Evening star., 1925-07-18
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the BoohLoper.

Writing long before the invention
OF printing, the unknown author or
Ecclesiastes said that "of the making
of many books there is no end" II
the trickle that must have represented
the literary output of that day re-
quired such strong language, now
much stronger language IL required
adequately TO express ones amaze
ment at the flood of books issued to-
day, numbering thousands of titles
annually of books written in English,
disregarding all publications in for
eign languages. How much greater
also "the weariness of the flesh re-
ferred to by the preacher resulting
from much study" II one attempts
to read more than a very small 1rac-
ton of the books published. In spite
of dwindling forests and consequent
rise in cost of paper ana prlntinB'
books get themselves published on
every conceivable subject, and by an
increasing throng OF authors, some
competent and some decidedly not.
Books are approaching journalism
are easily and quickly written and
published. are read by some, perhaps
by many, are forgotten and replaced by
other books, better perhaps, possibly
by poorer books, but at any rate by
later books. A few only survive Tor
shorter or longer periods and a very
few from age to age. How Is the
serious, the discriminating reader, de-
sirous of conserving time and eye
sight, to select what Is best worth
while 10 read out Of the bewilderlng
mass Of books, new and old, offered
to him?
A partial answer to this question
is offered by Asa Don Dickinson,
af he nj OF Penn
sylvania. with his "One Thousand
Best Books" This wade mecum Of
the reading man" is further de-
scribed as the household guide TO
a lifetime's reading, a variorum list
compiled from many authoritative
selections" This particular list is
a reading guide based on a consensus
of expert opinion. The compiler has
made use of about so lists complied
by other authorities during the last
40 years or more, including such
famous lists as those by Sir John
Lubbock. Lord Bryce, Arnold Ben
nett. Andrew Lang, Brander Mat
thews. Theodore Roosevelt and others,
less famous but quite as competent.
He has collated the titles, including
those which appear again and again
in various lists and excluding ques-
tionable and freak titles and those
representing only personal ldloSyn-,
Crasies, prejudices and prepossessions.
The resulting thousand titles are ar
ranged alphabetically by authors;
the choice in each case is backed up
) by the sponsors listing 1t and fol-
| lowed by descriptive note. The list
| is not intended for scholars, but for
| the average cultivated reader. II is
chiefly confined TO bellies -lettres, fic-
ton, poetry, essays, the drama. humor
and criticism, but ii also includes
some history. travel and biogra ply,
! with a few books on religion, phi
! losophy art, political science, econom-
| les and science. In all cases liter
| ary charm and excellence have been
/ large factors in choosing books for
| inclusion in the list. In addition to
| the main arrangement of the list un-
| der authors, there are arrangements
| by dates, by nationality, by order of
| appearance on the indorsing lists
/ by authors and by titles. There is
| a classified list by subjects and,
| finally, a grouping of 100 books TO
| be read in 1925. another 100 in 1926
| and so on through 1894. AS an
appendix Mr.. Dickinson publishes a
| home library list of 200 volumes
| chosen by the division of literature
of the General Federation of Women s
Clubs