The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-10-14
bit and past it in than to spend quar-
ter of an hour in writing II ,,

| on bookish subjects, having SO little
| regard for the sacredness Of books as
| to treat them in such barbarous fash
| ion; and, what is far worse, advise
| others to do the same. Further on in
| the same book this author (for it will
| not be necessary to mention his name)
| discourses charmngly about his own
| library, describes it in considerable de-
| tail, and tells us how he loves to
watch at the twilight hour the play of
! the freight on the books in his open
| shelves and to dream over the contents
| Of the many books standing there wait
| ing to be taken down at his own sweet
| will. Let us hope he does not practice
| what he breaches, and that few, If any,
| of his seemingly cherished volumes
| have been mutilated.
Surely If so treated-the pages cut to
| save a few minutes of time-that man
can have a small understanding of the
| true friendship of books: nor can this
| feeling be thoroughly known ito any
| save those who really love their treas
ures The man who is simply fond OF
| reading will never share those far
| higher pleasures enjoyed by one who
| really makes friends of books.
All literature Is full of the sayings or
| the book lover, which mean so much
to those who can enter into the feeling
| and the mood the writer Is expressing,
| sayings which sound SO foolishly en-
| thusiastic to others The man who is
able to follow Ben Joason's precept:
lin making thy friends books and books
| thy friends can thoroughly under
stand, and he only, the story Leigh
| Hunt tells of Lamb: How natural 1T
was in Charles Lamb to give q KISS 10
| Chapman's 'Homer!" Hunt has. per
| haps written more than any other man
about the love of books No one made
friends of books more thoroughly than
| did Hunt and it would be hard to find
| one who has written more charmlnsly
about them. What could De more aee
| lightful than the whole Introduction or
his Book for a Corner?" How well,
too, what he has written of others DIP
| plies to himself: How pleasant 1t is
to reflect that the greatest lovers OF
books have themselves become BOOKS!
What better metamorphosis could ~
| thagoras have desired" One could
| quote so many delightful bits from
Hunt because he dwells SO constantly
upon the friendliness of his beloved
volumes. None but a true book lover
could have written the following:
like small study where ! am almost
in contact with my books. / like TO
| feel them about me. Wnen l.
think of being in contact with my books
Il mean it literally-I like.to be able
| to lean my head against them Then,
| too, it is only ones own books when
| eventually becomes ones fflenus. ole
| could never have that feeling Tor tne
volumes to be found in great pupnc
libraries nor in reading books lent.
These books are tools only, or. in the
| case of a rare edition, a curloslty-to
be looked at and left; or, at most, they
serve to pass a pleasant hour or tWo'
But ones own books, be they few or
many, come to have a special interest
| They become ones best friends ana one
gets to love certain books in a partlcu-
| lar edition as one never could much
better copy did it belong to some one
else. AS Bronson Alcott so well says:
my favorite book have a personality
and complexion as distinctly ora sns as
| if the authors portrait were tramea
into the paragraphs and smiled upon
me as l read his illustrated pages. NOT
could I spare these volumes from my
table or shelves, though l should not
open them for a twelvemonth.
Henry Ward Beecher has written
much and lovingly of books, and yet ~
all his writings has said nothing when
anpeals more strongly to us than TINS !:
"Books are not made for furniture, put
there is nothing else that so beautlluily
! furnishes a house, BosWells story VI
DR.. Johnson's fondness Tor lookilis d -
the hacks Of books Is well known ana
nrobably the true book lover never
fails to follow his example, hndlng;
like Hazlitt, that 1.-The sight OF an oio
volume of these good old EngIeh au,
thors on stall, or the name lettetsu
on the back among others on the
shelves of q library, answers the pur,
nose reviyes a whole train of ideas and
sets the puppets dallying.
| hook can never become one rear
friend in the full sense of the WORD un,
til it has been read and rereao' ioVe Gu
and read again and it's contents 81
Thoroughly mastered that 1t pe-
of e,
ana The passages you want can be
found without a moments hesitation.
True friendship for ones books, too m
| wolves his being so well acqualnteu
with the books outward appearance
that one can so in the dark ana lay
ones hand upon desired volume With
out trouble. -,
Ruskin saws: "a curious book Will
often afford you much amusement, but
ii is only noble book which will give
YOU dear friends. DR.. Johnson is SAID
to have called books dull friends but
one would rather agree WITH the men
who, commenting on this statement
add: But they are glorious compan-
IONS" or, as Stoddard puts it: There
are ever three jolly companions. men,
women and books
The young man or woman who gath
ers together for the love of the books
, | themselves, a little collection quite his
or her own-one, too, that probably nc
one else would have made of quite the
same books-will be richly rewarded by
the growing frendliness those volumes
will develop. Launcelot Cross says
! 1.-The truest owner of library is he
who has bought each book for the love
he bears it. who is happy and content
| to say: Here are my jewels, my
choicest material possessions. "
There is surely more beauty than
sadness in the story of the last days
of Southey. who, after long life pass
ed among his books, of which. though
never a rich man. he had gathered to-
gether a goodly collection came in time
to lose his mind so thoroughly that ne
no longer had the power to read. Ye
through it all he never lost his love
for books, and spent his days wander
ing about his library and rearranginf
ard handling his books, and even lay
ing his head against them: Leigh HUM
TOO sums nm his love. for books and hi:
relization Of. their friendlinesS in the