Evening star., 1932-09-10
A pile of books is a treasure hunt.
A pile Of books Is an opportunity.

n
A pile Of books Is an opportunity.
A pile of books is irresistible.
Not even the horizontal of the shel
displays them as temptingly.
If you will watch people before tn
open air stalls of the secondhand
stores, you will notice that they tent
! to look at piles of books first of all.
Perhaps 1t Is the necessity for cram
ing the neck that exerts the real ap
peal.
Human beings love to crane the neck
During the course of the Labor da.
parade thousands Of Washingtonian
stood for enthralled hours. stretching
their necks to look over the heads o
other people.
Some of the late arrivals were forcec
to stand so far up side streets that al
they could see, even by the most ardu
Gus cranning, was the tops Of helmet
and the like.
Yet their interested eyes showed tha
they did not mind. they were enjoying
the spectacle with the more favorabl,
placed
1t was neck craning that did 1t.
1t is said that when the great Juliu
Caesar entered Rome in one of hi
triumphs he kept turning his head
SpTeICH1IlR Ills neck, III OIIeCIlO1 U
certain dark-eyed damsel.
"Ah, ha, she hath the great Caesa
by the neck" blurted out favorite.
Thereafter, according to the his
tories, the great man kept his eye
of the big parade.
X X + X
One who is interested in books is M
tN r1ilo 0f viii n
out taking a look at the titles than III
would find 1t seemly to walk by a grea
Egyptian obelisk without so much as 6
glance at the queer characters carved
upon it.
No matter where he runs into tht
tempting display. he must stop, twis
his head sideways, like an aspiring crab
and note the titles, the authors. ant
the very appearance of the separat,
volumes.
Perhaps the best attitude is one con
sisting of a slight bend forward, will
a lowering of the head on one side. &C
cording to the way one happens to b'
standing
This permits the spectator to exam
inc the titles from top to bottom. NJ
doubt the normal procedure.
He takes off the top book, ant
opens it.
This is especially enjoyable, to th'
booklover, II the volume is slight,
musty.
The aroma of old books. books lonf
in print, books exposed to dust TO
many days, is distinctive, like nothing
else in the world.
1t is a compound Of aging paper, O
fading ink, of withering boards, Of stale
glue, of aged leather.
y y 4 \
The smell of an old book belongs K
it, and to nothing else.
The nearest approach, perhaps, !!
the fragrance of an old-fashloned at
tic, Of the sort our grandmothers knew
That was composed of old trunks. oil
rafters, old beams, confined air. dresses
and, perhaps, some laces and old maya
zines for the most part.
Perhaps there might be few herb
hung up to dry. such at catnip. or cat
mint, for the tea SO highly thought o.
in the older times.
A few sassafras roots might be spreat
out on a paper.
Sassafras tea!
Many today may think that If there
is any insipid drink in the world. it i:
sassafras tea, but in grandmother
time it was highly esteemed, and forced
down many an unwilling throat.
No doubt there was something OF ar
art about brewing and drinking thai
pink beverage which has not beer
handed down to us Of mere scurry'
ing age.
we make the mistake Of putting
cream in it.
The aroma of old books, especially a
sent up from pile of them, Is NOR
akin to that from the old attic maga
zine piles than anything else.