The Appeal., 1906-08-04
BY MARGARET =. sANGsrER

7F o4 MARGAkETsE T.. SANGSTER.
q home without books is like a rose
Without perfume. No house is COM
pletely furnished that has no library.
There are TO be sure, homes without
number in which there are chairs and
tables, china and glass, rugs and drap-
cries, soft couches. curios and bric-a-
brac, pictures and vases, but never a
book. II you happen to call in such
asshouse, and the mistress keeps you
waiting while she changes her toilette,
you look in vain for a book to pass
away the moments OF inaction. If you
are staying In such house and have
not brought with you something to
read, you look in vain for an entertain
Ing volume or an attractive maga-
zine.
People who Go not spend money for
books are apt to be parsimonfous in
subscribing for magazines. A taste
Tor literature demands qualification.
Where the taste does not exist people
are satisfied. strange as it may seem,
to endure a state of absolute pauper-
Ism in the matter of reading.
We all know houses where there are
books enough to form the simulacrum
OF library, but when there are ex-
am1ned they are discovered to be a
fearful and wonderful collection of
m1st1ts, old school books, books that
have been received by the children as
prizes, books that have been picked up
by the traveller to cheer the tedium of
railway journey, books that have
been sent into the house as holiday
presents, and books that have been
borrowed and never returned. Odd vol
umes CT this and the other author of
repure appear in these weird and
queerly assorted conglomerations. But
OF complete sets and of books that
instruct, amuse and satisfy, there are
few to- be seen. Hundreds of such
miscalled libraries are only fit to be
used as kindling and would find their
best end in rubbish heap or bonfire.
The secondhand shops would have
none of them. Even where people in
telligently collect books, there is oc-
casion from time to time for judicious
wedding and for letting go that which
is ephemeral, and, for all practical pur-
poses, worthless.
Although public libraries are multi
piled, every home should have its own
library, just as it has its own beds and
tables. 1t is not necessary to appro-
pirate room and use it solely for
books. Very few of us have space to
spare for this luxurious accommoda-
ton OF our literary treasures.
The living room is the proper place
for the home library; the shelves to
hold the books may be of home manu-
facture, put together by anybody who
can manage plane and a hammer,
and they may be stained in harmony
with the color scheme of the room.
What to choose for the library is
the first consideration. A library that
grows as garden grows or an or
chard, little by little, is in the end the
library that one loves best. would
suggest that the initial purchase
should be a set of Shakespeare in good
type, with fine illustrations, each vol
ume small enough to be: held in the
hand without weariness
Although Sir Walter is out of fash
ion, it is possible to cultivate his ac-
quat1tance If one has a set of the
Waverley novels in ones possession.
Sir Walter Scott is little leisure
ly in his movement, so far as the be-
ginnings of his romances are con-
cerned, but once you are fairly en-
barked in his company, the pace is
swift enough for the interest of most
readers. Occasionally, in these days,
one is so fortunate as to pick up a