Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-11-27
LITERARY GHOULS.
CREATURES WHO CAUSE YOU NO
END OF ANNOYANCeS.
Most Audaeious Fellows. Who Defaces
Your Treasures and Perhaps Steal Your
Books - What n Difference When the
Owner Marks y Book,


Books = What a Difference When the
Owner Marks Book.
From time to time plaintive letter ad
dressed To the papers, or an advertisement
peremptorily assertiye, reminds 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 II friend makes Ii the
moro annoying. II he were an acquaint,
ance merely, u letter beginning sir or
madam, indeed u printed form, demand
ing the return of specified volumes, might
be forwarded to him when n decent time
after tho loan had been made had elapsed.
But seeing that he Is something more he
must be treated rs such. Even hint may
be taken with resentment. The narrow
line separating excellcnt good camaraderie
from outraged feelings Is SO easily bridged
that bold indeed Is he who entlcavors to re-
cover his severed property by such hum.
bio sentence as III you have quite finished
with 1t Tor them), l should like to have
that book Tor those books) of mine back,
please"
Chesterfield, u Bayarl, a Gandlson, a
Crichton, could scarcely risk tho saying OF
suoh sentnece with impunity. That
which Is our own, when lent, Is less ours
than the persons to whom we intrusted
1t. So rather than keep in n book list of
the volumes with which we have parted,
with tho dates of lending and tho names
of those to whom lent, let us refuse abso-
lutely to one and all u plea for borrowing
This selfish plan Is the only one that can
savo lis completely from tho loss of books
1t may also save us from other annoyances.
Among the minor irritations of book
lending the usage they receive at tho hands
of borrowers may surely count. Some peo-
ple swathe all their volumes In brown pa
per or linen, rendering their shelves un-
slightly In order To preserve tho backs OF
their volumes. Others like and encourage
the signs Of ago and usage That oft read
and handled books gain, just as tho toll
worn hands of faithful servants or the
gray hairs of devoted parents touch and
pleasure them. But in the same way that
they would hato upon either signs OF i'll
treatment, tho blsary eyed and bloated
countenance SO upon their books do they
resent tributes of unfair usage at the hands
of their friends.
An owner of books can do with them
what ho will. 1t Is perhaps tho sign of a
reverential possessor, rather than that of a
! literary lover, should books be met IN
shelves with the outer covering paper upon
them, and for this reason one would prefer
to see them thus clad than smeared with
ugly marks other than those bestowed by
respectable and cleanly middle or old age.
But for borrowers so to sully the backs Is
objectionable. Ono sympathizes with the
rule made by some people, indulgent
enough to lend indeed, but not of faith
sufficient to lend unguardedly, who, with
the volume, issue the proviso, "Please cov-
er while you read it.
There is a book ghoul of the exterior. and
there is book ghoul Of the interior. Sc y
times indeed he is in combination and
then, alas and alack, the day for the un-
| fortunate ownerl For, in addition to the
horrible treatment just mentioned, he
makes the further outrage of dog ears and
penciled passages-nay, even of con- men
taries, and moro horrible still, of thumb
marks scrawled upon the margins Au-
dacity pure and simple Is 1T for a man or a
woman to write upon the book that is
lent, unless-and the exception must be
most narrowly taken-the friendship that
| exists between owner and borrower is of
the closest and longest character. For, be
1t recollected, that apart from the insight
llDeSS OI IndfSlnal 1lihrkS, bucfb Is an llIl-
biguity about them that is excessively irri-
tating 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 reasonP 1t
Is unfair to the author and unfair to the
peruser, as well as unfair to the possessor
| of the book, to mark it. Tho result Is the
taking off Of the next readers thoughts
from the subject matter of the volume, the
undue excitement and bewilderment of his
mind and the defacement of the pages
three unpleasant and undesirable happen
ings.
Marked by its owner, u book Is not de-
faced. His marginal notes, his scored pas
sages, 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 receive II 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 acquaintance beyond the husk
of his outer pesonality, besides being a
most enchanting method, is also a sure
/ one. Herein lS Seb lOrtn inc RfedU ulHer-
ence between an owner and a borrower.
The conduct of both must be different en-
tirely. Alasl this undoubted truth Is only
too often forgotten.
Why, after all, should books be borrow
| ed? Why should they not? may very well
be asked. OF course ones humanitarian
principles would teach us that they should,
but when privilege is SO grossly mishan-
died as 1t is tho first question forces itself
upon one. Pictures are not borrowed; ;
neither are carpets nor chairs nor clothes.
What impertipence most of us would think
| 1t were we suddenly asked TO lend our
treasured Alillais, our Chelsea figure or
our piece of Chippendale! Yet our Milton
goes-and perhaps never returns-and no
more is left to us than to sigh and perhaps
to advertise, or, if to receive again, in all
likelihood in other guise than when it left
us, and with friendship severed. 1t Is
hard, very, very hard that the book Is so
portable, for to its portability may be