Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-01-10
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACENELL.

| distinguishes man In the animal king
Books are the perfect reflection Of
mankind. In them the reader may
find all that Is beautiful, all that IS
horrible, all that Is noble, all that is
nasty. all that is immortal. all that is
moral, all that Is victory. all that Is de-
feat and disaster.
These books sum lis up, as q race,
and they sum up all the rest of the
known universe, but strictly from our
human standpoint.
In the face Of so much done, such
human glory, at its best, is it not a
case of blinking at the sun, to pause
satisfied with the rarity of q book, or
an imprint on the title page. or the
fact that it happened to be one Of the
first thousand copies struck?
These are unessentials, In so far as
the real book, the inner book, Is con-
cerned.
What counts is what the book does
to the reader.
If 1t does nothing to him, then it is
not the book for him. and he we'll may
devote himself to its scarcity or its age,
or its binding, or any other related
matter.
If it does nothing to him, It is not
1t as lump Of coal, II he wants to.
without offense to himself or the VOL
ume.
A book without the inner light
that Is what book Is that does not
somehow do something to the reader.
1t Is, in so far as he Is concerned,
dead book, something nfeless at last.
The spirit Of such book has fled. It
has left behind only its dusty covers.
The enthusiastic collector of "firsts"
will interject, at this point, that he,
too, as well as any, values the spirit of
his books.
We wonder If that is, or can be.
quite as true as he thinks it is.
His first interest In q book Is an ex-
ternal. An incidental of time and pub
fishing is what interests him first of all.
1t Is this which makes him a COL
lector.
We do not envision any very con-
siderable number Of eager collectors
rushing to libraries, as the result of
these words, falling on their knees and
murmuring:
"Oh, books! forgive US. We have
sinned in thy sight, and are unworthy
of thee"
Distinctly we hope that none will do
so, and we feel quite sure that none
will.
The world needs these delightful fell
lows too much to spare one of them.
So do the astute gentlemen who sup
ply them.
All that one can ask of them Is that
they do not try to thrust their hobby
down the Threats of those to whom it
Is no hobby.
The main thing, in regard to book,
Is what it has done in the world, and
what 1t can still do.
There are some books which could be
printed on the worst sort of paper, in
type almost impossible to be read, in
bindings which would be disgrace, yet
somehow would manage to enter into
the life of humanity like the sunshine
does into this great world.
There are other books which might
be printed on the most exquisite paper,
in type beautiful to behold, and bound
fit for an angel to touch, yet at the
same time be worth exactly nothing at
all.
Every booklover has seen such books.
Some Of them, alas, are collectors
items" They are books, but they have
nothing to do with the spirit Of booss,
with all the inner might and power and
devotion to truth and justice which,
looking out over struggling mankind,
peers into a future which might be, If
only man had the sense to make it
come true.