Evening star., 1948-12-23
This and That
BIZ Charles Y. Trdce1Dell

Are YOU a careless handler of books?
If you are you ought to reform, both for the
sake of yourself and the book.
Many Christmastime books are being defaced
right now by honest people who never have
thought of book as thing Heaven knows
what they think book Is They grab 1t, plac-
ing smeary thumb on the left margin and an
equally dirty one on the right margin. They
pull book open so quickly that there comes
q distinct splitting sound They dog some
pages and leave others looking as If an animal
had been paving there.
No doubt they are nice people but still they
do not know how to handle q book.
There is no necessity for all this. 1t is just
as easy to handle q book properly as improp-
erly. OF course, mishandlers Of books have
had lot of company, some of 1t distinguished.
Wordsworth, the poet, thought nothing Of cut
he buttered his toast Even Kipling was not
over careful in the day-by-d day handling OF his
volumes
A careless reader, or a careful reader-which
are you, dear reader? Each side has something
to say for itself, 1t Is true. Careless handlers
do not let their books worry them much, and
that is easy on their nerves. On the other hand,
the man or the woman who Is careful with
books has a genuine mental pleasure in keep
ing fair pages fair. This is not really worry
careless reader can do more damage to q
book in 10 seconds than q careful reader in
10 years. 1t is amazing how the one can tear
up book, and how the other scarcely leaves
trace of having been there. Like murder and
treason, 1t Is far from him.
Every one who reads would be benefited by
actually seeing printing being done. No one
can be Indifferent about a book, q magazine
a newspaper, pamphlet, even a lea1et. who
knows something of the care which goes into
their making. All along the line there has been
a great cooperation of mind and mechanics
to turn out good job. Did you ever stop to
think why it is that the margins of books,
newspapers and magazines never have thumb
smear on them? They would all be linked up
If printers were as careless as some book
lovers.
What shall we do then, to be as. careful
when we read as printers are when they print?
Well, we can wash our hands, for one thing,
every time before handling well-printed matter
And dry them well, too. Reading is sort of
mental eating, and few people today would
think of eating their dinner without washing
their hands first. Why even children are
taught that! But many adults think nothing
at all Of selling a beautiful new book with
dirty hands 1t is sacrilege, no less.
The gain In washing the hands is that 1t
removes oil. Physical dirt is not as harmful
to printed matter as oil. Many papers show
oil very plainly. So some readers leave behind
Llcll Iull SeI OF LngerprlnCS IN every DOCK
they read. They do this because they do not
mind 1t themselves-but how about the owner,
or the next reader? Really, there is nothing
fnicky in carefully washing the hands before
reading as we'll as eating.
n Il
Women, in particular should be careful not
to use hand lotion before reading a book
They should beware of lpstick and cigarette
ashes, to say nothing of the cigarette itself
AS readers, they always should remember that
their hands are more moist than those of men,
1t is good idea for all book lovers to realize
that they do indeed read with their hands in
a very true sense It is usually the hand that
does the damage. We subject q book to q
mauling when it deserves only our love. 1t is
easy to think of this, now and then, and to
settle the matter once and for all, after which
1t should take care OF itself in actual practice
There Is no need at all for any one to hold
book as II 1t were a slippery fish about to
wiggle away from him, which he must foil by
holding 1t with a convulsve grip and using
finger force thousand times what it should be-
AS for eating while reading shall we, or
shan't we?
Despite some people, there is a great deal
to be said for eating while reading, but if we
do it we must exercise extreme caution. One
1t can be done. This leaves the other one for
liquids-these are some things that require
more than usual care. Even crackers, the old
standby, have their dangers, since they often
have a great deal Of oil or shortening in their
makeup.
The only really safe way, of course, is not
TO eat while reading.