Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-11

and aeSthetlcaily 1t has little TO re-
commend it. The heavy creases down
the back, so marked as 10 blur out
the title; the ragged, dogeared corn
ers, proclaim that it has had a busy
life and is enjoying a well earned rest.
1t is an illustrated copy of THE
Arabian Nights" Here and there upon
it's pages are childish finger prints.
Little Shop Works Spell
The spell of the book shop is begin
ming to affect the shopper with its
potency. He has a vision of a child,
absorbed in the story of Aladdin or
Ali Babi and the forty thieves. He
knows instinctively that this book was
a treasury that only the exigencies of
fortune induced the owner to part
from.
AT random, the shopper scans the
shelves. Here is a beautifully bound
set of volumes on commercial law.
They are a tribute TO some book
agents eloquence, but from their shiny
newness it is apparent that the owner
felt that he had been taken in" Near
by are the plays of Shakespeare. They
! have the appearance of having been
: read, and again the question arises,
why were they sold?" 4 stiffly new
set of Jack London proclaims that
somebody has missed the mark in their
fascinating pages.
A prosperous home of the SOS is
the next mind picture of the shopper
as he cOntemplates a complete set of
the works of f. Z. Roe. A stiffly IN
comfortable parlor done in black wal
nut and horsehair flashes on the
screen of fancy. He wonders if the
| saccharine romances of this favOrite
author of a day gone by were panacea
| for the bodily discomfort of the reader
who pored over their pages while sit
ting on the unyielding settee that he
has pictured as part of the background
of the volumes. "He Fell in Love With
His Wife and "A Young Girls Woo
| ing are titles that CLEAN among the
| others in the uncompromising row.
Ridpath's histories, DR.. Chamber
lain's doctor Book" and THE Life
and Labors of Livingstone stand side
by side upon the shelves. All have
memories for those whose recOllections
go back 10 to 20 years.
The novels of Charles Reade stand
by the works of Arthur Conan Doyle,
which in turn are thanked with two
worn volumes of Dickens. The Henty
books. juvenile classics. bear evidence
of having been read and reread. "Fa-
nous Women of the French Court"
stories of the gorgeous and ~extravagant
life of the French royalty, stand s%atiric-
ally by a volume, The High Cost of
Living" There's a kick in that for
the shopper. who remembers when the
latter was so popular during war days.
A book on how to keep thin by diet
ing has an air of having been abandoned
by a discouraged reader.
The Three Musketeers." Uncle
Toms Cabin and stray volumes of
Kipling. Scott and Steward Edward
White are jumbled anonymously to-
gether They have the air of has
beens." but in their very decrepitness
is evidence that they have fought a
long and a good fight; that they have
done their part to make the life of man
a little brighter by the glamor of their
pages.
Reader Shares Sorrows
A copy of Elsie at Nantucket"
brings to mind the remaining - vol
umeS of these sugared stories. Sure
enough" thinks the shopper, scanning
the dirty pages, this book has been
given the traditional right of tears
and recalls the sorrows of Elsie. which
were shared by every reader, who wad-
ed through the ~ volumes.
There is a smile in the sight of the
blue volume on the top shelf that tells
the world about THE Origin and His
| tory of Beer and Brewing"
AS he turns to leave the shop after
a long and happy morning, the shopper
sees. kaleidoscopically. volumes of
Harold Bell Wright. Richard Harding
Davis, Guy Employs Over the Top
and Wells mir. Britling Sees 1t
Through"
Just as he is leaving, the shopkeeper.
having noticed the interest of his Wis
itor, brings forth q little leather bound
volume, 100 years old. 1t is a history
of Greece. Foreign Bibles beautifully
bound are also displayed with the com
ment that more Of them are sold than
any other book, and more people dis
carding it. In one of the Bibles is an
affectionate inscription. This is the
Bible of my father"
STEPPED in that elusive quality termed
atmosphere the visitor leaves the
shop with a resolution to go back again
TO live in the past and to touch the
lives of those whom he has never
known through the medium of their
books.