Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-30
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEWELL.

/ come into possession Of an old treasure
without finding some previous owners
name striking them between the eyes
every time they open It.
| If the signature had been placed on
q preliminary sheet, 1t would be easy
enough for the new owner to eliminate
1t, even at the extremity Of removing
the page from the book.
Happily, book buyers of the future will
find this the custom. But If you search
for old volumes of the last century, the
chances are you will discover that their
owners believed in putting their sigma
lures indelibly on the title page.
\ 4 \
It gives the honest booklover q start,
when he comes across the name o: some
one in an old book. Some day, he
realizes, others will come across his
own name.
The thought Is not pleasing, until he
| stops to realize that this is the i'm
mortality OF books and those who love
them.
pleased one reader and carries It on
down through the years. to please other
readers to come.
Thus it may be that there is no end
to the good q good book may do, but
1t may 60 on forever, more solid and
lasting than all the great stones in
the world.
The glorious thing is that every one
who ever reads this book, whatever 1t
Is, will be friends, men and women
Of the same mind.
What q pleasant prospect that is-to
feel the certainty that ones beloved
books in the years; even centuries: to
ly-minded people!
In the clash of days and nights, these
similar minds will seek the same food
the same ideas. the same illusions and
| perhaps the same decisions.
Over the years, despite the changes
that come, and wilt continue to come,
in all the ways of living, fashions, etc.
| 1t may reasonably be predicted that
the minds OF human beings will con-
tinue TO be much the same.
The mind which was Alexander
Pope's, IN the years to come, will faS-
cinate the type Of mind which II
charmed with its jeweled couplets 50
many years ago. Those who felt the
call of Voltaire through all the ages
will flnd in him something as fresh as
q sea breeze.
| There Is chance, Of course, that q
book beloved by some one will, in the
cast of fate, land in the hands OF
somebody who will not care for it.
| II this happens, the fellow no doubt
will get rid Of it speedily. But it is
not very hkely to happen, after all
because those who patronize the second
hand book stalls are nearly always look
ing for something old.
| They are after o Specifc item, often
a volume out Of print. which, for some
reason or other. appeals to them. Maybe
1t Is the novel OF writer famous in his
day. but whose fame has evaporated
Fiction, produced in such quantities
every year, is destined. in the bulk, to
vanish. Only q few names, books and
authors, retain their places in the popu-
lar mind.
Many vanished novels-one might saw
vanquished novels-are still as good as
they ever were. and will have their
following down the years, although this
may be very small.
When such a booklover, knowing what
he wants. goes to the store where he
/ suspects he can find it, the thrill is all
his own when the clerk comes forth
with it at last striking the covers to-
gether to disperse the dust of ages.
II he finds inside a long vanuuished
name, he knows that he has met, over
the years. comrade Of the mind, and
perhaps OF the heart.