Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-12

The classic instance Of the mistreat'
ment of books comes from the life o.
no less a man than william Words
worth, the great poet. Coleridge tells It
It seems that once upon time tn'
man who sang 80 sweetly of imnor'
taIity came into the possession Of Q BEL
Of books with uncut pages.
While buttering his toast one morn.
ing he took down the flrst volume anc
proceeded to cut the pages with the
same knife.
This anecdote causes those who love
books to shudder Much may be Tor
siven a poet-truIy he is not like other
men-but that any one should pc 81
careless as to cut book pages WITH
huttered knife is unthinkable.
Yet right here in Washington people
similarly nistreat books. There Is 9
bookShop here where the proprietor vii
show YOU a beautiful volume, one OF
fine set, ruined by utter indifference.
This book, too, had uncut pages.
one day a man entered the shop
looked along the shelves, and at last
came to the book in question. He tooE
It down in his left hand.
Using the index finger OF his r1gh'
81,
the fellow deliberately slashed and
nangled page after page, until clerk
happened to see what he was doing.
Such examples of book mutilation are
extreme. Attaches Of public libraries
are always on the lookout in the reading
rooms for sly persons who use wei
string to cut illustrations from books.
The most common instances Of book
misuse however, come in the every
day life from persons who like books
and who do not realize that they are
miSuSing them.
Right here it may be we'll to admit
that there are, in the main, two divi-
sionS Of human beings when 1t comes
to the use of any article.
The one comprises those men anc
women who take care OF things, and
the other those who do not bother
There are many in-between cases, but
the main divisions will do for the
present discussion.
Thus some men keep their safety
razors so spick and span that after II
years of use they might be put back II
the show windows and sold for new
whereas other shavers so mistreat theil
razors that inside Of two weeks the
instruments look old and worn.
Books, being more fragile than raSors
need more careful treatment. ANY
carelesSness shows up more quickly witt
them.
just where the dividing line shoulc
be drawn between average care anC
Thickness Is a difncult question, ont
which must be answered by every mar
from his own disposition.
Yet there would seem to be poin
here, as with more durable articles
beyond which one may not 60 witt
propriety. And the ownership of thu
book ought to have something to dC
with 1t. Most readers take better care
Of Public Library books, simply because
they belong to the library and they are
responsible for their condition on re-
turn.
Perhaps a man has q right to destroy
his own books as his fancy dictates
but he should be more careful with
those of his friends, and he has NJ
right whatever TO soil or otherwise mis-
treat those in stores.
X y
A book is a work of art, TO begir
with. It is work which represent.
the best thought of q group of men q,
to binding, printing. general makeup
and so on. Even the most carelessly
put out book has great deal Of earnes
Thought in its pages and binding.
A book Is q thing. not Just book
In other words, 1t has individualit!
among other books, perhaps grea