Evening star., 1931-12-21

doubt, Is found in the man who likes
to have books around in large numbers.
He would not be satisfied with patron
izing public and private loan Libraries.
He wants his own books, he wants to
be able to see them, to take out what
he wants. when he wants it. They must
be tangible property.
Alexandra Dumas, in one of his lesser
known short tales, pictures the perfect
type OF booklover, who purchased so
many secondhand volumes that the
attic In which he stored many of them
a. last began to sag.
The landlord protested. The house
would give way If some Of the books
ir despair. He had no other place to
put them, that was the reason SO many
were in the attic.
They must be removed" declared
the landlord.
The booklover wept at being forced
to dispense with these books, most Of
which he had never read. That was
something which some of his friends
could not understand. They were not
booklovers
The reading or not reading of a
book, after all, has little to do with
it. Every booklover worth his salt has
many books which he has not read.
Why, he buys them, and then never
reads then!" exclaims some one.
OF course. of course!
They are there, are they not, wait
ing to be read?
And that is the important thing.
Sometimes a year or two will go by,
between the purchase of book and
its reading. 1t may happen that the
booklover will never read a certain
book. That makes little difference, un-
less one thinks that books were writ
ten merely to be read Now book has
many other aspects, as we have at
tempted to assert If one loves books,
the very sight of them may be enough.
To have and to hold is something
Books as decoration. merely, have their
place, an increasingly important place,
in the art Of interior furnishing
good book is a friend, whether one
reads it or not. Its influence is not
passive, but positive. Many a man
would suffer in his immortal pride, If
he were deprived of his books. He
might go without food or clothing, but
he would not go without few books
That would hurt him.
Books in the great library are like
Goals in the dealers shed-they do nc
good to the man in his home. What
he wants there is the warmth of living
literature. He wants books of his own
to cherish, to have and to hold, to
greet with his eyes, to touch with his
hands, to love with mind and heart
Given these, he is rich, although the
man who does not understand may
think him fool.
What an absurd thing it is, in world
such as this, to be led away from ones
own inmost desires, to adopt the
strange likes of other people, just be-
cause such likes happen to be the mode
of the moment!
Every sensible person ought to make
his own modes and not be distracted
by the antics of the poSeurs. Thou
sands Of women in this country. for in
stance, adopt ways, dress and habits not
natural to them, because they accept
the posed pictures Of actresses as their
model. forgetting that one cannot be
in high heels all the time, except in
! pictures.
, 1t makes little difference what some
one else reads. What counts is what
one reads ones self Here is where in
dividualism still exists for us. A wom-
an who chooses to keep her natural
eyebrows, rather than adopt the pencil
type, is within her rights. and many
men will think her all the prettier. The
booklover who reads to please himself
pleaseS all other booklovers. Such a
man will need no card index. He car
ries it in his head. This intellectual
index may not be exact, but it is good
enough for all practical purposes.