The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-03-28
THE CARE OF BOOKS.
All Ye Readers and Book borrowers
Hearken Unto This.

An enthusia stic book lover once de-
clared that he could not enjoy the public
reading OF IN eminent author, because
the latter. while standing before his audi
ence. rumpled the leaves of the book in
his hand, bending the covers back till
they touched, writes Helen Jay in Har-
pers Bazaar. Certainly we have all sutf-
cred from a sense Of outrage at the crimes
committed upon our favorite volumes
through the cruel handling of the careless
borrower. When some beloved edition
comes back to us soiled and defaced, we
feel very much us n mother does when she
views the marks of blows upon defense
less baby hands and faces; for the real
sting of the wrongs committed against
books, declares the quaint old chronicler
lies in the wantonness of the deed, in
creased by the helplessness OF the victims
1t is this instinct. detecting the vital
principle In books, that marks the differ
ence between the book buyer and the genu-
ine>student. 10 one, volumes are simply
inanimate objects; to tho other, they are
comrades and friends. Some one has put
1t on record that true scholar has
motherly instinct In caring for books;
that he knows every one and its loca-
tion, having sense of the feel as well as
the shape of his favorites. and watches
over them ALL and even loves the prodi-
gals, that set off on adventurous journeys
into other rooms. Perhaps 1t Is a failure
to comprehend this semi-maternal devo.
tion that causes so Diany to consider that
books can be replaced. or that. the loss of
one matters little where there are SO
many. None but the genuine book lover
can fathom the anguish Of Pepys as he
records among the national turmoils oc
casioned by the London fire the far sad
der fact that he was nightly troubled"
even in his sleep, ut missing four or five
of his books.
A book lover once upon time, we are
told, Cancelled his engagement to q most
estimable lady because she had marked
borrowed book. He took the high moral
ground that "a person capable Of such an
act of piracy could not be loyal to any
constitutional estate" He might perhaps
have gone further, and argued that such
an offensive intrusion OF her opinions
domestic circle. A friend may not Dor
row our garments and alter than to suit
his phys peculiarities and then return
them to us unrebuked-and yet our books
come back to our homes so charged with
the personality of the borrower that We
have an uncomfortable sense of invading
privacy when we turn the pages. 1t is
not our book any longer-that alien vol
ume that emphasizes what we prefer to
slight. and calls attention In black lines
to the very points We would ignore. and
at best ohatters mental condolences in
which we have no interest. The law de-
clares that our property shall not be wan
tonly defaced and the offender go free.
but there Is no redress for the interlarded
volume with its adjectives and exclama-
tion points, or, browning offense, its
queries and its interrogation points.
The University of Paris has left on
record noteworthy example. The libra
rian would not lend a book even to Louis
TX. unless he left some valuable in pledge
for its return. and gave a bond to one of
his chief ministers that sits return should
duly take place when we had finished it."
Would there were some such rules pro-
tecting private collections today Surel y
we might all profit by this admonition
frequently seen in books OF Colonial days:
"Read Slowly-Pause Frequently-Think
Seriously-Finger Lightly-Keep Cleanly
Return Duly-with the Corners of the
Leaves Not Turned Down."