Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-06
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES e. TRACEWEEL.

A drug store circulating library "a
one Of the most interesting collections
Of its kind, for &c represents the free
untrammeled, undirected choice OF the
people.
The worn volumes which make UP
the average store library are books
which have undergone the final judy
ment-they have been read.
In the literary millennium great
work may come into its own audience
Of three or four persons and rest as
which draws It's millions, but in this
very material world a book has to have
lis fair quota Of readers to amount tc
anything.
Sometimes reader is seized with the
belief that there must be tucked away
in great libraries scores of books fully
as good as any which are regarded as
classics. Surely there must be literary
roses which are born to blush unseen
Mostly such romantic notions are
wrong. Good books, like good songs
culation. The price the author may
have gotten for them has nothing tc
do with the case. Poe received pay
ments wholly inadequate for most OF
his work. The "prices" he received
were scarcely more than insulting, when
compared with the international fame
his stories were to receive.
Poe's work triumphed. II there are
any concealed Poes, any authors "just
as good" embalmed forever in dusty
hooks in huge national libraries, no one
has ever heard Of them-not even the
librarians.
The drug store library is no new
thing. It has been part of such stores
for several generations. The present
writer can remember several of them
in the old-faShioned drug stores, in the
day before such establishments took to
selling everything. In those days soda
fountains held the place Of honor along
with the drug counter. Sandwiches
were unknown. To get such food one
had to go to restaurant.
Today that is changed. One goes to
the drug store for almost anything. So
great has become the diversity of things
sold that no one is surprised any longer
by anything he finds there. II mo-
torist should find tires offered him ut
his favorite drug store, he would not
blink an eye.
The circulating library Of today, how
ever, as found In the average drug store.
has an additional shelf. It occupies
the place Of honor at the top. It Is
devoted to biography, or at least that
type of new biography which Is the
novel in essentials.
In looking over the books in one drug
store library recently, we were surprised
to find that the most worn covers were
upon works of this type, and that two
of them in particular seemed to have
been read many. many times, IL one
could Judge from the state Of the
covers.
The two most worn books were Emil
Ludwig's Napoleon and Rene Ben
jamin's "Balzac." These novelized lives
of two great men, one a soldier, the
other q writer, easily led the List Of
some 200 books in the cases.
No one needed to be surprised at the
used appearance of the covers Of ma
poleon," because the great popularity Of
this best seller among non-flction books
is history. Even today, several years
after its appearance, Ludwig's striking
biography sells extremely well In the
book store.
It has, in the first place, good sub
iect. People never seem to grow tired
Of reading about the little man who
pushed himself to the front and then
got pushed back to the rear again.
Such Is the story of most men. If in
no other way than In living and dying,