Evening star., 1941-01-05

A. 8. w. Rosenbach and others who
belonged to his select coterie of dis
tinguished American book collectors.
1t reads in part:
"A tribute to A. Edward Newton.
Christmas 1910. The Library Of
Congress-with an introduction by
Archibald MacLeish."
Booklets Sent Regularly
To Friends for 80 Years.
Every Christmas for 80 years
Mr.. Newton of Daylesford, Pa, sent
a small Christmas book to his friends
"a book which became In time a
symbol of the fellowship of book
loving men Now that he Is dead it
Is unthinkables that any one else
should send Mr.. Newton's Christmas
book in his stead, but because he was
so long the most famous and most
influential of American book COL
lectors, and because the Library of
Congress has its obligations of graft
tude to those who teach not only
reverence for great books, but love
for them also, it is perhaps not I'M
fitting that the Library should pub
lish this small volume Of remem-
brance on the Christmas following
his death 1t is made by six of Mr..
NeWtons closest friends and it goes
to those other friends of Mr.
Newton's to whom his own booklets
have always gone in years before"
Mr.. Newton was rot only dis
tinguished author and bibliophile,
man of charming social accomplish
mentS. a keen sense of humor and
sparkling wit, but was successful
businessman as well, whose ample
fortune enabled him to indulge his
literary tastes and his love for col
lecting the best in world literature.
His business associate, Mr.. Will
liam M Scott, to whom he dedi-
Gated one of the wittiest of his
books, "A Magnificent Farce-the
Amenities Of Book Collecting" In
his tribute to Mr. Newton. says,
THE general public knew of him
as a collector of rare books, but
few perhaps knew that many years
before he entered the field of au-
thorship he had acquired an out
standing position in the business
world as the producer of an unique
variety Of advertising literature
abounding in sound philosophy and
sparkling vital of which was used
in the interest of the electrical and
manufacturing enterprise of which
he was the distinguished head"
Mr.. Scott says Mr.. Newton hated
every living mechanical thing with
a royal hatred and to him
screwdriver was thing of suspicion
and a monkey wrench filled him
with horror.
Newton Books Exhibited
In Library of Congress.
DR.. Rosenbach writes. I'm the
early years of the 18th century
there lived a loquacious gentleman
who wrote about books-Thomas
Frognall Dibdin was the patron
saint of book collectors of that
period In 1918 there flashed on
the horizon 4 volume that was to
cause a greater sensation among
book lovers of first editions than
Dibdln's book which had appeared
century before-it was The
Amenities of Book Collecting"
In the beautiful Georgian room
of the rare book division Mr. Mac
Leish has assembled an interesting
exhibition of Mr.. Newton's books
and in this collection is copy Of
this most famous and popular book,
also another 1918 copy of the
"Amenities' bequeathed to the
library by Joseph and Elizabeth
Pennell-a copy which was pre-
sented to the noted illustrator and
etcher by the author and which as
q frontispiece has delectable Carl
cature in colors of two great Vic
torians-William Makepeace Thack-
cray and Charles Dickens.
Mr.. Arthur A. Houghton, jr., of
the Junior tribe of best-known
bihliophiles and a friend of Mr..