Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-13
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

markedly easy, owing to the fact that
all books are more or less alike.
If books were round as well as square,
hexagonal as well as rectangular, there
might be a great deal of perturbation
in their purchase. AS things are, the
booklover knows that he cannot go far
wrong in form. Thus one of the great
est deceptive qualities in other objects
is not to be feared here.
The bocklover knows, whatever book
he buys, that 1t will 'go" with the books
he already has. Not only will it lit in
squarely In his cases. but 1t will look
well as regards form, color and any
other matter. It will square with other
volumes In his collections.
No matter how hectic its paper cover.
or jacket, 1t will not look out of place on
his end table, or upon the window sill.
or even the breakfast table. Prom a
purely practical standpoint, a book is
seldom, II ever, out of place. It never
requires any Encouragement of furniture
or the displacement of something al
ready good to make room for something
whose utility or beauty, or both, is at
the best doubtful.
The extreme case of this in the home
is the acquisition, perhaps as q gift, of
some art object too fine for the re-
matnder of the furniture. It's inclusion
makes the rug look shabby, the chairs
out-of- date, the wall paper dirty, the
whole house behind the times.
Often the receivers of this upsettins
gift lack the moral courage to get rid
Of 1t. They do not have the money to
refurnish the house up to its standard.
SO they calmly permit the betrayal to
continue.
The best solution Of such q dificulty
is to place the fine piece in the attic
and say nothing more about IL, for
house-over satisfaction Is more to be
regarded than the momentaFy thrill of
pleasure secured from the contemplation
of some one beautiful thing.
These utilitarian considerations, how
ever, give way always TO the mental
or spiritual side of books and book buy
ing and keeping. 1t has always been our
belief that no one should expect too
much OF q book. II one gets one good
idea per book, he has got his moneys
worth. Ideas, either Of inspiration or
wisdom, of elation or amusement, of
worth or interest, or any of these com
bfned, require a certain setting.
Words are the jewels which surround
and illuminate the main jewel, which
is the thought, or spirit, Of the whole.
We have never seen book. however
poor, winch dld not nave some main
Idea" which the entire work clustered
around. Sometimes this idea is not in
the bookl One has to think about what
the author was trying to do. Even If
he fails, the discerning can determine
what he tried to do. And there you are!
So books are free from the ultimate
disappointment which comes when an
article purchased does not belong" as
the saying is. With so many commodi-
ties method Of trial and rejection must
be carried on, in the hope that the right
thing will be found at last.
The hooklover with his books Is utter
~ free from any such necessities. He
knows his authors, he knows his sub
jectS, he buys accordingly, and finds
something in any case. Now and then
he will make q mistake, Of course He
is no more perfect than any other
buyer" Like the millinery buyer who
splurges on hats Of q certain color, only
to find that the ladies will have none of
them, so the home book buyer from
time to time will pick out book which
Is not much. But at worst 1t Is some
thing! And this happens so seldom that
he may forget 1t. His score Of satisfac-
ton is about 90 per cent. Can any
one blame him for buying where he gets
so little disappointment?