Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-08-14

.%s .s I'll
IN OLD BOOKSTALLS.
A CHARM THAT MAKES THE BlBLlo.
MANIAC FORGET AL ELSE. n
Anticipated and Dog cared Volumes with
Stories Outside as Well rs Inside Their
Covers--some Of the Places Trequented
by Collectors. p. j III
One must make the round of the second
hand bookstalls in our. big cities to get the
real aroma and atmosphere Of books
These bookstalls are usually in TIE by
ways, and they are ogses of quaintness and
fascination to the bibliomaniac and COL
lector. These old bookstalls are usually
sandwiched in between other shops or
down in grimy easements. The master Is
all Of piece with his wares, in the scar
and yellow leaf, down at heels, out Mt el-
bows, and general air of dilapidation-
Just as the books arc q bit the worse on
the outside for the battle Of life but with
In contain heart as pure and young as
when the back was straight and the cover
a thing of beauty. Few Of these old book
stalls are ever advertised. One stumbles
upon them. The dingy shelves often hide.
among countless miscellaneous Volumes,
rare treasures, veritable finds, editionsi
long out of print, autographs editions
that have drifted into this promiscuous:
collection of old books no one knows how.
All these books are old veterans, who"
could a tale unfold besides that bound and
printed between the covers. Some of these"
books wear the Anticipated garb Of vellum,
so fashionable In our great grandfathers'
days; some have quaint, black letter type,
with curiously illuminated chapter initials.
At the bookstall the new book counts
for naught, and the shabby old book takes
precedence. Many and various are the
reasons why old books acquire their value.
They may belong to limited editions or to
editions that have long been out Of print;
they may be autographs or have a valua-
BILE OK libris, or bookplate of some former
owner. Re it primer, almanac, Bible or,
in fact, anything between covers, with this
treasure in it, it Is a prize TINT marks u
rod letter day to tho finder. Age ut the
bookstall Is Mt premium TINT In many
cases goes for u bargain. The uninitiated
mortal little thinks Of all this us he heed
lessly passes these dingy old stalls, while
the collector or bibliomanac Is ever on the
qui vive to find an Elzevir, IN Aldine or
Bordoni or early American editions with
tho Bradford or Benjamin Franklin I'M
print.
Not long since II friend Of mine became
the happy owner OF an "cxtended' edition
of "Tho New York Stage" In which u
great amount of additional newspaper clip
pings Oh tho stage had been bound in with
the book, besides plates and photographs
Of the successive actors md actresses that
have delighted the public for years. This
valuable edition WAS procured for IL mere
song, and tho Same lucky mortal picked
up II first edition of Thuckcray's works,
with broken bucks and dog cared leaves
My friend showed mo his treasures with
the pride of Pompey and told INC Of the
remarkable old fellow Of whom he had
purchased the books. This old man aft
erward interviewed, and 1 found him IL
character. Although not n literary man,
he had inhaled the book atmosphere SO
long that by 4 strange intuition he knew
the inside us we'll as the outside Of his
wares, rs If the books had contldcd to him
NIL their secret being. Then he had CLEAN
cd n lot Of valuable information from col
lectOrs and experts Out of tho confusion
worse COMPOUNDED that always rcigns in u
bookstall tho old vender can produce ust
whit one asks for without any real search
In dark, dingy, dusty corners, where to
the purchaser disorder seems supreme.
These old stalls hnvo II fascination for mo.
weave stories about these books that arc
now like some lives, tossed about from pill
lar to post.
For tho collector London offers rare op~
portunitics in tho district about st. Paul q.
And Paris is unique In the stalls over
hanging the Seine, where all sorts and
conditions Of men hover over all sorts and
conditions of books, while tho busy river
glides on between tho walled up hunks,
giving to tho observer marvellous effects Of
light md shade, and the old city brenthcs
it's strange spell that has won SO many
lovers for her from NIL quarters of the globe.
Down on tho Quuy Foltnirc the timo
passes like tho wind, for between the fas-
cinating old books and the panorama of
nature and humanity and tho capricious
wrcaths of smoke that give IL shade Of
mystery to tho scene, I often found that
twilight was slowly yielding to tho mys-
terious reign of night, nnd had neglected
my business among the old books and had
been dreaming dreams and seeing visions
And far above the spires and dwellings Of
Paris, darkly outlined against II luminous
background of western sky, was the young
crescent moon glistcning, Il golden scythe
in field Of countless stars. Tho old ycI:d-
er hustled about, up and down, licking
up his cases of wares, on business intont,
never SO much rs giving ono glance at tho
glorious bcncdiction shed by tho parting
day.
Many an hour have spent on the Quay
Voltaire, which is given over to the old
book boxes. These boxes extend from the
Rue du BAG Sauntering along, one over
looks tho floating baths, tho swimming
schools and tho busy little "mouche"
steamboats, as they ply to and fro. All
this section is traditional Paris, and the
famous Latin quarter Is but q stones
throw. After one has spent some time
among these old books and tho collectors
tho types become very familiar and pro-
nounced, such as the student, the priest,
tho orti~t tho LAWYER the biblOmaniac