Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-08-21
of Books.
CONTINUED next week.)

Providence Journal: Acquaintance
With the contents Of books is no doubt
he most important thing in education,
nut the degree of culture TO which Il
Jerson can pretend is demonstrated
quite as often bY his treatment OF
books in their material aspect. There
ire fairly well informed persons whom
o n of the barbarities practiced by
publishers can distress. Muddy type
md poor paper, scanty margins, edges
ut sur le vif, hideous bindings
these things are TO them mere unes-
sential details. Nor, if they W vol
umes of an outward merit, worthy of
the inward, do they treat them with
the courtesy which is their due. They
Fan not even take up a book casually
without injuring il in some way. Any
book seller can tell woeful tales of
some of his customers in this respect.
They are, despite all the learning they
may have, the enemies of books. He
who lends TO them unwittingly regrets
the rash impulse of generosity. And
the worst Of il is, that they are beyond
salvation. For unless one is instructed
early in life in the are of books he re-
mains a hopeless Philistine TO the end
Of his days. The old savage instinct
is sure TO break out. In moments of
primeval impulse he may break a bind
ing or dog-ear a leaf.
\ manual which has recently been
published on the care of the private
library contains so much useful infor-
nation that il is distressing to think
Of it as thrown away. The real book
over, the man who has reached a point
Of culture which distinguishes be-
tween taste and vulgarity i'm the man
Ifacture of books. will not need TO be
told hat leaves must be cut with a
proper knife, preferably of ivory. and
>ut through to the corners; that not
he title page, but the blank fly leaf, is
the place for the owners name: that
books must not be left lying open face
aownwards: that they are not card
racks, crumb baskets or r~eceptacles for
flowers and dead leaves; that they
should not he busted by slapping them
together; that they should be kept on
shelves, not left lying on tables. But
one who Toes not know all this by in
stinct is n well-nigh impossible con-
vert. Perhaps a life time of labor with
such "a one may result in better minds
and true repentance in his children.
Growing up in "A bookish atmosphere
is almost essential TO a right apprecia-
ton of books. Whoever saw a library
furnished wholesale with new editions
in new buildings that had the distinct
i've charm such a library ought 10
have? a collection so made carries an
air of i'll breeding on its face. IL is
difficult to feel the respect due TO
books in it's presence.
IF YOU are in the habit of lending
books" says the author of this pam
phlet, "do not mark them. These two
habits together constitute an act of
discretion" Here the true book lover
Is in n hard position. He likes to lend
books; the more he thinks of the book
the better he likes to lend IL; for he is
unselfsh and he wishes others to share
his JOY in il. At the same time he can
not contemplate it's passage through
strange hands without a shudder. He
has friends. he knows, with whom his
treasure will be safe. But what of
those whose carelessness he cannot
foresee? We have not patience with
those who say hat a book should not
be lent. If such n rule were followed
out, half the pleasure of possession
would vanish. At the same time it is
a pleasure that is mixed with many
perilous chances. Yet the least oblig-
ing owners of books are often those
who have no real love for them or
knowledge how to use them-the kind
of people who write on margins and
disfigure title pages with a rubber
stamp. 1t is of little consequence.
really, whether such persons own any
books at all.