St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-01-06
CHATS WITH A BIBLIOPH|LE
Men Who Know Books, as Lords, by
Their Titles.
2
BUYING BY COVERS ALONE.
Z ~
, II
Books Bound in Human Skin---Purcnas-
+. ers Who Consider Looks of Their
IS Shelves.

For collector to be versed in ancient
and modern book lore requires great
amount of close study and scientific
research. There is the man who thinks
| he is posted, and the man who really is.
The former enters with sclf-satisfied
air and an evident desire to impress
upon every one the immensely of his
knowledge. A good illustration of this
occurred the other day, when a would
be bibliophile entered and inquired for
the last edition of Shakespeare, and, on
the proprietor bandly showing him
Bacon's works, he failed to see the
Joke. Swift's saying, .'Some men know
books as they do lords, learn their titles,
then brag of their acquaintance" would
particularly apply to such people. The
real man of letters has quiet, unob-
trusive way; yet nothing escapes his
eye-not even the remotest corner IS left
unsearched, lest it should contain some
hidden treasure. And his eager en-
thusiasm on finding rare old volume,
of little apparent value to an ordinary
reader, but priceless to him, being the
first edition of one of his favorite
authors. is truly refreshing in an age
where the ruling passion of man seems
to be an Unsuitable thirst for gold.
The genuine book-lover is oblivious
to a WORKOUT binding; indeed, the more
ragged the cover the surer passport to
his affections has the book, bringing to
him thoughts not only of the author.
butlof those who may have scanned its
pages as eagerly as himself, and to
whom it may have been as treasured
possession.
DR.. Thomas Ward says ''books may
be called ancient bottles where in skins
of the goat, the sheep and the calf are
stored the rarest wines expressed and
fermented of the human BRAIN" Over
the front of an ancient Egyptian library
in the time of Rameses Ill. were craven
these expressive words: s'The nourtsh-
ment of the SOUL" To the true biblio-
/ phile they are still more, his dearest
i friends, where in moments sad OF merry
he can find ready welcome and con-
ISOLATION beyond the power of man.
The would-be collector in his arrant
ignorance values far more highly
handsomely bound edition of Able
Constantine than rare old volume of
the fourteenth century. A customer
remarked one day on seeing some
fnely-bound reports: ooh, must buy
them for my library! They would be
so nice on the shelveS!" And on being
told what they were, said; sob, that
doesn't matter as long as the binding is
fine. We haven't time to read half the
books we buy, anyway" Speaking of
binding, it is rather curious how many
different materials are used. ALI sorts
of cloth, paper. sheepskin, calfskin, and
even human skin.
u Strange as this latter assertion may
sound, it is strictly true. In 1872. a
| fy1fio rxe fl,oE oI,
Republic, 1894, bound in human skin,
was offered for sale at the Hotel de
EVentes, in Paris, and historians cite
several cases of the same binding. A
|, Russian poet is said to have presented
his Iady-loye with his works, bound in
the skin of his leg, which had been
amputated short time before. This
latter fact might prove valuable hint
to morbid people who favor cremation
as means of obtaining relic of tie
departed. The bindings Of the early
English books were composed of
wooden boards covered with leather,
and lined with parchment. Later, the
boards were discarded and a pad COM
posed of paper, lined with vellum, sub
stituted.
0sBut the march of progress in this art,
as mall others, kept steadily on till the
Vafleu SIyleS OF tLt pftScut uey MCt0
reached. In reading, as in binding,
Madame Fashion holds the sway. The
rage of the reading public at present is
biography and autobiography, and the
demand far exceeds the supply. The
sensation which some particular book
creates is due far more to the state OF
the public mind at the time OF its publi-
cation than the real worth of the book.
Robert EIsmere, the latest star on the
literary horizon, has nearly reached it's
zenith, and will, in few years. time,
be remembered only as the beginning
of great argument.
G. D. RAYMER.
HF.nra.-oJ;c Ton