The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-11-10
OUR KALEIDOSCOPE.
ED r.. PRITCHARD, MANIPULATION.

am the possessor of a small, mis-
cellaneous library, comprising, all told,
less than three hundred volumes. l
have always set great store by my
books; but the other night / began
figuring up what this small collection
had cost me, and naturally the thought
came to me: what could l get for
these loved companions should l be
compelled to part with them. A lit
tie reflection soon convinced me that
books are much like jewelry, once in
your possession and their value-I
mean their market value-is lessened
at least three fourths. To realize this
one has only to make the rounds of
the second hand bookstalls.
We will suppose you have Macau-
lays England" in five volumes, for
which you have paid ten dollars.
After owning them one month you
are compelled to sell them. You are
lucky indeed to get fifty cents volume.
The next day you can see them dis
played in the shopkeeper's window as
"rare bargain" for four dollars.
Rather discouraging, is it not? just
so. But now to the point. The av-
erage man does not value his books by
what they cost him in dollars and
cents. The student and scholar do not
buy books as financial investment !;
at least they do not buy them as the
stock Spectator does his stocks and
bonds, to sell again.
So the man who buys books because
he loves them, who reads and digests
their contents enriches himself, besides
having the pleasure of owning prop
erty that is to him, at least, so valu-
able that It's worth can hardly be
measured by dollars. 1 might say q
word, too, on the subject of one mans
misfortune contributing to another's
pleasure. Mayhap you, yourself, have
purchased some rare volume at the
second hand stall at a price that
warmed the cookies of your heart,
though you did not at the time, and
perhaps not at all, give thought to
the pangs of sorrow 1t may have cost
some one at parting with friend !;
yes, dear friend, in whose company
had been spent many happy hours.
So it is that the lights and shadows of
life are always blending each into the
other. Who shall say that the effect
is not more perfect and harmonious
whole after all?
1 have just finished reading of the
"Wishing Cap" papers, by Leigh
Hunt, which have only recently been
collected and issued In book form by
Lee & Shepard, Boston. A very
charming series of essays and letters
they are, too. To Leigh Hunt, I be-
ieve, belongs the honor of having
given to dramatic criticism place in
English literature; and many of his
essays on plays and players of his day
are wonderfully like the dramatic
criticisms of the present time. Per-
haps / should be more just to the
gifted and charming editor of the
Tattser and say that some of our best
dramatic writers Of to. day write won
derfully like Mr.. Hunt did over half q
century ago.
For instance, in 1880 the editor Of
the Tattler wrote little essay ON
"Bonnets in the Theatre" in which he
gallantly yet firmly insisted that the
ladies should remove their towering
headgear ON entering . place Of amuse-
ment. 1t seems, too, that the ladies In
those days (lsSo) wore enormous bows
of ribbons which protected sideways,
and overlapping with their neighbors,
left no loophole for an unfortunate
man who sat In. . rear seat to go be-