Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1886 — Books. [ARTICLE]

Books.

' 'Most great men ate lovers of hooka. Feuelon said: “If all the crowns of the Atflgdrffiim'rtr Ettropft nyera latd st my feet in exchange for ray bookß, I would ipurn them all.” -'Macaulay Baid of his aooks: “These are old friends that are sever seen with new faces, who are the lame in wealth and in poverty, in glory xml obsciirity. Plato is never sullen; 'lervantes is never petulant. Demos•lieries never comes unseasonably. i)ante never stays too long. No differtnce of political opinion can ever alienite Cicero.’’- ! . “The late Mark .I’attison, Rector of Lincoln,” says the New York Tribune, “had a human fondness for his books. Nothing annoyed-him so much as to hear one of them fall; and dusting thCm. which he reduced to a science, peemed to give him real pleasure. In his illness the sight of his favorites de-. pressed him greatly. ‘Ah,’ he would bay," ‘I am to leave my hooks,’ and sometimes, ‘They have been moye to me than my friends.’ He would ask for Them one after another, till he was literally covered almost to his shoulders as »le lay, and the floor around him was strewn with them. He used to say the tight of the books was necessary.to him at his work; and once reading how Kcliiller always kept ‘rotten apples’ in liis study because their scent, was beneficial to-liim, lie pointed to some shelves above his Kept his oldest and'inost prized editions, and said, ‘They are my rotten apples.’ It should be the ambition of every voting nian and woman to l ave a good library. For youthful readers who are beginning the collection of books a few rules may not be amiss: I. Set apart a regular weekly or monthly sum for books, and spend that and that only. .2. Devote a portion of your money to books of reference."" * 3. Never purchase a worthless book, nor an infidel w ork, nor a poor edition. 4. Buy the best. Plutarch said: “We ought to regard books as we do sweet meats, not wholly to aim at the pleasantest, but chiefly to respect the wholesomest, ” 5. Where there is a choice, buy small books rather than large ones. “ Books that you can carry to the fire and hold readily in the hand are the most useful after all, ” was the conclusion of Samuel Johnson. 6. Do not buy too many books of one class. 7. Do not buy sets of an author until you have a fair library, and plenty of money . ..t.-vKvvv'w** 8. Take one monthly magazine and one or two weekly religious papers. . .9. Make a catalogue of your books. TO. In each book write your name, the date of the purchase, and the price paid. " '"x~ " "77, T 11. Have a blank-book in which to put all particulars in reference to loans. T 2. "Read xvhat you buy, and buy only what you will read. ” " - -