The Louisiana populist., 1895-04-19
A LITERARY GHOUL.
CREATURE WOULD
NOT BE MISSED.
He Is q Most Audacious Wretch-He
Defaces Your Treasures, Costs You
No End of Worry and Perhaps steasl
Your Books.

From time to time a plaintiff letter
addressed to the papers, or an adver-
tisement peremptorily assertive, re-
minds us of the existence of the literary
! thief, the wolf in sleeps clothing, who
borrows books from his friends, and
hastens not to return them. The fact
Of his being a friend makes ii the more
annoying. If he were an acquaintance
merely, a letter beginning Sir or
Madam, indeed printed form. demand
ing the return of specified volumes.
migha be forwarded to him when a de-
cent time after the loan had been made
haa elapsed. But seeing that he is
something more, he must be treated as
such. Even a hint may be taken with
resentment; the narrow line separating
excellent good camaraderle from out
ragged feelings is so easily bridged that
bold indeed is he who endeavors to re-
cover his severed property by sich
humble sentence as IF you havv, quite
finished with it Cor them) l sho,ild like
to have that book or Ohose books of
mine back. please.
Among the minor irritations of book
lending, the usage they receive at the
hands of borrowers may surely count.
Some people swathe all their volumes in
brown paper or linen. rendering their
shelves unsightly in order to preserve
the backs Of their volumes. Others like
and encourage the signs of age and
usage that oft-read and handled books
gain, just as the toilworn hands OF
faithful servants. or the gray hairs OF
devoted parents, touch and please
them. But in the same way that they
would hate upon either signs of i'll
treatment, the bleary eyed and bloated
countenance, so upon their books do
they resent tributes of unfair usage at
the hands Of their friends. Breathes
there the man or woman upon whom the
sight of blotch of ink, the circle OF
dirty tea cup or saucer. or meaningless
indefinite scratches upon even half
favorite tome would not produce revul-
sion and extreme annoyances? Yet the
book ghoul hesitates not to place these
impressions Of his connection with his
friends property upon it, with the con-
sequence that when the self-sacrificial
lender of books receives them back
! again. he has to put up with. and bear
as best he can. the outrages to which
the volumes have been subjected. One
sympathizes with the rule made by
some people. indulgent enough to lend.
indeed, but not of faith sufficient to
lend unguardedly, who, with the vol
ume issues the proviso: "Please cover
while you read it,"
There is a book ghoul of the exterior
and there is book ghoul of the interior
nd hn fc In, fra
ton. and then, alas and alack, the day
for the unfortunate owner! For in ad-
dition to the horrible treatment just
mentioned, he makes the further out
rage of dog-ears and penciled passages,
nay, even of commentaries, and. more
horrible still, of thumb marks scrawled
upon the margins. Audacity pure and
simple is 1t for a man or woman to
write upon the book that is lent, unless
and the exception must be most mar
rowly taken-the friendship that exists
between owner and borrower is of the
closest and longest character. For. be
1t recollected, that apart from the I'M
sightliness of marginal marks, there is
an ambiguity about them that is excess
sively irritating to the next reader of
the book and those who follow. Why
should this passage or that word be
scored? Can any one, save the near
friend. even guess the reason? 1t is un-
fair to the author and unfair to the Pc
ruser, as we'll as unfair to the possessor
Of the book, to mark it. The result is
the taking off of the next readers
thoughts from the subject matter of the
volume, the undue excitement and be-
wilderme ntof his mind and the deface-
ment of the pages-three unpleasant
and undesirable happenings.
Marked by its owner a book is not de-
faced. His marginal notes, his scored
passages, are but the testimonies of his
regard or interest for that which he has
read. He sets down reminders upon the
pages of happy studious hours, and
should his friend who loves him be
privileged to see the copy and his marks
the deep interest he feels in him will re-
ceive spur light will be thrown upon
his character, and a metaphorical hand |
clasp will result. For to know those we
love is surely highest bliss, and perhaps
this suitable way of making his ac-
luaintance beyond the husk of his outer |
personality, besides being a most en-
chanting method, is also a sure one. |
Herein is set forth the great difference |
between an owner and a borrower. The |
conduct of both must be different en-
tirely. Alas. this undoubted truth is
only too often forgotten.
Why. after all, should books be bor-
rowed? Why should they not? may
very well be asked. OF course, ones |
humanitarian principles would teach us
that they should; but when a privilege |
Is so grossly mishandled as it is, the first |
question forces itself upon one. Pici-
ures are not borrowed. neither are car
pets or chairs, or clothes. What i'm
pertinence most Of us would think it |
were We suddenly asked to lend our
treasured Millais, our Chelsea figure. or |
our piece of Chippendale. Yet our Mil
ton goes-and perhaps never returns
and no more is left to us than to sigh |
and perhaps to advertise. or, If to re-
ceiye again. in all likelihood in other