"9 Nh, there is a book, most
rare book. \ hook that is worth its weight in
gold Thcrc H. probably not its fellow to be found
in this courtr-or any other Il bade mental /
farewell 10 thS literary treasured 1t is, in fact
unique o. H. j nd.
Well | said If it is such a rage and curious |
edition all tiiat I'm afraid shent be able n
afford it; though I don't know why you should
set so much stose by it; it ISN'T much 10 look at
at any rate the bindings nothing
To my surprise this innocent remark appeared TO
cause HIM the most profound and exquisite amuSc |
mcnt. Is / looked II hlr in establishment. his !
di-fv saliow complexion hcrt,re sunused with a |
purple tincc. the veins in d.. forehead sWcfled as
though they would bu.s;, ana SOFT of hoarse |
Wheeling sound bo-e evidence that some inward |
disturbance WIS tsNiHS pi.'c
The binding he croakcd a. last, the good |
gentleman objects 20 the binding. ! assure him |
the binding is most uncommon and costly beyond |
anything of the SOFT ever met with All right |
J thought 10 myself 90 On-plc IL up It's quite |
evident that he's going 20 ask something quite |
beyond my means, the lying old impostor' In |
fact he continued with fcndisb chuclIc, which
would have done credit 10 Birnaby Ridges raven,
1t is an edition dc luxe" and the price is
looking me up and down from NJ hat, which had
seen considerable wear, 10 M boots which had
been re-soed twice, the price lS-three-and-siX.'
BY Jove! / thought 10 myself, what n come
down after the rhapsody he'd been indulging in
Somehow / didn't seem 10 much for the
book now that il within my reach Three
and-sx = and moved toward the door i don't
know, after all, that / about the thing
L
Bat, my good gentleman he continued, in
tones Of anxiety. consider what bargain
al Cd ,fo