111 files changed, 5618 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/22605-8.txt b/22605-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b341d52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1825 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs, by 
+Henry H. Harper
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs
+
+Author: Henry H. Harper
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2007 [EBook #22605]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK-LOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS... ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Christine D. and the
+booksmiths at http://www.eBookForge.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOKLOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS
+
+AND
+
+BOOK CLUBS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  Book-Lovers
+  Bibliomaniacs
+
+  and
+
+  Book Clubs
+
+By
+
+HENRY�H�HARPER
+
+  Privately Printed
+  At The Riverside Press
+  Cambridge
+
+  BOSTON
+  MDCDIV
+
+COPYRIGHT 1904 BY H. H. HARPER
+
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY
+
+
+HAVING been asked to make a few remarks upon Book-loving, Book-buying,
+and Book Clubs,--not for publication before the great audience of
+readers, but for the exclusive use of the members of a private Book
+Club,--I venture thus to offer my views, hoping that in the light of
+my own personal experience I may be able to give a few useful hints
+and suggestions to those who may peruse the pages which follow.
+
+If this little tome, in which are recorded the reflections of one who
+for many years has mingled with publishers, booksellers, bibliophiles,
+collectors, and bibliomaniacs, should prove to be of any interest or
+service, and is found worthy of a small space in some sequestered nook
+in the library, where it may in silent repose behold its more worthy
+and resplendent companions, the fondest ambition of the author will be
+gratified beyond peradventure.
+
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKLOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS
+
+AND
+
+BOOK CLUBS
+
+
+BOOK-collecting is undeniably one of the most engaging pursuits in
+which a refined and artistic taste may be indulged. From the earliest
+times, and even before the days of printing, this pleasant diversion
+has been pursued by persons of moderate means as well as by those of
+wealth and distinction, and every succeeding generation of
+book-collectors has exceeded its predecessors in numbers and in
+enthusiasm. The alluring influences of bibliophilism, or book-loving,
+have silently crept into thousands of homes, whether beautiful or
+humble; for the library is properly regarded as one of the most
+important features of home as well as mental equipment.
+
+In _The House Beautiful_ William C. Gannett emphasizes the importance
+of considering the library as foremost in furnishing a home. He says:
+"It means admission to the new marvels of science, if one chooses
+admission. It means an introduction to the noblest company that all
+the generations have produced, if we claim the introduction.
+Remembering this, how can one help wishing to furnish his house with
+some such furniture? A poet for a table piece! A philosopher upon the
+shelf! Browning or Emerson for a fireside friend!
+
+"A family's rank in thought and taste can well be gauged by the books
+and papers that lie upon the shelf or table of the library."
+
+Not many years ago, Mr. Howard Pyle said: "I sometimes think that we
+are upon the edge of some new era in which the art of beautifying
+books with pictures shall suddenly be uplifted into a higher and a
+different plane of excellence; when ornate printed colour and perfect
+reproduction shall truly depict the labour of the patient draughtsman
+who strives so earnestly to beautify the world in which he lives, and
+to lend a grace to the living therein." The prophecy is already
+fulfilled, and a modern book, in order to win favor among present-day
+bibliophiles, must embody an harmonious assimilation of many arts.
+
+The ardor of possessing books, commonly called bibliomania, also
+styled bibliophilism and "biblio"--whatever else that has suggested
+itself to the fruitful imaginations of dozens of felicitous writers
+upon the subject,--is described by Dibdin as a "disease which grows
+with our growth, and strengthens with our strength." Kings and queens
+have not been immune from this prevalent though harmless malady. The
+vast resources of Henry VII were employed in collecting a library of
+which a modern millionaire collector might be justly proud. Many
+specimens of his magnificent collection, bearing the royal stamp, are
+now to be found in the British Museum. Queen Elizabeth and Lady Jane
+Grey were submissive victims of the bibliomania. It is worthy of note
+that while there were but few women book-collectors in the Elizabethan
+period, there are at the present time in our own country almost as
+many women as there are men engaged in this fascinating pursuit. As
+late as 1843, Dibdin remarks that "it is a remarkable circumstance,
+that the bibliomania has almost uniformly confined its attacks to the
+_male_ sex, and among people in the higher and middling classes of
+society. It has raged chiefly in palaces, castles, halls, and gay
+mansions, and those things which in general are supposed not to be
+inimical to health,--such as cleanliness, spaciousness, and splendour,
+are only so many inducements to the introduction and propagation of
+the bibliomania!"
+
+It should be remembered, however, that one possessing a fondness for
+books is not necessarily a bibliomaniac. There is as much difference
+between the inclinations and taste of a bibliophile and a bibliomaniac
+as between a slight cold and the advanced stages of consumption. Some
+one has said that "to call a bibliophile a bibliomaniac is to conduct
+a lover, languishing for his maiden's smile, to an asylum for the
+demented, and to shut him up in the ward for the incurables." _Biblio_
+relates to books, and _mania_ is synonymous with madness, insanity,
+violent derangement, mental aberration, etc. A bibliomaniac,
+therefore, might properly be called an insane or crazy bibliophile. It
+is, however, a harmless insanity, and even in its worst stages it
+injures no one. Rational treatment may cure a bibliomaniac and bring
+him (or her) back into the congenial folds of bibliophilism, unless,
+perchance, the victim has passed beyond the curative stages into the
+vast and dreamy realms of extra-illustrating, or "grangerizing."
+People usually have a horror of insane persons, and one might well
+beware of indulging a taste for books, if there were any reasonable
+probability that this would lead to mental derangement. There could be
+furniture-maniacs, rug-maniacs, and china-maniacs just as well as
+book-maniacs, but people do not generally hesitate to purchase
+furniture, rugs, and china for fear of going crazy on the subject, and
+no more reason is there why rational persons should hesitate to make a
+collection of good books for a library, for fear of being called
+bibliomaniacs. In _Sesame and Lilies_ Ruskin says: "If a man spends
+lavishly on his library, you call him mad--a bibliomaniac. But you
+never call one a horse-maniac, though men ruin themselves every day by
+their horses, and you do not hear of people ruining themselves by
+their books."
+
+This is pre�minently the age of collectors, and scarcely a week passes
+without the discovery of some new dementia in this direction. Only a
+few days ago I read of a new delirium which threatens disaster to the
+feline progeny; it may be called the _cat-tail mania_, seeing that its
+victims possess an insatiable desire for amputating and preserving the
+caudal appendages of all the neighborhood cats. A self-confessed
+member of this cult was recently arrested in one of the eastern
+States.
+
+There are several species of bibliophiles; there are _many_ species
+of bibliomaniacs. Some admire books for what they contain; others for
+their beautiful type, hand-made paper, artistic illustrations, ample
+margins, untrimmed edges, etc.; and there are others who attach more
+importance to the limited number of copies issued than to either the
+contents or workmanship.
+
+If a book is to attain any considerable commercial value and increase
+in worth year after year, it is of first importance that the number of
+copies issued be actually limited; and the greater the restriction the
+more likelihood that the monetary value will be steadily enhanced. But
+it must not be forgotten that the mere "limitation" will not of itself
+create a furore among judicious book-buyers; the book, or set of
+books, should rest upon some more secure basis of valuation than that
+of scarcity.
+
+Dibdin says in his _Bibliomania_, issued in 1811: "About twelve years
+ago I was rash enough to publish a small volume of poems, with my name
+affixed. They were the productions of my juvenile years; and I need
+hardly say at this period how ashamed I am of their authorship. The
+monthly and analytical reviews did me the kindness of just tolerating
+them, and of warning me not to commit any future trespass upon the
+premises of Parnassus. I struck off five hundred copies, and was glad
+to get rid of half of them as wastepaper; the remaining half has been
+partly destroyed by my own hands, and has partly mouldered away in
+oblivion amidst the dust of booksellers' shelves. My only consolation
+is that the volume is _exceedingly rare_!"
+
+The contents, first to be considered, should be worthy of
+preservation; next in importance is the selection of appropriate type,
+and the size and style of page, which should be determined by the nature
+of the work and the period in which it was written. The size of the book
+and the margins of the page must be carefully considered in order to
+harmonize with the text-page. In choosing illustrations it is important
+to determine whether they should be ornate and illustrative, or classic
+and emblematical in design. The paper should be handmade, to order, and
+of such correct size as not to lose the deckle edges in cutting; and the
+printing should be done in "forms" of not more than eight. The paper
+should be scientifically moistened before printing, and the ink allowed
+several weeks in which to dry before handling the printed sheets. The
+bindings should harmonize with interiors, and due care taken against
+over-decoration of the covers. These few technical hints will serve to
+acquaint the book-lover with some at least of the many important
+features which must be regarded in the preparation of a fine book,--a
+book fitted to demand and merit a place upon the library shelves of
+discriminating bibliophiles, and as well increase in demand and price
+whenever thereafter its copies may "turn up" for sale.
+
+Next in importance, after considering literary and mechanical fitness,
+and the limitation of the work, is the question of distribution; its
+scope, and the class of subscribers. The stock of a corporation, if
+limited to a reasonable number of shares and issued only to a few expert
+investors of high standing, and for tangible considerations, will
+obviously be considered a safer and more attractive investment than if
+it be scattered indiscriminately among a class of professional
+manipulators for stock-jobbing purposes. With such a stock where thus
+closely held for investment purposes, an order for a few shares may
+largely elevate its market value. But if the stock were issued in
+unlimited quantities, the monetary value would be entirely lost. Again,
+if the stock had no corporeal assets as a basis for its issue, the
+"limited and registered" clause could not sustain it in the market.
+
+So it is with books: if the number of copies issued be held within a
+reasonable constraint, consistent with the price charged per copy, and
+if they are subscribed for by book-lovers who prize them for their
+literary or historic value and luxurious appearance no less than for
+pecuniary values, they are not likely to find their way into the
+bookstalls, or to be "picked up" in auction rooms at less than their
+original price. This condition applies particularly to legitimate club
+editions and privately printed editions. If an edition of five hundred
+copies is widely distributed throughout the country, it is reasonable
+to assume that the speculative market therefor would be less apt to
+suffer from congestion than if the sale of the whole number of sets
+were confined to one locality.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Passing now to those who, in one way or another, are to meet with
+and handle the completed book, we may begin with a class of _literary
+barnacles_ who stick about the libraries of their friends and of the
+public institutions, and feed their bibliophilistic appetites on what
+others have spent much time and money in collecting. These may perhaps
+more appropriately be called biblio-spongers, and are of all ranks in
+the community, many even owning beautiful homes, and having ample
+resources at command; but while enjoying the congenial atmosphere of a
+well-furnished library, and the delights of caressing the precious and
+wisely selected tomes of others, they are still of such temperaments
+that they would no more think of _buying_ books than would another of
+buying an opera-house in order to satisfy theatre-going propensities.
+These people should be taught that fine books, like friends, are not
+loanable or exchangeable chattels. They will argue that there is no
+use spending money for books, because they reside within easy reach of
+a public library where such books as they desire are readily
+obtainable, or perhaps suggest that "I have free access to my friend
+Smith's library; he scarcely ever uses it;" without reflecting that
+Smith would probably use it more, if his friends used it less. And yet
+such folk will still incur the needless expense of providing their own
+homes with chairs, unless, haply, such homes may chance to be within
+convenient reach of some park or public institution where _free_ seats
+are provided.
+
+Most of us are disposed to idealize a besotted bibliomaniac as a
+harmless being whose companionship and favor are neither to be courted
+nor particularly avoided,--a sort of shellfish basking on the bank of
+life's flow in whatever sunshine it may absorb, and paying little heed
+to the thoughts or actions of others.
+
+The following curious inscription which is found on an old
+copperplate print of the famous bibliomaniac, John Murray, will
+illustrate one of the varieties:--
+
+    Hoh Maister John Murray of Sacomb,
+    The Works of old Time to collect was his pride,
+      Till Oblivion dreaded his Care:
+    Regardless of Friends, intestate he dy'd,
+      So the Rooks and the Crows were his Heir.
+
+Mr. Nathan Haskell Dole, President of The Bibliophile Society, aptly
+describes a miserly bibliomaniac as a
+
+    Victim of a frenzied passion,
+      He is lean and lank and crusty;
+    Naught he cares for dress or fashion
+      And his rusty coat smells musty;
+
+while in characterizing the natural impulses of true bibliophilism, he
+says that
+
+    Bibliophiles take pride in showing
+      All the gems of their collections;
+    They are generous in bestowing,
+      They have genuine affections.
+
+Peignot says a bibliomaniac is one who has "a passion for possessing
+books; not so much to be instructed by them as to gratify the eye by
+looking on them." This presumption is about as reasonable as it would
+be to say that a man is a monomaniac because he gets married when he
+is in no special need of a house-servant, or body-guard.
+
+In his _Bibliomania_ Dibdin enumerates eight symptoms of this "darling
+passion or insanity," in the following order: "A passion for
+large-paper copies, uncut copies, extra-illustrated copies, unique
+copies, copies printed on vellum, first editions, true editions, and
+black-letter copies."
+
+The first of these should be omitted from the symptomatic category:
+it would be fallacy to assume that one is a maniac because one admires
+the ample margins and paramount qualities of these large-paper copies,
+which Dibdin himself says are "printed upon paper of a larger
+dimension and superior quality than the ordinary copies. The presswork
+and ink are always proportionately better in these copies, and the
+price of them is enhanced according to their beauty and rarity. . . .
+That a volume so published has a more pleasing aspect cannot be
+denied." He adds that "this symptom of the bibliomania is at the
+present day both general and violent." No wonder! And yet the charming
+Dr. Ferriar dips his pen in gall and writes the following satirical
+lines upon this highly commendable "weakness:"--
+
+    But devious oft, from every classic Muse,
+    The keen collector, meaner paths will choose.
+    And first the margin's breadth his soul employs,
+    Pure, snowy, broad, the type of nobler joys.
+    In vain might Homer roll the tide of song,
+    Or Horace smile, or Tully charm the throng,
+    If, crost by Pallas' ire, the trenchant blade
+    Or too oblique or near the edge invade,
+    The Bibliomane exclaims with haggard eye,
+    "No margin!"--turns in haste, and scorns to buy.
+
+Dibdin ventures to further assert that "the day is not far distant
+when _females_ will begin to have as high a relish for large-paper
+copies of every work as their male rivals." If he could return to this
+sphere and behold the enormously increased number of women
+bibliophiles in our country at the present time, the subject would
+doubtless furnish him with a congenial theme for another of his
+rambling discourses, this time perhaps under the caption of
+_Bibliowomania_. He was far in advance of the age in which he lived;
+for although he had very little upon which to base the prediction, he
+yet prophesied that not many years would lapse before women would
+invade the fields of book-collecting and prove themselves valiant
+competitors in the market. This, in fact, is now common enough, and I
+myself have known of many instances in auction-rooms where a small
+army of rampant bibliomaniacs have been obliged to retreat and to
+abandon their pursuit of some coveted treasure, on finding it boldly
+covered by a _carte-blanche_ order from a feminine competitor. Women
+rarely appear in the book auction-room, but leave their orders to be
+executed through a trusted broker, and many a collector has found
+himself suddenly obliged to soar aloft to dizzy heights in quest of
+some prize, on being thus lifted and pursued by one of the
+representatives of an unseen and unknown member of the gentler sex.
+
+Many people suppose the term "uncut," characteristic of Dibdin's
+second "symptom," to signify that the leaves of such volume as may be
+concerned have never been severed, whether for convenience of reading
+or otherwise. "Uncut," however, in its technical sense does not imply
+that the sheets are folded and bound just as they came from the press.
+The leaves may all be cut, and the tops trimmed, and even gilded,
+without striking terror to the heart of the bibliomaniac. Dibdin,
+indeed, treats this last mentioned symptom in merely a superficial way
+and dismisses it with a few cursory remarks, viz: "It may be defined a
+passion to possess books of which the edges have never been sheared by
+the binder's tools." This definition is vague and unsatisfactory. Mr.
+Adrian H. Joline (_Diversions of a Booklover_, Harper & Bros., New
+York, 1903,--a charming book that should be read by every
+book-fancier) discourses upon the subject more intelligently; he
+observes that the word _uncut_ appears to be a stumbling-block to the
+unwary, and says: "The casual purchaser is sometimes deceived by it,
+for he thinks that it means that the leaves have not been severed by
+the paper-knife. I have read with much glee divers indignant letters
+in the very interesting 'Saturday Review' of one of our best New York
+journals, in which the barbarian writers have denounced the _uncut_,
+and have assailed in vigorous but misguided phrases those who prefer
+to have their books in that condition. Henry Stevens tells us that
+even such a famous collector as James Lenox, founder of the splendid
+library into whose magnificent mysteries so few of us dare to
+penetrate, was misled by the word _uncut_, and chided Stevens for
+buying an _uncut_ book whose pages were all open. He says: 'Again when
+his tastes had grown into the mysteries of _uncut_ leaves, he returned
+a very rare, early New England tract, expensively bound, because it
+did not answer the description of _uncut_ in the invoice, for the
+leaves had manifestly been cut open and read.' When it was explained
+to him that in England the term _uncut_ signified only that the edges
+were not _trimmed_, he shelved the rarity with the remark that he
+'learned something every day.' . . . Perhaps the Caxton Club of
+Chicago is wise in describing its productions as 'with edges
+untrimmed.' Even a Philistine ought to be able to comprehend that
+description, although I once knew a man who supposed that a book
+'bound in boards' had sides composed of planking."
+
+Dr. Ferriar's satirical lines in his _Second Maxim_ will find
+sympathizers among admirers of uncuts:--
+
+    Who, with fantastic pruning-hook,
+    Dresses the borders of his book,
+    Merely to ornament its look--
+        Amongst philosophers a fop is:
+    What if, perchance, he thence discover
+    Facilities in turning over,
+    The virtuoso is a lover
+        Of coyer charms in "uncut copies."
+
+I have been requested to "explain the reason, if there be any, for
+leaving leaf-edges fastened [unopened]--even in evanescent
+magazines--and why people keep books in this condition, without
+looking at the contents." The reason why the binder does not open all
+the leaves is that it involves additional labor and expense which the
+publisher usually does not care to incur, as it does not essentially
+add to the selling value. Indeed, some collectors hesitate to open the
+leaves of their books with the paper-knife, for fear that the selling
+price would be thereby depreciated. This is an entirely mistaken idea,
+though it prevails very generally among those who do not understand
+the real meaning of the term "uncut." Most booksellers prefer having
+the leaves of the volumes all opened, as many buyers and readers
+object to the nuisance of cutting them open. Some of the magazine
+publishers have modern folding machines equipped with blades for
+severing all the leaves. In fine book-making, however, most of the
+folding and cutting is done by hand.
+
+The third "symptom" defined by Dibdin, viz: "extra-illustrating,"
+commonly called _grangerizing_, is really so far removed from the
+indicative stages of bibliomania as to render it entirely
+inappropriate as a proper single characteristic; it is the whole
+disease in its worst form. Fortunately, it is not a frequent infirmity
+among our present day bibliomaniacs. I cannot refrain from quoting Mr.
+William P. Cutter's vehement denunciation of the class of literary
+foragers who are thus affected. He observes that "this craze for
+'extra-illustrating' seizes remorselessly the previously harmless
+bibliophile, and leads him to become a wicked despoiler and mutilator
+of books. The extra-illustrator is nearly always the person
+responsible for the decrepit condition of many of the books which
+'unfortunately lack the rare portrait,' or have, 'as usual,' some
+valuable plate or map lacking. Were this professional despoiler, or
+his minions, the ruthless booksellers, to destroy the sad wrecks which
+result from their piratical depredations, all would be well. But they
+set these poor maimed hulks adrift again, to seek salvage from some
+deluded collector, or some impoverished or ignorant librarian.
+
+"It is curious that the very volume in which our reverend friend
+Dibdin so heartily condemns these inexcusable bandits, should be
+seized on as a receptacle for their ill-gotten prizes. May the spectre
+of Thomas Frognall Dibdin haunt the souls of these impious rascals,
+and torture them with never-ceasing visions of unobtainable and rare
+portraits, non-existent autographs, and elusive engravings in general!
+They even dare to profane your sacred work, the _Biblia_ of
+book-lovers, by the 'insertion' of crudities invented by their
+fiendish imagination. They have committed the 'unpardonable sin' of
+bibliophilism. Not only do they carry on this wicked work, but
+actually flaunt their base crimes in the face of their innocent
+brethren. Hearken to this:--
+
+"DIBDIN, T.F. _Bibliomania._ London, 1811. Extended to five volumes,
+with extra printed titles, and having eight hundred engravings
+inserted, comprising views, old titles(!), vignettes, and six hundred
+and seventy-five portraits of authors, actors, poets, sovereigns,
+artists, prelates, &c., &c., 250 guineas."
+
+Limited space prevents me from making any remarks upon the other five
+"symptoms," none of which are of any special interest, except to
+collectors to whose eccentricities they particularly relate.
+
+As to "Autograph Editions," the craze for these continues without
+abatement. To me, this has always been one of the unsolved mysteries
+of the book-mania. I can readily appreciate how a collector would
+prize an author's inscribed copy of some choice edition, but why
+intelligent people should be allured into the belief that an author's
+stereotyped autograph displayed upon a front page gives any added
+value to a set of subscription books, will to me, I fear, forever
+remain a disentangled enigma. I was once applied to by an agent
+representing a $6000 "Autograph Edition" of Jean Jacques Rousseau.
+Having never seen Rousseau's autograph, I asked that it be shown me.
+"Oh," said the agent, "Rousseau himself don't sign the copies, but the
+set will be signed by the publishers." Would not a much less expensive
+and more expeditious way of obtaining publishers' autographs be found
+in writing a postal card of inquiry for the "prices and terms" on
+their publications?
+
+Gilpin has left the following quaint account of the eccentric old
+bibliomaniac, Henry Hastings, the uncompanionable neighbor of Anthony
+Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. The accompanying pen-and-ink sketch
+represents Louis Maynelle's idealization of this interesting
+character; it was made especially for this volume:--
+
+"Mr. Hastings was low of stature, but strong and active, of a ruddy
+complexion, with flaxen hair. His clothes were always of green cloth.
+His house was of the old fashion; in the midst of a large park, well
+stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. He had a long narrow
+bowling green in it, and used to play with round sand bowls. Here too
+he had a banqueting room built, like a stand in a large tree.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"He kept all sorts of hounds that ran buck, fox, hare, otter, and
+badger; and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short winged. His
+great hall was commonly strewed with marrow-bones, and full of
+hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. The upper end of it was
+hung with fox-skins of this and the last year's killing. Here and
+there a polecat was intermixed and hunter's poles in great abundance.
+The parlour was a large room, completely furnished in the same style.
+On a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest
+terriers, hounds and spaniels. One or two of the great chairs had
+litters of cats in them, which were not to be disturbed. Of these,
+three or four always attended him at dinner, and a little white wand
+lay by his trencher, to defend it if they were too troublesome. In the
+windows, which were very large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other
+accoutrements. The corners of the room were filled with his best
+hunting and hawking poles. His oyster table stood at the lower end of
+the room, which was in constant use twice a day, all the year round;
+for he never failed to eat oysters both at dinner and supper, with
+which the neighbouring town of Pool supplied him.
+
+"At the upper end of the room stood a small table with a double desk,
+one side of which held a church Bible; the other the _Book of
+Martyrs_. On different tables in the room lay hawks' hoods, bells, old
+hats with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs, tables, dice,
+cards, and store of tobacco pipes. At one end of this room was a door,
+which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer and
+wine, which never came out but in single glasses, which was the rule
+of the house, for he never exceeded himself nor permitted others to
+exceed.
+
+"Answering to this closet was a door into an old chapel, which had
+been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest
+place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a
+gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust, well baked.
+His table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. His sports
+supplied all but beef and mutton, except on Fridays, when he had the
+best of fish. He never wanted a London pudding, and he always sang it
+in with 'My part lies therein-a.' He drank a glass or two of wine at
+meals; put syrup of gilly-flowers into his sack, and had always a tun
+glass of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about with
+rosemary. He lived to be an hundred, and never lost his eyesight, nor
+used spectacles. He got on horseback without help, and rode to the
+death of the stag till he was past four-score."
+
+It is said of George Steevens, the famous Shakespearian collector,
+that he "lived in a retired and eligibly situated house, just on the
+rise of Hampstead Heath. It was paled in, and had immediately before
+it a verdant lawn skirted with a variety of picturesque trees. Here
+Steevens lived, embosomed in books, shrubs and trees, being either too
+coy or too unsociable to mingle with his neighbours. His habits were
+indeed peculiar: not much to be envied or imitated, as they sometimes
+betrayed the flights of a madman and sometimes the asperities of a
+cynic. His attachments were warm but fickle both in choice and
+duration. He would frequently part from one with whom he had lived on
+terms of close intimacy, without any assignable cause, and his
+enmities once fixed were immovable. There was indeed a kind of venom
+in his antipathies, nor would he suffer his ears to be assailed or his
+heart to relent in favour of those against whom he entertained
+animosities, however capricious and unfounded. In one pursuit only was
+he consistent: one object only did he woo with an inflexible
+attachment; and that object was Dame Drama."
+
+In Dibdin's Bibliomaniacal romance, "Philemon" is credited with the
+following narrative concerning one who was probably a bibliomaniac in
+all that the compound sense of the term implies:--
+
+"You all know my worthy friend Ferdinand, a very _helluo librorum_.
+It was on a warm evening in summer, about an hour after sunset, that
+Ferdinand made his way towards a small inn or rather village alehouse
+that stood on a gentle eminence skirted by a luxuriant wood. He
+entered, oppressed with heat and fatigued, but observed, on walking up
+to the porch 'smothered with honeysuckles,' as I think Cowper
+expresses it, that everything around bore the character of neatness
+and simplicity. The hollyhocks were tall and finely variegated in
+blossom, the pinks were carefully tied up, and roses of all colours
+and fragrance stood around in a compacted form like a body-guard
+forbidding the rude foot of trespasser to intrude. Within, Ferdinand
+found corresponding simplicity and comfort.
+
+"The 'gude man' of the house was spending the evening with a
+neighbour, but poached eggs and a rasher of bacon, accompanied with a
+flagon of sparkling ale, gave our guest no occasion to doubt the
+hospitality of the house on account of the absence of its master. A
+little past ten, after reading some dozen pages in a volume of Sir
+Edgerton Brydges's _Censura Literaria_, which he happened to carry
+about him, and partaking pretty largely of the aforesaid eggs and ale,
+Ferdinand called for his candle and retired to repose. His bedroom was
+small but neat and airy; at one end and almost facing the window there
+was a pretty large closet with the door open; but Ferdinand was too
+fatigued to indulge any curiosity about what it might contain.
+
+"He extinguished his candle and sank upon his bed to rest. The heat
+of the evening seemed to increase. He became restless, and throwing
+off his quilt and drawing his curtain aside, turned towards the window
+to inhale the last breeze which yet might be wafted from the
+neighbouring heath. But no zephyr was stirring. On a sudden a broad
+white flash of lightning--nothing more than summer heat--made our
+bibliomaniac lay his head upon his pillow and turn his eyes in an
+opposite direction. The lightning increased; and one flash more vivid
+than the rest illuminated the interior of the closet and made manifest
+an old mahogany book-case stored with books. Up started Ferdinand and
+put his phosphoric treasures into action. He lit his match and trimmed
+his candle and rushed into the closet, no longer mindful of the
+heavens, which now were in a blaze with the summer heat.
+
+"The book-case was guarded both with glass and brass wires; and the
+key--nowhere to be found! Hapless man! for to his astonishment he saw
+_Morte d'Arthur_, printed by Caxton--_Richard Coeur de Lion_, by W. de
+Worde--_The Widow Edyth_, by Pynson--and, towering above the rest, a
+large-paper copy of the original edition of _Prince's Worthies of
+Devon_, while lying transversely at the top reposed John Weever's
+_Epigrams_!
+
+"'The spirit of Captain Cox is here revived,' exclaimed Ferdinand;
+while on looking above he saw a curious set of old plays with _Dido,
+Queen of Carthage_, at the head of them! What should he do? No key! No
+chance of handling such precious tomes till the morning light with the
+landlord returned!
+
+"He moved backwards and forwards with a hurried step, prepared his
+pocketknife to cut out the panes of glass and untwist the brazen
+wires; but a 'prick of conscience' made him desist from carrying his
+wicked design into execution. Ferdinand then advanced towards the
+window, and, throwing it open and listening to the rich notes of a
+concert of nightingales, forgot the cause of his torments--his
+situation reminded him of _The Churl and the Bird_--he rushed with
+renewed madness into the cupboard, then searched for the bell, but
+finding none, he made all sorts of strange noises. The landlady rose,
+and, conceiving robbers to have broken into the stranger's room, came
+and demanded the cause of the disturbance.
+
+"'Madam,' said Ferdinand, 'is there no possibility of inspecting the
+books in the cupboard? Where is the key?'
+
+"'Alack, sir,' rejoined the landlady, 'what is there that thus
+disturbs you in the sight of those books? Let me shut the closet-door
+and take away the key of it, and you will then sleep in peace.'
+
+"'Sleep in peace!' resumed Ferdinand; 'Sleep in wretchedness, you
+mean! I can have no peace unless you indulge me with the key of the
+book-case. To whom do such gems belong?'
+
+"'Sir, they are not stolen goods!'
+
+"'Madam, I ask pardon. I did not mean to question their being honest
+property, but'--
+
+"'Sir, they are not mine or my husband's.'
+
+"'Who, madam, who is the lucky owner?'
+
+"'An elderly gentleman of the name of--sir, I am not at liberty to
+mention his name, but they belong to an elderly gentleman.'
+
+"'Will he part with them? Where does he live? Can you introduce me to
+him?'
+
+"The good woman soon answered all Ferdinand's rapid queries, but the
+result was by no means satisfactory to him.
+
+"He learnt that these uncommonly scarce and precious volumes belonged
+to an ancient gentleman whose name was studiously concealed, but who
+was in the habit of coming once or twice a week, during the autumn, to
+smoke his pipe and lounge over his books, sometimes making extracts
+from them and sometimes making observations in the margin with a
+pencil. Whenever a very curious passage occurred, he would take out a
+small memorandum book and put on a pair of large tortoise-shell
+spectacles with powerful magnifying glasses in order to insert this
+passage with particular care and neatness. He usually concluded his
+evening amusements by sleeping in the very bed in which Ferdinand had
+been lying.
+
+"Such intelligence only sharpened the curiosity and increased the
+restlessness of poor Ferdinand. He retired to his bibliomaniacal bed,
+but not to repose. The morning sunbeams, which irradiated the bookcase
+with complete effect, shone upon his pallid countenance and thoughtful
+brow. He rose at five, walked in the meadows till seven, returned and
+breakfasted, stole upstairs to take a farewell peep at his beloved
+_Morte d'Arthur_, sighed 'three times and more,' paid his reckoning,
+apologized for the night's adventure, told the landlady he would
+shortly come and visit her again and try to pay his respects to the
+anonymous old gentleman.
+
+"'Meanwhile,' said he, 'I will leave no bookseller's shop in the
+neighbourhood unvisited till I gain intelligence of his name and
+character.'
+
+"The landlady eyed him steadily, took a pinch of snuff with a
+significant air, and returning with a smile of triumph to her kitchen,
+thanked her stars that she had got rid of such a madman!"
+
+To return, however, to the subject more immediately in hand, it
+will be observed that the present age is more prolific of bibliophiles
+than any preceding one, and that the growing interest in collecting
+fine books is attended by a relatively increasing demand for a higher
+standard of excellency of manufacture. A few years ago, there were
+only two or three publishers in this country who "specialized" in fine
+editions, while at present there are no less than thirty publishing
+houses, large and small, and as many more "private presses" engaged in
+the production of beautiful books to appease the demands of
+book-buyers. Many of these are well established and conducted upon
+thoroughly honest business principles; some, unfortunately, are not.
+The publication and sale of books--especially the so-called "de luxe"
+editions--is, like some other branches of industry, beset with
+numerous evils; so many sharp practices, indeed, having been resorted
+to by a few conscienceless publishers, and by a certain class of
+unscrupulous agents, that buyers have become wary, not to say weary,
+of being made the victims of their deceptive inventions. It is indeed
+lamentable that a few such pestiferous schemers should thus bring a
+certain degree of reproach upon the entire publishing business. It is
+a common practice among these _soi-disant_ publishers--many of whom
+possess neither capital, credit, nor sense of honor--to buy some lot
+of etchings or old prints from a junk-shop, or second-hand dealer, at
+a trifling price, and thereupon work the same off on credulous
+admirers of rare prints for possibly a thousand times their real
+value. And it is a common practice for these insidious sharks further
+to prey upon unsuspecting book-buyers by obtaining publications of
+reputable houses and falsifying them by the insertion of spurious
+titles calculated to delude the buyer into the belief that there are
+"only fifty copies issued." Many of them are ostracized book-salesmen
+who have at some previous time enjoyed the confidence of their
+employers, but have been ex-communicated by all honest publishers and
+booksellers on account of dishonest proclivities. They are therefore
+set adrift to prey upon the public, and are a constant menace to both
+publishers and buyers. I shall pay my further respects to these
+counterfeiters later on when I come to the subject of Book Clubs; in
+the mean while, it need hardly be pointed out that reprehensible
+methods of this kind are uniformly condemned among all respectable
+publishers and book-dealers, and that buyers should cautiously
+discriminate against those who practice them. It is not surprising
+that even the honest publishers and dealers themselves are
+occasionally made the scapegoats of these obnoxious parasites; but the
+astute collector is rarely "caught" by their schemes; and after a
+book-buyer has passed the primary or "experience" stages of
+book-collecting, he (or she) is designated as a "dead one," in the
+common parlance of the underground trade here referred to. Fortunate,
+indeed, are the bibliophiles who have passed unscathed into the
+category of "dead ones."
+
+That my present condemnatory observations are not directed against
+that great majority of publishers, booksellers, and agents whose
+methods in business are founded upon sincerity and integrity, will, I
+take it, be clearly understood; and I am, indeed, forced partially to
+disagree with Mr. Joline in his vigorous and general proscription of
+"subscription book-agents," for experience shows that there are many
+worthy people of this class, however much they may suffer by the sins
+of some of their kind. An acquaintance once said to me that he would
+"_never buy another book_," because he had been "buncoed" by a
+book-agent, to whom he otherwise referred with an uncomplimentary
+adjective. But this did not convince me that his position was more
+logical than that of the man who declared he would never take another
+bath because a watch had been stolen from his pocket while he was in
+bathing at some beach resort. It is incomprehensible that any one
+could imagine that our paper currency system is fraudulent because
+there are a few "green-goods" men in the country, or because
+counterfeit bills appear every now and then.
+
+We read so much in the papers nowadays of the extravagant sums paid
+for rare books by our modern millionaire bibliomaniacs that one is apt
+to become somewhat panic-stricken upon experiencing the first symptoms
+of the bibliomania. While these more opulent victims of book-madness
+vie with one another in the auction-room, the rational bibliophile
+sits in the gallery and views with silent awe and amazement the
+scrimmage over some apparently trifling volume that wouldn't fetch ten
+cents, but for the fact that it is "unique," and that so and so paid a
+stupendous sum for it at some previous sale. Despair not, dear
+bibliophile, of never being able to join in the mad scramble for these
+"uniques;" nor need you feel that they are essential to the formation
+of a library. They possess no virtues perceptible to the ordinary
+bibliophile, and it requires all the eloquence of a Cicero to
+elucidate their charms when displaying them to friends. For after all,
+the chief point of interest in such books is their cost price, and
+this you may be obliged to refrain from mentioning for fear you will
+be accused of being mentally unbalanced.
+
+It is not necessary to squander a fortune in collecting a library,
+nor to be hasty in buying every book you come across. Better go slowly
+and select wisely; you will derive more enjoyment from it, and in
+later years have less to charge to "experience account."
+
+There are a few "busy" book-collectors who intrust the selection of
+their books to secretaries or librarians, and thus sacrifice the
+keenest enjoyment of this captivating pursuit. Of all absurdities,
+this seems the most insupportable. It would be far more sensible to
+have your secretary select your friends, because if you should happen
+not to like these, you could abandon them without ceremony or expense.
+Why not also attend the opera and your various social functions by
+proxy, through your secretary? If he were as good a courtier as he is
+"literary adviser," he might succeed in getting as much enjoyment out
+of the receptions and dinners as you would, if you were to attend in
+person. Then, think of the _time_ you would save! We frequently hear
+the remark: "I have no time to devote to my library. I am very fond of
+books, but haven't time to collect or read them." And yet seeing what
+may be done in this regard by care and system, and that the greatest
+readers have been the busiest men, it seems strange that persons of
+intelligence should thus express themselves; should admit such obvious
+fatuity of view and procedure.
+
+In referring to this class of book-buyers, Roswell Field says, "The
+book-lover, so-called, who lacks any of the thrills that go with the
+_establishment_ as well as the enjoyment of a library in all of its
+appointments has deprived himself of many of the most pleasurable
+literary and semi-literary emotions. That bibliophile never pats his
+horse or his dog. To him his books are merely tools of trade,
+accessories to knowledge, to be pawed over, thrown away and replaced
+by new copies when worn out. He glories in the fact that his books are
+his servants rather than his companions, and he affects to despise and
+laugh at the sentimental relation which others have established with
+their books. Look out for that man! He is not of us; he is not of the
+elect; there is as little of warmth and the genial glow of fellowship
+in his library as in the middle gallery of the catacombs in the Appian
+Way. His very books cry out against him; but he hears them not, for he
+is deaf as well as blind."
+
+One of the busiest men in New York City, whose name is familiar in
+financial circles throughout the civilized world, is one of the most
+voracious collectors of the age. He probably transacts more business
+in a day than half a dozen ordinarily busy men, and yet finds time to
+give his personal attention to every minute detail of his vast
+collections, to which are added hundreds, and probably thousands, of
+items every year. This is only one of many such examples among our
+busiest men.
+
+I have often heard persons lament in a pensive and apologetic sort of
+way, "Yes, I have a great weakness for fine books." The very presence
+of this mis-called weakness, however, is unmistakable proof of great
+mental strength, and those who suffer from it may find solace in the
+fact that the giants of commerce, leading statesmen, and great men of
+affairs in general are frequently thus afflicted all through the
+periods of their greatest activity and success. What can possibly
+afford a more agreeable relaxation from the toils and perplexities of
+the day than to recline in an easy chair before an open grate fire in
+the library, surrounded by the silently reposing tomes which record
+and preserve the noblest thoughts of past and present generations?
+Surely no enjoyment in the home or office can be more delectable and
+unfailing in assuaging the worry and solicitude of a strenuous life
+than the silent companionship of books. It is a noteworthy fact that a
+large percentage of the leading stock brokers, bankers, active
+statesmen, and sedulous lawyers are bibliophiles. I attribute this to
+the fact that all of these vocations are extremely taxing upon the
+nervous system, and those men who are busily engaged in them are,
+during the intermittent hours of rest and recreation, naturally
+inclined to seek the most enjoyable and refreshing diversions; for, as
+Horace says,--
+
+    . . . nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis
+    Ducere sollicitae jocunda oblivia vitae.
+
+    Along with old books, or a nap, and divine hours of leisure--
+    To taste thus forgetfulness--sweet, in the midst of life's troubles.
+
+In an article written for The Bibliophile Society's (1903) Year
+Book, Caroline Ticknor says, "The true book-lover loves his books for
+their helpfulness, for their companionship; but he regards them as
+well for their elegant settings." She also observes that "strange as
+the anomaly may seem, there are still many persons of ample means, and
+some education, who, although they would be horrified at the very
+thought of admitting to the home a cheap rug or vase, to destroy the
+harmony and bring discord and confusion into the luxuriance of the
+furnishings, yet will nonchalantly tolerate the incongruity of a
+miserable fragment of a library made up of the cheapest and meanest
+editions to be found in the market, such as would be scorned by those
+of the most limited means and plebeian tastes. These will be found
+inappropriately housed amid the most sumptuous surroundings. A single
+rug to adorn the floor, or a single vase resting on a mantle, will
+often be found to have cost ten times as much as the whole home
+library. And yet the intellects of these people have been nurtured and
+trained in their youth by the brilliant thoughts of ancient and modern
+writers! Even the favorite author, be it Shakespeare, Dickens,
+Longfellow, Tennyson, or some other, is frequently represented by a
+half dozen or so disconsolate-looking volumes, the remainder of the
+set either never having been bought, or else, if bought, thrown aside,
+or strewn around the attic, or abandoned as a child would discard a
+toy which afforded it no further amusement.
+
+"It is worthy of remark, however, that the enormously increased
+demand of late for beautiful books evinces the fact that cultured and
+wealthy people are growing to appreciate the importance not only of
+having a good library, but that its quality should embody a degree of
+estheticism to correspond with the surroundings."
+
+Many of the most delightful persons, well read and competent to
+discourse intelligently upon the merits of books and authors, have
+never experienced a single pulsation of true bibliophilism; they have
+never known the joy of possessing and admiring a beautiful book, and
+that the attachment one bears for such a treasure is wholly
+reciprocal. They have not learned that fine books, like human beings,
+are capable of mutual affection, and that it is not necessary to
+devour them in order to value their charms. "We do not gather books to
+read them, my Boeotian friend," says Mr. Joline; "the idea is a
+childish delusion. 'In early life,' says Walter Bagehot, 'there is an
+opinion that the obvious thing to do with a horse is to ride it; with
+a cake, to eat it; with a sixpence to spend it.' A few boyish persons
+carry this further, and think that the natural thing to do with a book
+is to read it. The mere reading of a rare book is a puerility, an
+idiosyncrasy of adolescence; it is the _ownership_ of the book which
+is the matter of distinction. The collector of coins does not
+accumulate his treasures for the purpose of ultimately spending them
+in the marketplace. The lover of postage-stamps, small as his horizon
+may be, does not hoard his colored bits of paper with the intent to
+employ them in the mailing of letters. When some one complained to
+Bedford that a book which he had bound did not shut properly, he
+exclaimed, 'Why, bless me, sir, you've been _reading_ it!'"
+
+Herrick says that "the truest owner of a library is he who has bought
+each book for the love he bears to it; who is happy and content to
+say, 'Here are my jewels, my choicest possessions!'" Seneca, the great
+Roman philologer, wrote: "If you are fond of books, you will escape
+the _ennui_ of life; you will neither sigh for evening, disgusted with
+the occupations of the day, nor will you live dissatisfied with
+yourself or unprofitable with others." "I am quite transported and
+comforted in the midst of my books," says the younger Pliny, who was
+an ardent book-fancier; "they give a zest to the happiest and assuage
+the anguish of the bitterest moments of existence. Therefore, whether
+distracted by the cares or losses of my family or my friends, I fly to
+my library as the only refuge in distress: here I learn to bear
+adversity with fortitude."
+
+Southey thus immortalizes his speechless, yet beloved, library
+companions:
+
+    My never failing friends are they,
+    With whom I converse day by day.
+
+Balfour is no less eloquent in paying worthy tribute to his library:
+"The world may be kind or hostile; it may seem to us to be hastening
+on the wings of enlightenment and progress to an imminent millennium,
+or it may weigh us down with the sense of insoluble difficulty and
+irremediable wrong; but whatever else it may be, so long as we have
+good health and a library, it can never be dull."
+
+"Bookes," said the immortal Milton, "demeane themselves as well as
+men. Books are not absolutely dead things, but doe contain a potencie
+of life in them to be as active as that soule was whose progeny they
+are: nay they do preserve as in a violl the purest efficacie and
+extraction of that living intellect that bred them. Unlesse warinesse
+be us'd, as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a
+man kills a reasonable creature, God's Image; but Hee who destroys a
+good Booke, kills reason itselfe, kills the image of God, as it were
+in the eye."
+
+In the garnering of book-treasures, some collectors are prompted
+wholly by mercenary motives--most of them, fortunately, are not. There
+are biblio-mercenaries of such sordid inclinations that they would
+readily part with almost any book in their possession,--even inscribed
+presentation copies!--if lightly tempted with money considerations.
+Verily, these parsimonious traders would barter their own souls, if
+they possessed any value.
+
+I am indebted to the Secretary of a well-known book club for the
+following facts, to confirm which I saw all the correspondence. A
+certain book-buyer joined the club some time ago, and subscribed for
+the first publication issued after he became a member. Upon receiving
+the work he wrote: "I consider them among the most beautiful examples
+of book-making that I have ever seen, and prize them above all other
+books in my library." Six months later he sold the copy to a
+book-agent for twice its original cost. He "passed" the next
+publication issued by the club, as it did not interest him, but
+appended a postscript to his letter, saying: "If any member wants an
+extra copy, I have no objection to one being issued upon my membership
+and turned over to him, provided I receive the increase in price."
+
+The following humorous incident is recorded in the (1903) Year Book
+of another prominent book club. It may be explained that the club
+issued a very elaborate and beautiful publication, printed upon deckle
+edge handmade paper, illustrated with remarque proof copperplate
+etchings on Japanese vellum, and in duplicate without remarque on
+Whatman paper: "One of the members upon receiving the first two
+volumes of the ---- publication, writes: 'The Society starts out by
+making the worst kind of a blunder. The man's picture in the front of
+the volume is put in twice and on _two kinds of paper_. I could excuse
+this error, but imagine my horror when upon turning to the back of the
+volume I found the _same mistake repeated_. This is too much.' He
+closed by expressing a desire to resign, saying that he did not know
+he 'was joining a faddists club,' and takes occasion to remark further
+that 'the books are cheaply finished, not even being trimmed and
+gilded;' also that he 'can buy better books in the stores, _with full
+gilt edges_, for less money.'"
+
+So much has been written about the vagaries of book-collectors and
+bibliomaniacs that the subject has long since become threadbare, and
+about the only unexplored field of labor left to the choice of him who
+would gain a hearing with the reader--if one can be found who is not
+already weary of reading what the wags think of his (or her) own
+peculiar whims--is to fall in with the spirit of the age and compile
+an "International Library of the World's Greatest Gibberish about
+Bibliomaniacs." We have the "World's Greatest" everything else in
+book-lore, and I shall not be surprised if some enterprising publisher
+gets out a "definitive" _de luxe_ edition of the "World's Greatest
+Dictionaries." Indeed, the Holy Bible itself has not escaped, for they
+are now making a "de luxe" edition, in fourteen volumes! to be sold by
+subscription. It will not be an "Autograph Edition," however.
+
+The freaks and fancies of capricious book-gatherers and bibliomaniacs
+have undergone so few changes in the last hundred years that modern
+writers on Bibliomania, after vainly searching the horizon for some new
+development in the way of symptoms of the disease, or characteristics of
+those afflicted, have wandered off into the verdure of adjacent fields
+to avoid repetition. Some of them, from sheer lack of anything new to
+say, have set upon each other in the most unflattering terms. Many of
+the writers on the delectable "Joys of a Book-buyer," or "Habits of a
+Bibliomaniac," etc., evidently appreciate the fact that these much
+persecuted human beings have other pastimes and habits than collecting
+books, and that they really inhabit the earth in all its civilized parts
+and partake unstintedly of its many pleasurable diversions. But again,
+there is another extreme, for I once read a book issued under the
+misleading title of "Pleasures of a Book-collector," or something of the
+sort, which might have been more appropriately called the "Pleasures of
+a Single Man," seeing that the work had more to do with the hero's
+hopeless love for a fair damsel, and his hours at clubs, caf�s, and
+other places of amusement in which I had no special interest, than it
+did with the acquirement of literature. Thus, with the delusive idea
+that I was to be ushered into some of the secret enjoyments of the
+pleasing diversion of book-buying, I presently found myself more
+familiar with the habits, vices, and various unimportant matters of the
+author's conception--points, in short, having no bearing whatever upon
+the subject under consideration--than with the pleasures of a
+book-collector. The book was not badly written, nor wholly
+uninteresting; but if a man buys a ticket to the opera, he doesn't go
+prepared to see a cock-fight.
+
+For literary scoffers and malcontents who find fault with everything
+and everybody, who even scold publishers because their own books bring
+but meagre royalties, who fuss and fume over the harmless foibles of
+the very ones upon whom they depend for their audience, and like an
+ungrateful dog fasten their teeth in the charitable hand that offers
+them food, there can be but small sympathy. One is tempted to enlarge
+upon this familiar type, but here I am digressing from my subject, and
+am committing much the same offence as that of which I have elsewhere
+accused others.
+
+I have been asked to include within the scope of my article a few
+remarks about Book Clubs and Book Societies. In presuming to trespass
+upon sacred yet inviting ground of this character, I must be
+understood as approaching the subject with due reverence and apology.
+It is an indisputable fact that among the agencies that have
+contributed to the advancement and ennobling of the bookmaker's art in
+the past twenty years, the legitimate Book Club has been one of the
+most potential. We have only to refer to _Growell's American Book
+Clubs_ in order to learn of the many clubs and societies of this kind
+which have arisen in the past few years, with varying degrees of
+success and failure,--success, when intelligently conducted upon
+honest co�perative principles, and failure, if irrationally directed,
+without regard to the maxims upon which successful clubs are managed.
+The province of these worthy accessories in the world of fine
+bookmaking has not been free from invasion by sharks and charlatans,
+some of whom have succeeded for a time under the guise of honest and
+reciprocal motives.
+
+In this country there are private book clubs and societies that have
+won places of enviable distinction both here and abroad, and naturally
+among the foremost of these are the ones which have been pestered by
+"imitators." The following significant remarks are taken from the
+president's annual address to the members of an old and honored book
+club:--
+
+"Fame brings its penalties, and during the last year many of us have
+suffered considerable annoyance, both individually and as members of
+the Club, through the exploitation of books advertised sometimes as
+publications of The ---- Club, and more often as publications of the
+---- Society. These have usually been offered in connection with works
+of distinguished authors in numerous volumes, stated, as a rule, to be
+limited to a thousand copies, and described as the contents of the
+private library of a lady, which the agent declares to have been
+placed in his hands to dispose of as quickly as possible, regardless
+of cost. No widow's cruse, apparently, could be more unfailing in its
+supply than this 'private library.' While annoying, the device of a
+'---- Society,' though manifestly designed to confuse the public mind
+and trade on the reputation of this Club, can scarcely deceive our
+members or even the book-loving public. It, nevertheless, is an
+annoyance, and the more vexatious because scarcely calling for other
+remedy than exposure.
+
+"It is possible, however, that harm to the good name of the Club may
+be wrought through the advertisement, in an English newspaper, to
+which my attention has been drawn, of a so-called '---- Society of
+Great Britain,' which is declared to have been recently formed in
+conjunction with the '---- Society of the United States,' which is
+described as having been established in 1884, and to have occupied its
+own Club House since 1888, and to have published handsomely printed
+books for sale exclusively to the members. It is announced, however,
+that the '---- Society of Great Britain,' although intending to act in
+conjunction with the American society, 'will work upon somewhat
+different lines, at any rate at first.' It may well be that this
+cleverly deceptive advertisement will require some attention from us,
+either directly or through members resident abroad.
+
+"This, however, seems to be the only fly in our ointment, and we may
+congratulate ourselves that there is nothing more serious to disturb
+our enjoyment of the anniversary which we now celebrate."
+
+Another and more palpable fraud has been perpetrated in copying the
+name of The Bibliophile Society, but with a slight prefix, just enough
+to afford a loop-hole through which to escape legal prosecution. Not
+enough, however, to enable the public to distinguish between the
+spurious and the genuine, and even the members themselves have
+sometimes been deceived by unscrupulous agents representing their
+wares as the regular productions of the valid society. The audacious
+promoters of this so-called Society had the boldness not only to
+pilfer the name of the legitimate society, but also the name of its
+president, which was ostentatiously printed upon their letter heads,
+together with the name of Dr. Richard Garnett. Both of these gentlemen
+have recently published their denunciations through the columns of the
+press, and protested vigorously against this unauthorized use of their
+names.
+
+The _modus operandi_ of this pestiferous concern is to send numbered
+"complimentary certificates" throughout the country to persons whose
+names are obtainable from directories, and when acknowledgment cards
+are received from those who deign to accept the exalted compliment,
+they are forthwith called upon, usually by some "officer" of the
+Society,--sometimes the "President," but usually the "Treasurer,"
+"Secretary," or "Registrar."
+
+Some time ago I was honored by a call from one of these circumventive
+"Treasurers," but happened to be conveniently busy at the time, and so
+made an appointment with him to meet me at my office the next day.
+Meanwhile, I prepared to have his statements reduced to writing by a
+stenographer, anticipating that it might be necessary to refresh my
+memory upon certain passages that I might fail to remember verbatim.
+The following is the substance of the "canvass" as taken by the
+stenographer in an adjoining room, the door of which was wide open:--
+
+"I am the Treasurer of the ---- Society, with headquarters in
+London. By a special grant from the English Government, we have
+recently been permitted to extend our membership into this country,
+and three hundred life members are to be admitted under this
+enlargement of our constitutional privileges. It may interest you,
+first, to know something of the origin of this Society. It was
+organized in London about three hundred years ago by the Duke of
+Roxburghe [who was not born until more than a hundred years later],
+and was originally composed of about thirty members of the royal
+family. The original charter limited the membership to fifty members,
+and in less than a month the limit was reached. Through the powerful
+influence of the royal family the Society had easy access to all the
+great repositories of unpublished manuscripts, and the most valuable
+and interesting of them were selected for publication. These
+publications became so enormously valuable that it stimulated a desire
+on the part of others to join the Society, and particularly, some of
+the nobility of France and Germany. It was decided to increase the
+membership to three hundred, and to take in a few members from France,
+Germany, Italy, and Russia. The Society thrived for about a thousand
+years [this is either a stenographic error, or else he meant to say a
+hundred]; then there was a period of inactivity, and later on it was
+revived again, and the membership limit increased to five hundred.
+Last year we obtained permission to again increase the membership by
+taking in three hundred prominent people in America. I am over here to
+arrange for three vice-presidents,--two for the East and one for the
+West. I have a special commission to ask you to become one of the
+honorary vice-presidents and to offer you a life membership for less
+than half the regular fee, viz., $225.00; the usual fee for life
+membership is $500.00, but you get it for $225.00 on account of acting
+as our honorary vice-president for this territory. Of course you would
+have no regular duties to perform. You would sign all the membership
+certificates in your district, and in case of the death of any member,
+you would have the privilege of naming his successor.
+
+"The Society issues every year a volume giving all the price
+currents for the year, and keeps the members posted on the advance or
+decline in the value of all important publications. We also give you
+in confidence the ratings of various publishers, and print reports to
+members exposing all the frauds in the book business. Upon payment of
+the fee of $225.00, you receive all of this material free, for the
+balance of your life, and in addition all of the Society's regular
+publications, including the present one, consisting of ---- volumes
+[here he produced the customary specimen sheets]. You see this one
+work alone is worth the full amount you pay for life membership [here
+occurred a "special offer" of some sort, given in a low monotone which
+the stenographer was unable to hear; and I must confess that I was so
+stupefied by this astounding fabrication that I myself have not the
+faintest recollection of what this "special offer" consisted]. We are
+very anxious to have your name as our honorary vice-president here,
+because you will not only be an honor to the Society, but the Society
+will be an honor to you."
+
+Here my Treasurer friend produced a regular form of subscription
+contract for a set of books; but it contained no clause about life
+membership, or any other membership, and included no promise of
+anything further than the delivery of the books.
+
+The honor of such a vice-presidency being thrust upon me was indeed a
+thrilling sensation, and the story was told in a fluent, cohesive, and
+logical manner; so well, in fact, that had I not known in advance that
+it was purely imaginary from beginning to end, I could scarcely have
+avoided giving it full acceptance. But I had heard of the story
+before, and although partially prepared, it staggered me surprisingly.
+I afterwards learned that every one else canvassed by my interviewer
+was equally offered one of the "three vice-presidencies."
+
+There appears to be no defense for book clubs against these bogus
+impersonations. The injured club, or society, can sustain no claim for
+any special damage, because, as not offering its publications in the
+open market, it actually suffers no ascertainable loss of patronage.
+The principal damage results to those who are thus victimized in
+permitting themselves to be deluded into the belief that they are
+acquiring the valid editions of reputable clubs. When club
+publications come into the open market they are usually picked up with
+avidity by collectors, and they have thus grown into very general
+favor among book-lovers. Indeed, the high esteem in which they have
+come to be regarded offers a productive field for a few crafty
+publishers to ply their wily designs in. The audacity of these
+schemers carries them to such incredible measures that they sometimes
+buy sheet-stock from reputable publishing houses, change the name of
+the edition, and deliberately manufacture new titles on which they
+print the name of some book club or society. These counterfeits are
+sold to the unsuspecting book-buyer, who often imagines he has landed
+a prize. Later, he is likely to become disillusioned. There can be no
+doubt that the contemptible practice of thus mutilating and garbling
+books should be defined as a felony and made punishable by fine or
+imprisonment. Book-buyers, however, can in a measure help the
+situation and protect themselves by not dealing with such people; they
+should particularly remember that creditable book clubs _never_ employ
+soliciting agents, and rarely, if ever, offer their publications for
+sale outside of the membership. Any one, therefore, representing
+himself as an authorized agent of a book club may usually be branded
+as an impostor. Most book clubs print only such number of copies of
+each publication as are subscribed and paid for by members in advance,
+and the funds thus advanced are used to pay the cost of the edition.
+
+Notwithstanding the evils referred to, the book club is with us to
+stay, and the very fact that it is continually pestered by these
+hangers-on is conclusive proof of its potency and usefulness; features
+which insure its secure foundation in the community.
+
+Very few people are able to appreciate the amount of gratuitous labor
+performed by the officers and committees of private book clubs. It is
+erroneous to suppose that beautiful books are a purely natural
+offspring of the book club. The preparation of the material for
+publication and successfully following it through all the various
+stages of manufacture requires an enormous amount of detail work, as
+well as an accurate knowledge of bookmaking. The president of a
+prominent book club recently said, in his annual address to the
+members:--
+
+"I wish that our members could be witnesses at the many conferences
+held by the Committee on Publications and by the Council; of the
+various experiments needed to settle upon the size and shape of the
+book, the size of its page and its margins, the style of type, the
+initial letters, head-bands, tail-pieces, engravings, etc. etc.; of
+the printer's endless proofs, the making of a special paper (which
+sometimes proves to be unsuited), and, finally, the style of binding.
+What material, color, and general make-up shall it have? If our
+members could thus follow the progress of the work from beginning to
+finish they would be reconciled to disappointment. At any rate it is
+through their subscriptions that these experiments can be undertaken,
+and it is by knowledge thus gained that the Club has won credit for
+the Arts and Crafts of our country, and made an honorable record even
+in other lands; so that to be a member of the Club has become an
+enviable distinction."
+
+Owing to the tricks and stratagem practiced in _manufacturing_ "de
+luxe" editions, some of our bibliophiles have taken matters of
+bookmaking into their own hands, with the result that they have
+organized clubs and societies, the members of which take much pleasure
+in introducing to their library companions each year one or two
+charming new acquaintances which come bearing the club's seal of
+endorsement. A true bibliophile always feels a just pride in shelving
+one of these book-treasures of his own club's production, and
+thereafter displaying it before his friends, with the interesting bit
+of information that "This is the latest production of _our Club_; it
+is issued _only for members_." For obviously an owner's interest in
+any work is increased many fold by the fact that he is a constituent
+part of the organization which produced the same: the relationship to
+the book in such a case is akin to the love of a parent for a child;
+and the owner of a fine library will not unusually regard his Club
+publications and privately printed books as the objects therein which
+are entitled to his fondest consideration.
+
+I have recently taken occasion to examine with considerable care the
+latest publications of the leading book clubs of this country, and to
+compare them with some of the first issues of these same clubs. The
+improvement in the later productions over the earlier ones astonished
+me. There were as good artists, editors, binders, type, paper, ink,
+and other accessories twenty years ago as we have now, and indeed it
+is doubtful if our modern printing presses show much improvement in
+the quality of work during that time; but it would seem that
+persistent effort along the lines of experimental work has been
+generously rewarded by a steady improvement in the general results now
+attained. Nor is the situation injured by a slight tinge of friendly
+rivalry among clubs, to lend an additional zest to their labors, and
+to whet the praiseworthy ambition of each to make every succeeding
+issue a little better than the last. There are many zealous
+bibliophiles who belong to two or three book clubs at once, finding it
+interesting to collect and compare the works produced by the several
+clubs.
+
+Many of our great scholars as well as leading publishers are members
+of these book clubs, and serve on the councils and various committees;
+so it must not be supposed by skeptics that their publications are in
+the slightest degree amateurish. They employ the best talent and
+materials; the councils and publication committees, as well, being
+composed of persons of unquestioned integrity, who possess an
+intelligent understanding of bookmaking.
+
+Some of these clubs (particularly those whose membership is largely
+local) have commodious quarters where the members may meet at all
+times, whether to discuss matters of common business interest, to
+exchange their latest jokes, or to generally discuss book-lore and
+other congenial topics. The social features of some of the book clubs
+are, however, reduced to the occasions of the annual meetings and
+dinners. The "Club-Room Question," in one of these organizations
+having a membership of five hundred, distributed in one hundred and
+sixty-seven cities and towns in this country and abroad, was recently
+reported upon by the Council as follows:--
+
+    The question of providing and maintaining club rooms and
+    establishing a suitable library for the Society has been more
+    or less discussed since its incorporation. The Council has not
+    found that spacious and luxuriously furnished rooms are an
+    important requisite in accomplishing the expressed purpose and
+    limitations of the Society. These, according to Article I. of
+    the Constitution and By-laws, are to be "the study and
+    promotion of the arts pertaining to fine bookmaking and
+    illustrating, and the occasional publication of specially
+    designed and illustrated books, for distribution among its
+    members at a minimum cost of production."
+
+    Then, too, while our membership is entirely homogeneous in
+    bibliomaniacal spirit, it is so scattered over such a vast
+    expanse of territory that only a small percentage of the
+    members would be able to enjoy club-room privileges; even
+    those within easy reach of such rooms would probably not
+    frequent them enough to justify any considerable expense in
+    maintenance. It would be necessary, also, to change the
+    present constitution (and to assess the members for annual
+    dues in order to meet current expenses), should the club-room
+    idea be carried out. This would be objectionable on various
+    grounds, and amongst these, because a non-resident member
+    might thus be paying an annual fee without receiving any
+    corresponding benefit in return; a condition in such case
+    which would be tantamount to his meeting an increased charge
+    each year for the privilege of subscribing and paying for the
+    Society's publications. Hence, the Council do not see their
+    way to entertaining or recommending the club-room feature. But
+    it is not supposed that the spirit of fellowship among our
+    bibliophiles--naturally related as they are by a kindred
+    interest--will in any degree suffer because of the lack of
+    such facilities. A personal contact, however agreeable, does
+    not seem essential. Certainly the many charming letters
+    received from members whom we have never seen, go far to
+    relieve the present lack in this regard, so far as the
+    officers are concerned.
+
+    As matters now stand, the Society has sufficiently comfortable
+    quarters in one of the offices of the Treasurer, where the
+    Council holds its meetings. These are found by experience to
+    be quite ample for all practical purposes and present needs.
+
+Collectors of manuscripts and of unique copies often furnish the book
+clubs with valuable and otherwise unprocurable material to be printed
+for the members. Last year one collector alone furnished gratuitously
+to a society of which he is a member, many thousands of dollars' worth
+of unpublished manuscripts of interesting historical matter to be
+printed exclusively for its members. In this way much valuable
+material is preserved in print, when it would otherwise remain forever
+unpublished and unobtainable.
+
+During the past few years it has been my pleasant privilege to spend
+many hours of each week in concurrent labor with the Council in the
+preparation of the publications of The Bibliophile Society, in which
+Council I have had the honor to serve continuously since its
+organization.
+
+There is no pleasure more delectable, no joy more inspiring than that
+of devising books which prove a delight to the eye and a satisfaction
+to the artistic tastes of those who are competent to appreciate the
+qualities that should characterize a perfectly made book.
+
+I now realize as never before why it is that our busiest men of
+affairs, and scholars of renown, are actuated to serve so assiduously
+in this labor of love; for surely no amount of effort, however
+laborious, can be regarded as having been in any sense misguided or
+wasted when it elicits such approbation as expressed in the following
+letter from Charles A. Decker, Esq., a fellow member, of New York
+City:--
+
+                                                March 15th, 1904.
+
+    MR. H. H. HARPER, Treasurer,
+      The Bibliophile Society,
+        Colonial Building, Boston, Mass.
+
+    DEAR MR. HARPER:--
+
+    My stock of superlatives is insufficient to adequately express
+    my appreciation of "Andr�'s Journal." Keats must have had a
+    psychic sense which enabled him to see the latest issue by our
+    Society, and he had this in view when he wrote the opening
+    line of _Endymion_. (Is n't "A thing of beauty," &c., the
+    opening line?) Such books as the Council has planned are an
+    education to bibliophiles; the work is progressive, for each
+    issue is finer than the one which preceded it. Can any book be
+    finer than "Andr�'s Journal"? If so, I can't conceive it. Such
+    noble types, the pages so perfectly balanced; the margins so
+    broad; the paper of such beautiful texture; the ink so
+    brilliantly black; the maps so marvelously reproduced; the
+    etchings so artistically conceived and executed and the title
+    page so beautifully engraved; then the binding--real
+    vellum--so rich, simple, and in such perfect taste; even the
+    box-cover is fitting in every sense. A perfect book, it seems
+    to me. If there are any shortcomings, and you know them, don't
+    tell me of them, that in my ignorance I may be content.
+
+    Please thank all the members of the Council for me. Somebody
+    must have spent many, many hours in arriving at a final
+    judgment upon all the parts which make up such a beautiful
+    whole.
+
+    I have yet to enjoy the pleasure of _reading_ the "Journal,"
+    then I will be thankful to Mr. Bixby and to Senator Lodge.
+
+                      Yours sincerely,
+                                      (Signed) CHARLES A. DECKER.
+
+Mr. Decker is one of the many pleasant and appreciative members of
+The Bibliophile Society whose personal acquaintance it has not been my
+good fortune to make, but from whom the Society has received many
+delightful and inspiring letters. The numerous communications thus
+received from all quarters have been placed before the Council, with
+the result that the individual interest of every worker has been
+greatly augmented in the Society's welfare. Indeed, I attribute no
+small measure of the success and the good name of the Society to the
+indirect influence of such words of encouragement and expressions of
+appreciation as have come from the members.
+
+I sincerely wish for health and continued success to our worthy Book
+Clubs, and regret that there are not more of them.
+
+    Sit bona librorum . . . copia.
+
+HENRY H. HARPER.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book
+Clubs, by Henry H. Harper
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK-LOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS... ***
+
+***** This file should be named 22605-8.txt or 22605-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/6/0/22605/
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Christine D. and the
+booksmiths at http://www.eBookForge.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/22605-8.zip b/22605-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0bc323
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-8.zip
diff --git a/22605-h.zip b/22605-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efee98a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h.zip
diff --git a/22605-h/22605-h.htm b/22605-h/22605-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12b31ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/22605-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,1952 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Booklovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs by Henry H. Harper
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
+         text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: .75em;
+         }
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+         clear: both;
+         }
+    hr { width: 33%;
+	 margin-top: 2em;
+	 margin-bottom: 2em;
+         margin-left: auto;
+         margin-right: auto;
+         clear: both;
+       }
+
+    img   {border: 0}
+    table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}
+
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+            /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+                position: absolute;
+                left: 92%;
+                font-size: smaller;
+                text-align: right;
+              } /* page numbers */
+
+    .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .bbox     {border: solid 2px; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em;
+               padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;}
+    .trnote   {background-color: #EEE; color: inherit; margin: 2em 5% 1em 5%; font-size: 80%;
+               padding: 0.5em 1em 0.5em 1em; border: dotted 1px gray;}
+    .padding  {padding-bottom: 2em; padding-top: 2em;}
+    .center   {text-align: center;}
+    .right    {text-align: right;}
+    .left     {text-align: left;}
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
+    .u        {text-decoration: underline;}
+    .scrunch  {margin-left: -9px;}
+    .figcenter   {margin: auto; text-align: center;}
+
+    .figfloat    {background: url(images/img05th.jpg) no-repeat top center; text-align: center; padding-top: 100px;}
+
+    .poem             {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem br          {display: none;}
+    .poem .stanza     {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem span.i0     {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i2     {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i4     {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    // -->
+    /* XML end  ]]>*/
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs, by 
+Henry H. Harper
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs
+
+Author: Henry H. Harper
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2007 [EBook #22605]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK-LOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS... ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Christine D. and the
+booksmiths at http://www.eBookForge.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/cover.jpg"><img src="images/coverth.jpg" height="400" alt="Cover" title="Cover" /></a>
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[<a href="images/f001.png">Title Page 1</a>]</span></p>
+<h3>BOOKLOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS</h3>
+
+<h4>AND</h4>
+
+<h3>BOOK CLUBS</h3>
+<div class="padding">
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/img04.jpg"><img src="images/img04th.jpg" height="400" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[<a href="images/img05.jpg">Title Page 2</a>]</span></p>
+
+<div class='figfloat'>
+<div class="padding">
+<h1>Bo<span class="scrunch">o</span>k-Lovers<br />
+Bibliomaniacs</h1>
+
+<h4>and</h4>
+
+<h1>Bo<span class="scrunch">o</span>k Clubs</h1>
+<h3>By</h3>
+
+<h3>HENRY&middot;H&middot;HARPER</h3>
+
+<div class="padding">
+<p class="center">
+Privately Printed<br />
+At The Riverside Press<br />
+Cambridge<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p></div></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[<a href="images/f003.png">Copyright Page</a>]</span></p>
+<div class="padding">
+<p class="center">COPYRIGHT 1904 BY H. H. HARPER<br />
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p></div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[<a href="images/p007.png">7</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PREFATORY" id="PREFATORY"></a>PREFATORY</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Having</span> been asked to make a few remarks upon Book-loving, Book-buying,
+and Book Clubs,&mdash;not for publication before the great audience of
+readers, but for the exclusive use of the members of a private Book
+Club,&mdash;I venture thus to offer my views, hoping that in the light of
+my own personal experience I may be able to give a few useful hints
+and suggestions to those who may peruse the pages which follow.</p>
+
+<p>If this little tome, in which are recorded the reflections of one who
+for many years has mingled with publishers, booksellers, bibliophiles,
+collectors, and bibliomaniacs, should prove to be of any interest or
+service, and is found worthy of a small space in some sequestered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>[<a href="images/p008.png">8</a>]</span>
+nook in the library, where it may in silent repose behold its more
+worthy and resplendent companions, the fondest ambition of the author
+will be gratified beyond peradventure.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="smcap">The Author.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[<a href="images/p009.png">9</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="BOOKLOVERS_BIBLIOMANIACS" id="BOOKLOVERS_BIBLIOMANIACS"></a>BOOKLOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS</h2>
+
+<h4>AND</h4>
+
+<h2>BOOK CLUBS</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Book</span>-collecting is undeniably one of the most engaging pursuits in
+which a refined and artistic taste may be indulged. From the earliest
+times, and even before the days of printing, this pleasant diversion
+has been pursued by persons of moderate means as well as by those of
+wealth and distinction, and every succeeding generation of
+book-collectors has exceeded its predecessors in numbers and in
+enthusiasm. The alluring influences of bibliophilism, or book-loving,
+have silently crept into thousands of homes, whether beautiful or
+humble; for the library is properly regarded as one of the most
+important<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[<a href="images/p010.png">10</a>]</span> features of home as well as mental equipment.</p>
+
+<p>In <i>The House Beautiful</i> William C. Gannett emphasizes the importance
+of considering the library as foremost in furnishing a home. He says:
+"It means admission to the new marvels of science, if one chooses
+admission. It means an introduction to the noblest company that all
+the generations have produced, if we claim the introduction.
+Remembering this, how can one help wishing to furnish his house with
+some such furniture? A poet for a table piece! A philosopher upon the
+shelf! Browning or Emerson for a fireside friend!</p>
+
+<p>"A family's rank in thought and taste can well be gauged by the books
+and papers that lie upon the shelf or table of the library."</p>
+
+<p>Not many years ago, Mr. Howard Pyle said: "I sometimes think that we
+are upon the edge of some new era in which the art of beautifying
+books with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[<a href="images/p011.png">11</a>]</span> pictures shall suddenly be uplifted into a higher and a
+different plane of excellence; when ornate printed colour and perfect
+reproduction shall truly depict the labour of the patient draughtsman
+who strives so earnestly to beautify the world in which he lives, and
+to lend a grace to the living therein." The prophecy is already
+fulfilled, and a modern book, in order to win favor among present-day
+bibliophiles, must embody an harmonious assimilation of many arts.</p>
+
+<p>The ardor of possessing books, commonly called bibliomania, also
+styled bibliophilism and "biblio"&mdash;whatever else that has suggested
+itself to the fruitful imaginations of dozens of felicitous writers
+upon the subject,&mdash;is described by Dibdin as a "disease which grows
+with our growth, and strengthens with our strength." Kings and queens
+have not been immune from this prevalent though harmless malady. The
+vast resources of Henry VII<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[<a href="images/p012.png">12</a>]</span> were employed in collecting a library of
+which a modern millionaire collector might be justly proud. Many
+specimens of his magnificent collection, bearing the royal stamp, are
+now to be found in the British Museum. Queen Elizabeth and Lady Jane
+Grey were submissive victims of the bibliomania. It is worthy of note
+that while there were but few women book-collectors in the Elizabethan
+period, there are at the present time in our own country almost as
+many women as there are men engaged in this fascinating pursuit. As
+late as 1843, Dibdin remarks that "it is a remarkable circumstance,
+that the bibliomania has almost uniformly confined its attacks to the
+<i>male</i> sex, and among people in the higher and middling classes of
+society. It has raged chiefly in palaces, castles, halls, and gay
+mansions, and those things which in general are supposed not to be
+inimical to health,&mdash;such as cleanliness, spaciousness,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[<a href="images/p013.png">13</a>]</span> and
+splendour, are only so many inducements to the introduction and
+propagation of the bibliomania!"</p>
+
+<p>It should be remembered, however, that one possessing a fondness for
+books is not necessarily a bibliomaniac. There is as much difference
+between the inclinations and taste of a bibliophile and a bibliomaniac
+as between a slight cold and the advanced stages of consumption. Some
+one has said that "to call a bibliophile a bibliomaniac is to conduct
+a lover, languishing for his maiden's smile, to an asylum for the
+demented, and to shut him up in the ward for the incurables." <i>Biblio</i>
+relates to books, and <i>mania</i> is synonymous with madness, insanity,
+violent derangement, mental aberration, etc. A bibliomaniac,
+therefore, might properly be called an insane or crazy bibliophile. It
+is, however, a harmless insanity, and even in its worst stages it
+injures no one. Rational treatment may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[<a href="images/p014.png">14</a>]</span> cure a bibliomaniac and bring
+him (or her) back into the congenial folds of bibliophilism, unless,
+perchance, the victim has passed beyond the curative stages into the
+vast and dreamy realms of extra-illustrating, or "grangerizing."
+People usually have a horror of insane persons, and one might well
+beware of indulging a taste for books, if there were any reasonable
+probability that this would lead to mental derangement. There could be
+furniture-maniacs, rug-maniacs, and china-maniacs just as well as
+book-maniacs, but people do not generally hesitate to purchase
+furniture, rugs, and china for fear of going crazy on the subject, and
+no more reason is there why rational persons should hesitate to make a
+collection of good books for a library, for fear of being called
+bibliomaniacs. In <i>Sesame and Lilies</i> Ruskin says: "If a man spends
+lavishly on his library, you call him mad&mdash;a bibliomaniac. But you
+never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[<a href="images/p015.png">15</a>]</span> call one a horse-maniac, though men ruin themselves every day
+by their horses, and you do not hear of people ruining themselves by
+their books."</p>
+
+<p>This is pre&euml;minently the age of collectors, and scarcely a week passes
+without the discovery of some new dementia in this direction. Only a
+few days ago I read of a new delirium which threatens disaster to the
+feline progeny; it may be called the <i>cat-tail mania</i>, seeing that its
+victims possess an insatiable desire for amputating and preserving the
+caudal appendages of all the neighborhood cats. A self-confessed
+member of this cult was recently arrested in one of the eastern
+States.</p>
+
+<p>There are several species of bibliophiles; there are <i>many</i> species of
+bibliomaniacs. Some admire books for what they contain; others for
+their beautiful type, hand-made paper, artistic illustrations, ample
+margins, untrimmed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[<a href="images/p016.png">16</a>]</span> edges, etc.; and there are others who attach more
+importance to the limited number of copies issued than to either the
+contents or workmanship.</p>
+
+<p>If a book is to attain any considerable commercial value and increase
+in worth year after year, it is of first importance that the number of
+copies issued be actually limited; and the greater the restriction the
+more likelihood that the monetary value will be steadily enhanced. But
+it must not be forgotten that the mere "limitation" will not of itself
+create a furore among judicious book-buyers; the book, or set of
+books, should rest upon some more secure basis of valuation than that
+of scarcity.</p>
+
+<p>Dibdin says in his <i>Bibliomania</i>, issued in 1811: "About twelve years
+ago I was rash enough to publish a small volume of poems, with my name
+affixed. They were the productions of my juvenile years; and I need
+hardly say at this period how ashamed I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[<a href="images/p017.png">17</a>]</span> of their authorship. The
+monthly and analytical reviews did me the kindness of just tolerating
+them, and of warning me not to commit any future trespass upon the
+premises of Parnassus. I struck off five hundred copies, and was glad
+to get rid of half of them as wastepaper; the remaining half has been
+partly destroyed by my own hands, and has partly mouldered away in
+oblivion amidst the dust of booksellers' shelves. My only consolation
+is that the volume is <i>exceedingly rare</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>The contents, first to be considered, should be worthy of preservation;
+next in importance is the selection of appropriate type, and the size
+and style of page, which should be determined by the nature of the work
+and the period in which it was written. The size of the book and the
+margins of the page must be carefully considered in order to harmonize
+with the text-page. In choosing illustrations it is important to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[<a href="images/p018.png">18</a>]</span>
+determine whether they should be ornate and illustrative, or classic and
+emblematical in design. The paper should be handmade, to order, and of
+such correct size as not to lose the deckle edges in cutting; and the
+printing should be done in "forms" of not more than eight. The paper
+should be scientifically moistened before printing, and the ink allowed
+several weeks in which to dry before handling the printed sheets. The
+bindings should harmonize with interiors, and due care taken against
+over-decoration of the covers. These few technical hints will serve to
+acquaint the book-lover with some at least of the many important
+features which must be regarded in the preparation of a fine book,&mdash;a
+book fitted to demand and merit a place upon the library shelves of
+discriminating bibliophiles, and as well increase in demand and price
+whenever thereafter its copies may "turn up" for sale.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[<a href="images/p019.png">19</a>]</span>Next in importance, after considering literary and mechanical fitness,
+and the limitation of the work, is the question of distribution; its
+scope, and the class of subscribers. The stock of a corporation, if
+limited to a reasonable number of shares and issued only to a few
+expert investors of high standing, and for tangible considerations,
+will obviously be considered a safer and more attractive investment
+than if it be scattered indiscriminately among a class of professional
+manipulators for stock-jobbing purposes. With such a stock where thus
+closely held for investment purposes, an order for a few shares may
+largely elevate its market value. But if the stock were issued in
+unlimited quantities, the monetary value would be entirely lost.
+Again, if the stock had no corporeal assets as a basis for its issue,
+the "limited and registered" clause could not sustain it in the
+market.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[<a href="images/p020.png">20</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>So it is with books: if the number of copies issued be held within a
+reasonable constraint, consistent with the price charged per copy, and
+if they are subscribed for by book-lovers who prize them for their
+literary or historic value and luxurious appearance no less than for
+pecuniary values, they are not likely to find their way into the
+bookstalls, or to be "picked up" in auction rooms at less than their
+original price. This condition applies particularly to legitimate club
+editions and privately printed editions. If an edition of five hundred
+copies is widely distributed throughout the country, it is reasonable
+to assume that the speculative market therefor would be less apt to
+suffer from congestion than if the sale of the whole number of sets
+were confined to one locality.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/img21.jpg"><img src="images/img21th.jpg" height="400" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>Passing now to those who, in one way or another, are to meet with and
+handle the completed book, we may begin with a class of <i>literary
+barnacles</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[<a href="images/p021.png">21</a>]</span> who stick about the libraries of their friends and of
+the public institutions, and feed their bibliophilistic appetites on
+what others have spent much time and money in collecting. These may
+perhaps more appropriately be called biblio-spongers, and are of all
+ranks in the community, many even owning beautiful homes, and having
+ample resources at command; but while enjoying the congenial
+atmosphere of a well-furnished library, and the delights of caressing
+the precious and wisely selected tomes of others, they are still of
+such temperaments that they would no more think of <i>buying</i> books than
+would another of buying an opera-house in order to satisfy
+theatre-going propensities. These people should be taught that fine
+books, like friends, are not loanable or exchangeable chattels. They
+will argue that there is no use spending money for books, because they
+reside within easy reach of a public library where such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[<a href="images/p022.png">22</a>]</span> books as they
+desire are readily obtainable, or perhaps suggest that "I have free
+access to my friend Smith's library; he scarcely ever uses it;"
+without reflecting that Smith would probably use it more, if his
+friends used it less. And yet such folk will still incur the needless
+expense of providing their own homes with chairs, unless, haply, such
+homes may chance to be within convenient reach of some park or public
+institution where <i>free</i> seats are provided.</p>
+
+<p>Most of us are disposed to idealize a besotted bibliomaniac as a
+harmless being whose companionship and favor are neither to be courted
+nor particularly avoided,&mdash;a sort of shellfish basking on the bank of
+life's flow in whatever sunshine it may absorb, and paying little heed
+to the thoughts or actions of others.</p>
+
+<p>The following curious inscription which is found on an old
+copperplate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[<a href="images/p023.png">23</a>]</span> print of the famous bibliomaniac, John Murray, will
+illustrate one of the varieties:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hoh Maister John Murray of Sacomb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Works of old Time to collect was his pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till Oblivion dreaded his Care:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Regardless of Friends, intestate he dy'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So the Rooks and the Crows were his Heir.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Nathan Haskell Dole, President of The Bibliophile Society, aptly
+describes a miserly bibliomaniac as a</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Victim of a frenzied passion,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He is lean and lank and crusty;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Naught he cares for dress or fashion<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And his rusty coat smells musty;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>while in characterizing the natural impulses of true bibliophilism, he
+says that</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Bibliophiles take pride in showing<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All the gems of their collections;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They are generous in bestowing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They have genuine affections.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Peignot says a bibliomaniac is one who has "a passion for possessing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[<a href="images/p024.png">24</a>]</span>
+books; not so much to be instructed by them as to gratify the eye by
+looking on them." This presumption is about as reasonable as it would
+be to say that a man is a monomaniac because he gets married when he
+is in no special need of a house-servant, or body-guard.</p>
+
+<p>In his <i>Bibliomania</i> Dibdin enumerates eight symptoms of this "darling
+passion or insanity," in the following order: "A passion for
+large-paper copies, uncut copies, extra-illustrated copies, unique
+copies, copies printed on vellum, first editions, true editions, and
+black-letter copies."</p>
+
+<p>The first of these should be omitted from the symptomatic category: it
+would be fallacy to assume that one is a maniac because one admires
+the ample margins and paramount qualities of these large-paper copies,
+which Dibdin himself says are "printed upon paper of a larger
+dimension and superior<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[<a href="images/p025.png">25</a>]</span> quality than the ordinary copies. The
+presswork and ink are always proportionately better in these copies,
+and the price of them is enhanced according to their beauty and
+rarity. . . . That a volume so published has a more pleasing aspect
+cannot be denied." He adds that "this symptom of the bibliomania is at
+the present day both general and violent." No wonder! And yet the
+charming Dr. Ferriar dips his pen in gall and writes the following
+satirical lines upon this highly commendable "weakness:"&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But devious oft, from every classic Muse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The keen collector, meaner paths will choose.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And first the margin's breadth his soul employs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pure, snowy, broad, the type of nobler joys.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In vain might Homer roll the tide of song,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or Horace smile, or Tully charm the throng,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If, crost by Pallas' ire, the trenchant blade<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or too oblique or near the edge invade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Bibliomane exclaims with haggard eye,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"No margin!"&mdash;turns in haste, and scorns to buy.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[<a href="images/p026.png">26</a>]</span></div></div>
+
+<p>Dibdin ventures to further assert that "the day is not far distant
+when <i>females</i> will begin to have as high a relish for large-paper
+copies of every work as their male rivals." If he could return to this
+sphere and behold the enormously increased number of women
+bibliophiles in our country at the present time, the subject would
+doubtless furnish him with a congenial theme for another of his
+rambling discourses, this time perhaps under the caption of
+<i>Bibliowomania</i>. He was far in advance of the age in which he lived;
+for although he had very little upon which to base the prediction, he
+yet prophesied that not many years would lapse before women would
+invade the fields of book-collecting and prove themselves valiant
+competitors in the market. This, in fact, is now common enough, and I
+myself have known of many instances in auction-rooms where a small
+army of rampant bibliomaniacs have been obliged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[<a href="images/p027.png">27</a>]</span> to retreat and to
+abandon their pursuit of some coveted treasure, on finding it boldly
+covered by a <i>carte-blanche</i> order from a feminine competitor. Women
+rarely appear in the book auction-room, but leave their orders to be
+executed through a trusted broker, and many a collector has found
+himself suddenly obliged to soar aloft to dizzy heights in quest of
+some prize, on being thus lifted and pursued by one of the
+representatives of an unseen and unknown member of the gentler sex.</p>
+
+<p>Many people suppose the term "uncut," characteristic of Dibdin's
+second "symptom," to signify that the leaves of such volume as may be
+concerned have never been severed, whether for convenience of reading
+or otherwise. "Uncut," however, in its technical sense does not imply
+that the sheets are folded and bound just as they came from the press.
+The leaves may all be cut, and the tops trimmed, and even gilded,
+without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[<a href="images/p028.png">28</a>]</span> striking terror to the heart of the bibliomaniac. Dibdin,
+indeed, treats this last mentioned symptom in merely a superficial way
+and dismisses it with a few cursory remarks, viz: "It may be defined a
+passion to possess books of which the edges have never been sheared by
+the binder's tools." This definition is vague and unsatisfactory. Mr.
+Adrian H. Joline (<i>Diversions of a Booklover</i>, Harper &amp; Bros., New
+York, 1903,&mdash;a charming book that should be read by every
+book-fancier) discourses upon the subject more intelligently; he
+observes that the word <i>uncut</i> appears to be a stumbling-block to the
+unwary, and says: "The casual purchaser is sometimes deceived by it,
+for he thinks that it means that the leaves have not been severed by
+the paper-knife. I have read with much glee divers indignant letters
+in the very interesting 'Saturday Review' of one of our best New York
+journals, in which the barbarian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[<a href="images/p029.png">29</a>]</span> writers have denounced the <i>uncut</i>,
+and have assailed in vigorous but misguided phrases those who prefer
+to have their books in that condition. Henry Stevens tells us that
+even such a famous collector as James Lenox, founder of the splendid
+library into whose magnificent mysteries so few of us dare to
+penetrate, was misled by the word <i>uncut</i>, and chided Stevens for
+buying an <i>uncut</i> book whose pages were all open. He says: 'Again when
+his tastes had grown into the mysteries of <i>uncut</i> leaves, he returned
+a very rare, early New England tract, expensively bound, because it
+did not answer the description of <i>uncut</i> in the invoice, for the
+leaves had manifestly been cut open and read.' When it was explained
+to him that in England the term <i>uncut</i> signified only that the edges
+were not <i>trimmed</i>, he shelved the rarity with the remark that he
+'learned something every day.' . . . Perhaps the Caxton<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[<a href="images/p030.png">30</a>]</span> Club of
+Chicago is wise in describing its productions as 'with edges
+untrimmed.' Even a Philistine ought to be able to comprehend that
+description, although I once knew a man who supposed that a book
+'bound in boards' had sides composed of planking."</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Ferriar's satirical lines in his <i>Second Maxim</i> will find
+sympathizers among admirers of uncuts:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Who, with fantastic pruning-hook,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dresses the borders of his book,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Merely to ornament its look&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Amongst philosophers a fop is:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What if, perchance, he thence discover<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Facilities in turning over,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The virtuoso is a lover<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of coyer charms in "uncut copies."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>I have been requested to "explain the reason, if there be any, for
+leaving leaf-edges fastened [unopened]&mdash;even in evanescent
+magazines&mdash;and why people keep books in this condition, without
+looking at the contents." The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[<a href="images/p031.png">31</a>]</span> reason why the binder does not open all
+the leaves is that it involves additional labor and expense which the
+publisher usually does not care to incur, as it does not essentially
+add to the selling value. Indeed, some collectors hesitate to open the
+leaves of their books with the paper-knife, for fear that the selling
+price would be thereby depreciated. This is an entirely mistaken idea,
+though it prevails very generally among those who do not understand
+the real meaning of the term "uncut." Most booksellers prefer having
+the leaves of the volumes all opened, as many buyers and readers
+object to the nuisance of cutting them open. Some of the magazine
+publishers have modern folding machines equipped with blades for
+severing all the leaves. In fine book-making, however, most of the
+folding and cutting is done by hand.</p>
+
+<p>The third "symptom" defined by Dibdin, viz: "extra-illustrating,"
+commonly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[<a href="images/p032.png">32</a>]</span> called <i>grangerizing</i>, is really so far removed from the
+indicative stages of bibliomania as to render it entirely
+inappropriate as a proper single characteristic; it is the whole
+disease in its worst form. Fortunately, it is not a frequent infirmity
+among our present day bibliomaniacs. I cannot refrain from quoting Mr.
+William P. Cutter's vehement denunciation of the class of literary
+foragers who are thus affected. He observes that "this craze for
+'extra-illustrating' seizes remorselessly the previously harmless
+bibliophile, and leads him to become a wicked despoiler and mutilator
+of books. The extra-illustrator is nearly always the person
+responsible for the decrepit condition of many of the books which
+'unfortunately lack the rare portrait,' or have, 'as usual,' some
+valuable plate or map lacking. Were this professional despoiler, or
+his minions, the ruthless booksellers, to destroy the sad wrecks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[<a href="images/p033.png">33</a>]</span>
+which result from their piratical depredations, all would be well. But
+they set these poor maimed hulks adrift again, to seek salvage from
+some deluded collector, or some impoverished or ignorant librarian.</p>
+
+<p>"It is curious that the very volume in which our reverend friend
+Dibdin so heartily condemns these inexcusable bandits, should be
+seized on as a receptacle for their ill-gotten prizes. May the spectre
+of Thomas Frognall Dibdin haunt the souls of these impious rascals,
+and torture them with never-ceasing visions of unobtainable and rare
+portraits, non-existent autographs, and elusive engravings in general!
+They even dare to profane your sacred work, the <i>Biblia</i> of
+book-lovers, by the 'insertion' of crudities invented by their
+fiendish imagination. They have committed the 'unpardonable sin' of
+bibliophilism. Not only do they carry on this wicked work, but
+actually flaunt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[<a href="images/p034.png">34</a>]</span> their base crimes in the face of their innocent
+brethren. Hearken to this:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Dibdin, T.F.</span> <i>Bibliomania.</i> London, 1811. Extended to five volumes,
+with extra printed titles, and having eight hundred engravings
+inserted, comprising views, old titles(!), vignettes, and six hundred
+and seventy-five portraits of authors, actors, poets, sovereigns,
+artists, prelates, &amp;c., &amp;c., 250 guineas."</p>
+
+<p>Limited space prevents me from making any remarks upon the other five
+"symptoms," none of which are of any special interest, except to
+collectors to whose eccentricities they particularly relate.</p>
+
+<p>As to "Autograph Editions," the craze for these continues without
+abatement. To me, this has always been one of the unsolved mysteries
+of the book-mania. I can readily appreciate how a collector would
+prize an author's inscribed copy of some choice edition, but why
+intelligent people should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[<a href="images/p035.png">35</a>]</span> allured into the belief that an author's
+stereotyped autograph displayed upon a front page gives any added
+value to a set of subscription books, will to me, I fear, forever
+remain a disentangled enigma. I was once applied to by an agent
+representing a $6000 "Autograph Edition" of Jean Jacques Rousseau.
+Having never seen Rousseau's autograph, I asked that it be shown me.
+"Oh," said the agent, "Rousseau himself don't sign the copies, but the
+set will be signed by the publishers." Would not a much less expensive
+and more expeditious way of obtaining publishers' autographs be found
+in writing a postal card of inquiry for the "prices and terms" on
+their publications?</p>
+
+<p>Gilpin has left the following quaint account of the eccentric old
+bibliomaniac, Henry Hastings, the uncompanionable neighbor of Anthony
+Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. The accompanying pen-and-ink sketch
+represents Louis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[<a href="images/p036.png">36</a>]</span> Maynelle's idealization of this interesting
+character; it was made especially for this volume:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Hastings was low of stature, but strong and active, of a ruddy
+complexion, with flaxen hair. His clothes were always of green cloth.
+His house was of the old fashion; in the midst of a large park, well
+stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. He had a long narrow
+bowling green in it, and used to play with round sand bowls. Here too
+he had a banqueting room built, like a stand in a large tree.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<a href="images/img39.jpg"><img src="images/img39th.jpg" height="400" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>"He kept all sorts of hounds that ran buck, fox, hare, otter, and
+badger; and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short winged. His
+great hall was commonly strewed with marrow-bones, and full of
+hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. The upper end of it was
+hung with fox-skins of this and the last year's killing. Here and
+there a polecat was intermixed and hunter's poles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[<a href="images/p037.png">37</a>]</span> in great
+abundance. The parlour was a large room, completely furnished in the
+same style. On a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the
+choicest terriers, hounds and spaniels. One or two of the great chairs
+had litters of cats in them, which were not to be disturbed. Of these,
+three or four always attended him at dinner, and a little white wand
+lay by his trencher, to defend it if they were too troublesome. In the
+windows, which were very large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other
+accoutrements. The corners of the room were filled with his best
+hunting and hawking poles. His oyster table stood at the lower end of
+the room, which was in constant use twice a day, all the year round;
+for he never failed to eat oysters both at dinner and supper, with
+which the neighbouring town of Pool supplied him.</p>
+
+<p>"At the upper end of the room stood a small table with a double desk,
+one side<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[<a href="images/p038.png">38</a>]</span> of which held a church Bible; the other the <i>Book of
+Martyrs</i>. On different tables in the room lay hawks' hoods, bells, old
+hats with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs, tables, dice,
+cards, and store of tobacco pipes. At one end of this room was a door,
+which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer and
+wine, which never came out but in single glasses, which was the rule
+of the house, for he never exceeded himself nor permitted others to
+exceed.</p>
+
+<p>"Answering to this closet was a door into an old chapel, which had
+been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest
+place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a
+gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust, well baked.
+His table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. His sports
+supplied all but beef and mutton, except on Fridays, when he had the
+best of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[<a href="images/p039.png">39</a>]</span> fish. He never wanted a London pudding, and he always sang it
+in with 'My part lies therein-a.' He drank a glass or two of wine at
+meals; put syrup of gilly-flowers into his sack, and had always a tun
+glass of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about with
+rosemary. He lived to be an hundred, and never lost his eyesight, nor
+used spectacles. He got on horseback without help, and rode to the
+death of the stag till he was past four-score."</p>
+
+<p>It is said of George Steevens, the famous Shakespearian collector,
+that he "lived in a retired and eligibly situated house, just on the
+rise of Hampstead Heath. It was paled in, and had immediately before
+it a verdant lawn skirted with a variety of picturesque trees. Here
+Steevens lived, embosomed in books, shrubs and trees, being either too
+coy or too unsociable to mingle with his neighbours. His habits were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[<a href="images/p040.png">40</a>]</span>
+indeed peculiar: not much to be envied or imitated, as they sometimes
+betrayed the flights of a madman and sometimes the asperities of a
+cynic. His attachments were warm but fickle both in choice and
+duration. He would frequently part from one with whom he had lived on
+terms of close intimacy, without any assignable cause, and his
+enmities once fixed were immovable. There was indeed a kind of venom
+in his antipathies, nor would he suffer his ears to be assailed or his
+heart to relent in favour of those against whom he entertained
+animosities, however capricious and unfounded. In one pursuit only was
+he consistent: one object only did he woo with an inflexible
+attachment; and that object was Dame Drama."</p>
+
+<p>In Dibdin's Bibliomaniacal romance, "Philemon" is credited with the
+following narrative concerning one who was probably a bibliomaniac in
+all that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[<a href="images/p041.png">41</a>]</span> the compound sense of the term implies:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You all know my worthy friend Ferdinand, a very <i>helluo librorum</i>. It
+was on a warm evening in summer, about an hour after sunset, that
+Ferdinand made his way towards a small inn or rather village alehouse
+that stood on a gentle eminence skirted by a luxuriant wood. He
+entered, oppressed with heat and fatigued, but observed, on walking up
+to the porch 'smothered with honeysuckles,' as I think Cowper
+expresses it, that everything around bore the character of neatness
+and simplicity. The hollyhocks were tall and finely variegated in
+blossom, the pinks were carefully tied up, and roses of all colours
+and fragrance stood around in a compacted form like a body-guard
+forbidding the rude foot of trespasser to intrude. Within, Ferdinand
+found corresponding simplicity and comfort.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[<a href="images/p042.png">42</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"The 'gude man' of the house was spending the evening with a
+neighbour, but poached eggs and a rasher of bacon, accompanied with a
+flagon of sparkling ale, gave our guest no occasion to doubt the
+hospitality of the house on account of the absence of its master. A
+little past ten, after reading some dozen pages in a volume of Sir
+Edgerton Brydges's <i>Censura Literaria</i>, which he happened to carry
+about him, and partaking pretty largely of the aforesaid eggs and ale,
+Ferdinand called for his candle and retired to repose. His bedroom was
+small but neat and airy; at one end and almost facing the window there
+was a pretty large closet with the door open; but Ferdinand was too
+fatigued to indulge any curiosity about what it might contain.</p>
+
+<p>"He extinguished his candle and sank upon his bed to rest. The heat of
+the evening seemed to increase. He became restless, and throwing off
+his quilt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[<a href="images/p043.png">43</a>]</span> and drawing his curtain aside, turned towards the window to
+inhale the last breeze which yet might be wafted from the neighbouring
+heath. But no zephyr was stirring. On a sudden a broad white flash of
+lightning&mdash;nothing more than summer heat&mdash;made our bibliomaniac lay
+his head upon his pillow and turn his eyes in an opposite direction.
+The lightning increased; and one flash more vivid than the rest
+illuminated the interior of the closet and made manifest an old
+mahogany book-case stored with books. Up started Ferdinand and put his
+phosphoric treasures into action. He lit his match and trimmed his
+candle and rushed into the closet, no longer mindful of the heavens,
+which now were in a blaze with the summer heat.</p>
+
+<p>"The book-case was guarded both with glass and brass wires; and the
+key&mdash;nowhere to be found! Hapless man! for to his astonishment he saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[<a href="images/p044.png">44</a>]</span>
+<i>Morte d'Arthur</i>, printed by Caxton&mdash;<i>Richard Coeur de Lion</i>, by W. de
+Worde&mdash;<i>The Widow Edyth</i>, by Pynson&mdash;and, towering above the rest, a
+large-paper copy of the original edition of <i>Prince's Worthies of
+Devon</i>, while lying transversely at the top reposed John Weever's
+<i>Epigrams</i>!</p>
+
+<p>"'The spirit of Captain Cox is here revived,' exclaimed Ferdinand;
+while on looking above he saw a curious set of old plays with <i>Dido,
+Queen of Carthage</i>, at the head of them! What should he do? No key! No
+chance of handling such precious tomes till the morning light with the
+landlord returned!</p>
+
+<p>"He moved backwards and forwards with a hurried step, prepared his
+pocketknife to cut out the panes of glass and untwist the brazen
+wires; but a 'prick of conscience' made him desist from carrying his
+wicked design into execution. Ferdinand then advanced towards the
+window, and, throwing it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[<a href="images/p045.png">45</a>]</span> open and listening to the rich notes of a
+concert of nightingales, forgot the cause of his torments&mdash;his
+situation reminded him of <i>The Churl and the Bird</i>&mdash;he rushed with
+renewed madness into the cupboard, then searched for the bell, but
+finding none, he made all sorts of strange noises. The landlady rose,
+and, conceiving robbers to have broken into the stranger's room, came
+and demanded the cause of the disturbance.</p>
+
+<p>"'Madam,' said Ferdinand, 'is there no possibility of inspecting the
+books in the cupboard? Where is the key?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Alack, sir,' rejoined the landlady, 'what is there that thus
+disturbs you in the sight of those books? Let me shut the closet-door
+and take away the key of it, and you will then sleep in peace.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Sleep in peace!' resumed Ferdinand; 'Sleep in wretchedness, you
+mean! I can have no peace unless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[<a href="images/p046.png">46</a>]</span> you indulge me with the key of the
+book-case. To whom do such gems belong?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Sir, they are not stolen goods!'</p>
+
+<p>"'Madam, I ask pardon. I did not mean to question their being honest
+property, but'&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'Sir, they are not mine or my husband's.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Who, madam, who is the lucky owner?'</p>
+
+<p>"'An elderly gentleman of the name of&mdash;sir, I am not at liberty to
+mention his name, but they belong to an elderly gentleman.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Will he part with them? Where does he live? Can you introduce me to
+him?'</p>
+
+<p>"The good woman soon answered all Ferdinand's rapid queries, but the
+result was by no means satisfactory to him.</p>
+
+<p>"He learnt that these uncommonly scarce and precious volumes belonged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[<a href="images/p047.png">47</a>]</span>
+to an ancient gentleman whose name was studiously concealed, but who
+was in the habit of coming once or twice a week, during the autumn, to
+smoke his pipe and lounge over his books, sometimes making extracts
+from them and sometimes making observations in the margin with a
+pencil. Whenever a very curious passage occurred, he would take out a
+small memorandum book and put on a pair of large tortoise-shell
+spectacles with powerful magnifying glasses in order to insert this
+passage with particular care and neatness. He usually concluded his
+evening amusements by sleeping in the very bed in which Ferdinand had
+been lying.</p>
+
+<p>"Such intelligence only sharpened the curiosity and increased the
+restlessness of poor Ferdinand. He retired to his bibliomaniacal bed,
+but not to repose. The morning sunbeams, which irradiated the bookcase
+with complete effect, shone upon his pallid countenance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[<a href="images/p048.png">48</a>]</span> and
+thoughtful brow. He rose at five, walked in the meadows till seven,
+returned and breakfasted, stole upstairs to take a farewell peep at
+his beloved <i>Morte d'Arthur</i>, sighed 'three times and more,' paid his
+reckoning, apologized for the night's adventure, told the landlady he
+would shortly come and visit her again and try to pay his respects to
+the anonymous old gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>"'Meanwhile,' said he, 'I will leave no bookseller's shop in the
+neighbourhood unvisited till I gain intelligence of his name and
+character.'</p>
+
+<p>"The landlady eyed him steadily, took a pinch of snuff with a
+significant air, and returning with a smile of triumph to her kitchen,
+thanked her stars that she had got rid of such a madman!"</p>
+
+<p>To return, however, to the subject more immediately in hand, it will
+be observed that the present age is more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[<a href="images/p049.png">49</a>]</span> prolific of bibliophiles
+than any preceding one, and that the growing interest in collecting
+fine books is attended by a relatively increasing demand for a higher
+standard of excellency of manufacture. A few years ago, there were
+only two or three publishers in this country who "specialized" in fine
+editions, while at present there are no less than thirty publishing
+houses, large and small, and as many more "private presses" engaged in
+the production of beautiful books to appease the demands of
+book-buyers. Many of these are well established and conducted upon
+thoroughly honest business principles; some, unfortunately, are not.
+The publication and sale of books&mdash;especially the so-called "de luxe"
+editions&mdash;is, like some other branches of industry, beset with
+numerous evils; so many sharp practices, indeed, having been resorted
+to by a few conscienceless publishers, and by a certain class of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[<a href="images/p050.png">50</a>]</span>
+unscrupulous agents, that buyers have become wary, not to say weary,
+of being made the victims of their deceptive inventions. It is indeed
+lamentable that a few such pestiferous schemers should thus bring a
+certain degree of reproach upon the entire publishing business. It is
+a common practice among these <i>soi-disant</i> publishers&mdash;many of whom
+possess neither capital, credit, nor sense of honor&mdash;to buy some lot
+of etchings or old prints from a junk-shop, or second-hand dealer, at
+a trifling price, and thereupon work the same off on credulous
+admirers of rare prints for possibly a thousand times their real
+value. And it is a common practice for these insidious sharks further
+to prey upon unsuspecting book-buyers by obtaining publications of
+reputable houses and falsifying them by the insertion of spurious
+titles calculated to delude the buyer into the belief that there are
+"only fifty copies issued." Many of them are ostracized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[<a href="images/p051.png">51</a>]</span> book-salesmen
+who have at some previous time enjoyed the confidence of their
+employers, but have been ex-communicated by all honest publishers and
+booksellers on account of dishonest proclivities. They are therefore
+set adrift to prey upon the public, and are a constant menace to both
+publishers and buyers. I shall pay my further respects to these
+counterfeiters later on when I come to the subject of Book Clubs; in
+the mean while, it need hardly be pointed out that reprehensible
+methods of this kind are uniformly condemned among all respectable
+publishers and book-dealers, and that buyers should cautiously
+discriminate against those who practice them. It is not surprising
+that even the honest publishers and dealers themselves are
+occasionally made the scapegoats of these obnoxious parasites; but the
+astute collector is rarely "caught" by their schemes; and after a
+book-buyer has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[<a href="images/p052.png">52</a>]</span> passed the primary or "experience" stages of
+book-collecting, he (or she) is designated as a "dead one," in the
+common parlance of the underground trade here referred to. Fortunate,
+indeed, are the bibliophiles who have passed unscathed into the
+category of "dead ones."</p>
+
+<p>That my present condemnatory observations are not directed against
+that great majority of publishers, booksellers, and agents whose
+methods in business are founded upon sincerity and integrity, will, I
+take it, be clearly understood; and I am, indeed, forced partially to
+disagree with Mr. Joline in his vigorous and general proscription of
+"subscription book-agents," for experience shows that there are many
+worthy people of this class, however much they may suffer by the sins
+of some of their kind. An acquaintance once said to me that he would
+"<i>never buy another book</i>," because he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[<a href="images/p053.png">53</a>]</span> been "buncoed" by a
+book-agent, to whom he otherwise referred with an uncomplimentary
+adjective. But this did not convince me that his position was more
+logical than that of the man who declared he would never take another
+bath because a watch had been stolen from his pocket while he was in
+bathing at some beach resort. It is incomprehensible that any one
+could imagine that our paper currency system is fraudulent because
+there are a few "green-goods" men in the country, or because
+counterfeit bills appear every now and then.</p>
+
+<p>We read so much in the papers nowadays of the extravagant sums paid
+for rare books by our modern millionaire bibliomaniacs that one is apt
+to become somewhat panic-stricken upon experiencing the first symptoms
+of the bibliomania. While these more opulent victims of book-madness
+vie with one another in the auction-room, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[<a href="images/p054.png">54</a>]</span> rational bibliophile
+sits in the gallery and views with silent awe and amazement the
+scrimmage over some apparently trifling volume that wouldn't fetch ten
+cents, but for the fact that it is "unique," and that so and so paid a
+stupendous sum for it at some previous sale. Despair not, dear
+bibliophile, of never being able to join in the mad scramble for these
+"uniques;" nor need you feel that they are essential to the formation
+of a library. They possess no virtues perceptible to the ordinary
+bibliophile, and it requires all the eloquence of a Cicero to
+elucidate their charms when displaying them to friends. For after all,
+the chief point of interest in such books is their cost price, and
+this you may be obliged to refrain from mentioning for fear you will
+be accused of being mentally unbalanced.</p>
+
+<p>It is not necessary to squander a fortune in collecting a library, nor
+to be hasty in buying every book you come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[<a href="images/p055.png">55</a>]</span> across. Better go slowly
+and select wisely; you will derive more enjoyment from it, and in
+later years have less to charge to "experience account."</p>
+
+<p>There are a few "busy" book-collectors who intrust the selection of
+their books to secretaries or librarians, and thus sacrifice the
+keenest enjoyment of this captivating pursuit. Of all absurdities,
+this seems the most insupportable. It would be far more sensible to
+have your secretary select your friends, because if you should happen
+not to like these, you could abandon them without ceremony or expense.
+Why not also attend the opera and your various social functions by
+proxy, through your secretary? If he were as good a courtier as he is
+"literary adviser," he might succeed in getting as much enjoyment out
+of the receptions and dinners as you would, if you were to attend in
+person. Then, think of the <i>time</i> you would save! We frequently hear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[<a href="images/p056.png">56</a>]</span>
+the remark: "I have no time to devote to my library. I am very fond of
+books, but haven't time to collect or read them." And yet seeing what
+may be done in this regard by care and system, and that the greatest
+readers have been the busiest men, it seems strange that persons of
+intelligence should thus express themselves; should admit such obvious
+fatuity of view and procedure.</p>
+
+<p>In referring to this class of book-buyers, Roswell Field says, "The
+book-lover, so-called, who lacks any of the thrills that go with the
+<i>establishment</i> as well as the enjoyment of a library in all of its
+appointments has deprived himself of many of the most pleasurable
+literary and semi-literary emotions. That bibliophile never pats his
+horse or his dog. To him his books are merely tools of trade,
+accessories to knowledge, to be pawed over, thrown away and replaced
+by new copies when worn out. He glories in the fact that his books are
+his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[<a href="images/p057.png">57</a>]</span> servants rather than his companions, and he affects to despise
+and laugh at the sentimental relation which others have established
+with their books. Look out for that man! He is not of us; he is not of
+the elect; there is as little of warmth and the genial glow of
+fellowship in his library as in the middle gallery of the catacombs in
+the Appian Way. His very books cry out against him; but he hears them
+not, for he is deaf as well as blind."</p>
+
+<p>One of the busiest men in New York City, whose name is familiar in
+financial circles throughout the civilized world, is one of the most
+voracious collectors of the age. He probably transacts more business
+in a day than half a dozen ordinarily busy men, and yet finds time to
+give his personal attention to every minute detail of his vast
+collections, to which are added hundreds, and probably thousands, of
+items every year. This is only one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[<a href="images/p058.png">58</a>]</span> many such examples among our
+busiest men.</p>
+
+<p>I have often heard persons lament in a pensive and apologetic sort of
+way, "Yes, I have a great weakness for fine books." The very presence
+of this mis-called weakness, however, is unmistakable proof of great
+mental strength, and those who suffer from it may find solace in the
+fact that the giants of commerce, leading statesmen, and great men of
+affairs in general are frequently thus afflicted all through the
+periods of their greatest activity and success. What can possibly
+afford a more agreeable relaxation from the toils and perplexities of
+the day than to recline in an easy chair before an open grate fire in
+the library, surrounded by the silently reposing tomes which record
+and preserve the noblest thoughts of past and present generations?
+Surely no enjoyment in the home or office can be more delectable and
+unfailing in assuaging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[<a href="images/p059.png">59</a>]</span> the worry and solicitude of a strenuous life
+than the silent companionship of books. It is a noteworthy fact that a
+large percentage of the leading stock brokers, bankers, active
+statesmen, and sedulous lawyers are bibliophiles. I attribute this to
+the fact that all of these vocations are extremely taxing upon the
+nervous system, and those men who are busily engaged in them are,
+during the intermittent hours of rest and recreation, naturally
+inclined to seek the most enjoyable and refreshing diversions; for, as
+Horace says,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">. . . nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ducere sollicitae jocunda oblivia vitae.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Along with old books, or a nap, and divine hours of leisure&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To taste thus forgetfulness&mdash;sweet, in the midst of life's troubles.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In an article written for The Bibliophile Society's (1903) Year Book,
+Caroline<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[<a href="images/p060.png">60</a>]</span> Ticknor says, "The true book-lover loves his books for their
+helpfulness, for their companionship; but he regards them as well for
+their elegant settings." She also observes that "strange as the
+anomaly may seem, there are still many persons of ample means, and
+some education, who, although they would be horrified at the very
+thought of admitting to the home a cheap rug or vase, to destroy the
+harmony and bring discord and confusion into the luxuriance of the
+furnishings, yet will nonchalantly tolerate the incongruity of a
+miserable fragment of a library made up of the cheapest and meanest
+editions to be found in the market, such as would be scorned by those
+of the most limited means and plebeian tastes. These will be found
+inappropriately housed amid the most sumptuous surroundings. A single
+rug to adorn the floor, or a single vase resting on a mantle, will
+often be found to have cost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[<a href="images/p061.png">61</a>]</span> ten times as much as the whole home
+library. And yet the intellects of these people have been nurtured and
+trained in their youth by the brilliant thoughts of ancient and modern
+writers! Even the favorite author, be it Shakespeare, Dickens,
+Longfellow, Tennyson, or some other, is frequently represented by a
+half dozen or so disconsolate-looking volumes, the remainder of the
+set either never having been bought, or else, if bought, thrown aside,
+or strewn around the attic, or abandoned as a child would discard a
+toy which afforded it no further amusement.</p>
+
+<p>"It is worthy of remark, however, that the enormously increased demand
+of late for beautiful books evinces the fact that cultured and wealthy
+people are growing to appreciate the importance not only of having a
+good library, but that its quality should embody a degree of
+estheticism to correspond with the surroundings."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[<a href="images/p062.png">62</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Many of the most delightful persons, well read and competent to
+discourse intelligently upon the merits of books and authors, have
+never experienced a single pulsation of true bibliophilism; they have
+never known the joy of possessing and admiring a beautiful book, and
+that the attachment one bears for such a treasure is wholly
+reciprocal. They have not learned that fine books, like human beings,
+are capable of mutual affection, and that it is not necessary to
+devour them in order to value their charms. "We do not gather books to
+read them, my B&#339;otian friend," says Mr. Joline; "the idea is a
+childish delusion. 'In early life,' says Walter Bagehot, 'there is an
+opinion that the obvious thing to do with a horse is to ride it; with
+a cake, to eat it; with a sixpence to spend it.' A few boyish persons
+carry this further, and think that the natural thing to do with a book
+is to read it. The mere reading of a rare book is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[<a href="images/p063.png">63</a>]</span> a puerility, an
+idiosyncrasy of adolescence; it is the <i>ownership</i> of the book which
+is the matter of distinction. The collector of coins does not
+accumulate his treasures for the purpose of ultimately spending them
+in the marketplace. The lover of postage-stamps, small as his horizon
+may be, does not hoard his colored bits of paper with the intent to
+employ them in the mailing of letters. When some one complained to
+Bedford that a book which he had bound did not shut properly, he
+exclaimed, 'Why, bless me, sir, you've been <i>reading</i> it!'"</p>
+
+<p>Herrick says that "the truest owner of a library is he who has bought
+each book for the love he bears to it; who is happy and content to
+say, 'Here are my jewels, my choicest possessions!'" Seneca, the great
+Roman philologer, wrote: "If you are fond of books, you will escape
+the <i>ennui</i> of life; you will neither sigh for evening, disgusted
+with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[<a href="images/p064.png">64</a>]</span> the occupations of the day, nor will you live dissatisfied with
+yourself or unprofitable with others." "I am quite transported and
+comforted in the midst of my books," says the younger Pliny, who was
+an ardent book-fancier; "they give a zest to the happiest and assuage
+the anguish of the bitterest moments of existence. Therefore, whether
+distracted by the cares or losses of my family or my friends, I fly to
+my library as the only refuge in distress: here I learn to bear
+adversity with fortitude."</p>
+
+<p>Southey thus immortalizes his speechless, yet beloved, library
+companions:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">My never failing friends are they,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With whom I converse day by day.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Balfour is no less eloquent in paying worthy tribute to his library:
+"The world may be kind or hostile; it may seem to us to be hastening
+on the wings of enlightenment and progress to an imminent millennium,
+or it may weigh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[<a href="images/p065.png">65</a>]</span> us down with the sense of insoluble difficulty and
+irremediable wrong; but whatever else it may be, so long as we have
+good health and a library, it can never be dull."</p>
+
+<p>"Bookes," said the immortal Milton, "demeane themselves as well as
+men. Books are not absolutely dead things, but doe contain a potencie
+of life in them to be as active as that soule was whose progeny they
+are: nay they do preserve as in a violl the purest efficacie and
+extraction of that living intellect that bred them. Unlesse warinesse
+be us'd, as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a
+man kills a reasonable creature, God's Image; but Hee who destroys a
+good Booke, kills reason itselfe, kills the image of God, as it were
+in the eye."</p>
+
+<p>In the garnering of book-treasures, some collectors are prompted
+wholly by mercenary motives&mdash;most of them, fortunately, are not. There
+are biblio-mercenaries<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[<a href="images/p066.png">66</a>]</span> of such sordid inclinations that they would
+readily part with almost any book in their possession,&mdash;even inscribed
+presentation copies!&mdash;if lightly tempted with money considerations.
+Verily, these parsimonious traders would barter their own souls, if
+they possessed any value.</p>
+
+<p>I am indebted to the Secretary of a well-known book club for the
+following facts, to confirm which I saw all the correspondence. A
+certain book-buyer joined the club some time ago, and subscribed for
+the first publication issued after he became a member. Upon receiving
+the work he wrote: "I consider them among the most beautiful examples
+of book-making that I have ever seen, and prize them above all other
+books in my library." Six months later he sold the copy to a
+book-agent for twice its original cost. He "passed" the next
+publication issued by the club, as it did not interest him, but
+appended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[<a href="images/p067.png">67</a>]</span> a postscript to his letter, saying: "If any member wants an
+extra copy, I have no objection to one being issued upon my membership
+and turned over to him, provided I receive the increase in price."</p>
+
+<p>The following humorous incident is recorded in the (1903) Year Book of
+another prominent book club. It may be explained that the club issued
+a very elaborate and beautiful publication, printed upon deckle edge
+handmade paper, illustrated with remarque proof copperplate etchings
+on Japanese vellum, and in duplicate without remarque on Whatman
+paper: "One of the members upon receiving the first two volumes of the
+&mdash;&mdash; publication, writes: 'The Society starts out by making the worst
+kind of a blunder. The man's picture in the front of the volume is put
+in twice and on <i>two kinds of paper</i>. I could excuse this error, but
+imagine my horror when upon turning to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[<a href="images/p068.png">68</a>]</span> back of the volume I found
+the <i>same mistake repeated</i>. This is too much.' He closed by
+expressing a desire to resign, saying that he did not know he 'was
+joining a faddists club,' and takes occasion to remark further that
+'the books are cheaply finished, not even being trimmed and gilded;'
+also that he 'can buy better books in the stores, <i>with full gilt
+edges</i>, for less money.'"</p>
+
+<p>So much has been written about the vagaries of book-collectors and
+bibliomaniacs that the subject has long since become threadbare, and
+about the only unexplored field of labor left to the choice of him who
+would gain a hearing with the reader&mdash;if one can be found who is not
+already weary of reading what the wags think of his (or her) own
+peculiar whims&mdash;is to fall in with the spirit of the age and compile
+an "International Library of the World's Greatest Gibberish about
+Bibliomaniacs." We have the "World's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[<a href="images/p069.png">69</a>]</span> Greatest" everything else in
+book-lore, and I shall not be surprised if some enterprising publisher
+gets out a "definitive" <i>de luxe</i> edition of the "World's Greatest
+Dictionaries." Indeed, the Holy Bible itself has not escaped, for they
+are now making a "de luxe" edition, in fourteen volumes! to be sold by
+subscription. It will not be an "Autograph Edition," however.</p>
+
+<p>The freaks and fancies of capricious book-gatherers and bibliomaniacs
+have undergone so few changes in the last hundred years that modern
+writers on Bibliomania, after vainly searching the horizon for some
+new development in the way of symptoms of the disease, or
+characteristics of those afflicted, have wandered off into the verdure
+of adjacent fields to avoid repetition. Some of them, from sheer lack
+of anything new to say, have set upon each other in the most
+unflattering terms. Many of the writers on the delectable "Joys of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[<a href="images/p070.png">70</a>]</span>
+Book-buyer," or "Habits of a Bibliomaniac," etc., evidently appreciate
+the fact that these much persecuted human beings have other pastimes
+and habits than collecting books, and that they really inhabit the
+earth in all its civilized parts and partake unstintedly of its many
+pleasurable diversions. But again, there is another extreme, for I
+once read a book issued under the misleading title of "Pleasures of a
+Book-collector," or something of the sort, which might have been more
+appropriately called the "Pleasures of a Single Man," seeing that the
+work had more to do with the hero's hopeless love for a fair damsel,
+and his hours at clubs, caf&eacute;s, and other places of amusement in which
+I had no special interest, than it did with the acquirement of
+literature. Thus, with the delusive idea that I was to be ushered into
+some of the secret enjoyments of the pleasing diversion of
+book-buying, I presently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[<a href="images/p071.png">71</a>]</span> found myself more familiar with the habits,
+vices, and various unimportant matters of the author's
+conception&mdash;points, in short, having no bearing whatever upon the
+subject under consideration&mdash;than with the pleasures of a
+book-collector. The book was not badly written, nor wholly
+uninteresting; but if a man buys a ticket to the opera, he doesn't go
+prepared to see a cock-fight.</p>
+
+<p>For literary scoffers and malcontents who find fault with everything
+and everybody, who even scold publishers because their own books bring
+but meagre royalties, who fuss and fume over the harmless foibles of
+the very ones upon whom they depend for their audience, and like an
+ungrateful dog fasten their teeth in the charitable hand that offers
+them food, there can be but small sympathy. One is tempted to enlarge
+upon this familiar type, but here I am digressing from my subject,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[<a href="images/p072.png">72</a>]</span>
+and am committing much the same offence as that of which I have
+elsewhere accused others.</p>
+
+<p>I have been asked to include within the scope of my article a few
+remarks about Book Clubs and Book Societies. In presuming to trespass
+upon sacred yet inviting ground of this character, I must be
+understood as approaching the subject with due reverence and apology.
+It is an indisputable fact that among the agencies that have
+contributed to the advancement and ennobling of the bookmaker's art in
+the past twenty years, the legitimate Book Club has been one of the
+most potential. We have only to refer to <i>Growell's American Book
+Clubs</i> in order to learn of the many clubs and societies of this kind
+which have arisen in the past few years, with varying degrees of
+success and failure,&mdash;success, when intelligently conducted upon
+honest co&ouml;perative principles, and failure, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[<a href="images/p073.png">73</a>]</span> irrationally directed,
+without regard to the maxims upon which successful clubs are managed.
+The province of these worthy accessories in the world of fine
+bookmaking has not been free from invasion by sharks and charlatans,
+some of whom have succeeded for a time under the guise of honest and
+reciprocal motives.</p>
+
+<p>In this country there are private book clubs and societies that have
+won places of enviable distinction both here and abroad, and naturally
+among the foremost of these are the ones which have been pestered by
+"imitators." The following significant remarks are taken from the
+president's annual address to the members of an old and honored book
+club:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Fame brings its penalties, and during the last year many of us have
+suffered considerable annoyance, both individually and as members of
+the Club, through the exploitation of books advertised<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[<a href="images/p074.png">74</a>]</span> sometimes as
+publications of The &mdash;&mdash; Club, and more often as publications of the &mdash;&mdash; Society.
+These have usually been offered in connection with works
+of distinguished authors in numerous volumes, stated, as a rule, to be
+limited to a thousand copies, and described as the contents of the
+private library of a lady, which the agent declares to have been
+placed in his hands to dispose of as quickly as possible, regardless
+of cost. No widow's cruse, apparently, could be more unfailing in its
+supply than this 'private library.' While annoying, the device of a
+'&mdash;&mdash; Society,' though manifestly designed to confuse the public mind
+and trade on the reputation of this Club, can scarcely deceive our
+members or even the book-loving public. It, nevertheless, is an
+annoyance, and the more vexatious because scarcely calling for other
+remedy than exposure.</p>
+
+<p>"It is possible, however, that harm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[<a href="images/p075.png">75</a>]</span> to the good name of the Club may
+be wrought through the advertisement, in an English newspaper, to
+which my attention has been drawn, of a so-called '&mdash;&mdash; Society of
+Great Britain,' which is declared to have been recently formed in
+conjunction with the '&mdash;&mdash; Society of the United States,' which is
+described as having been established in 1884, and to have occupied its
+own Club House since 1888, and to have published handsomely printed
+books for sale exclusively to the members. It is announced, however,
+that the '&mdash;&mdash; Society of Great Britain,' although intending to act in
+conjunction with the American society, 'will work upon somewhat
+different lines, at any rate at first.' It may well be that this
+cleverly deceptive advertisement will require some attention from us,
+either directly or through members resident abroad.</p>
+
+<p>"This, however, seems to be the only fly in our ointment, and we may
+congratulate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[<a href="images/p076.png">76</a>]</span> ourselves that there is nothing more serious to disturb
+our enjoyment of the anniversary which we now celebrate."</p>
+
+<p>Another and more palpable fraud has been perpetrated in copying the
+name of The Bibliophile Society, but with a slight prefix, just enough
+to afford a loop-hole through which to escape legal prosecution. Not
+enough, however, to enable the public to distinguish between the
+spurious and the genuine, and even the members themselves have
+sometimes been deceived by unscrupulous agents representing their
+wares as the regular productions of the valid society. The audacious
+promoters of this so-called Society had the boldness not only to
+pilfer the name of the legitimate society, but also the name of its
+president, which was ostentatiously printed upon their letter heads,
+together with the name of Dr. Richard Garnett. Both of these gentlemen
+have recently published their denunciations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[<a href="images/p077.png">77</a>]</span> through the columns of
+the press, and protested vigorously against this unauthorized use of
+their names.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>modus operandi</i> of this pestiferous concern is to send numbered
+"complimentary certificates" throughout the country to persons whose
+names are obtainable from directories, and when acknowledgment cards
+are received from those who deign to accept the exalted compliment,
+they are forthwith called upon, usually by some "officer" of the
+Society,&mdash;sometimes the "President," but usually the "Treasurer,"
+"Secretary," or "Registrar."</p>
+
+<p>Some time ago I was honored by a call from one of these circumventive
+"Treasurers," but happened to be conveniently busy at the time, and so
+made an appointment with him to meet me at my office the next day.
+Meanwhile, I prepared to have his statements reduced to writing by a
+stenographer, anticipating that it might be necessary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[<a href="images/p078.png">78</a>]</span> to refresh my
+memory upon certain passages that I might fail to remember verbatim.
+The following is the substance of the "canvass" as taken by the
+stenographer in an adjoining room, the door of which was wide open:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I am the Treasurer of the &mdash;&mdash; Society, with headquarters in London.
+By a special grant from the English Government, we have recently been
+permitted to extend our membership into this country, and three
+hundred life members are to be admitted under this enlargement of our
+constitutional privileges. It may interest you, first, to know
+something of the origin of this Society. It was organized in London
+about three hundred years ago by the Duke of Roxburghe [who was not
+born until more than a hundred years later], and was originally
+composed of about thirty members of the royal family. The original
+charter limited the membership to fifty members, and in less<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[<a href="images/p079.png">79</a>]</span> than a
+month the limit was reached. Through the powerful influence of the
+royal family the Society had easy access to all the great repositories
+of unpublished manuscripts, and the most valuable and interesting of
+them were selected for publication. These publications became so
+enormously valuable that it stimulated a desire on the part of others
+to join the Society, and particularly, some of the nobility of France
+and Germany. It was decided to increase the membership to three
+hundred, and to take in a few members from France, Germany, Italy, and
+Russia. The Society thrived for about a thousand years [this is either
+a stenographic error, or else he meant to say a hundred]; then there
+was a period of inactivity, and later on it was revived again, and the
+membership limit increased to five hundred. Last year we obtained
+permission to again increase the membership by taking in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[<a href="images/p080.png">80</a>]</span> three
+hundred prominent people in America. I am over here to arrange for
+three vice-presidents,&mdash;two for the East and one for the West. I have
+a special commission to ask you to become one of the honorary
+vice-presidents and to offer you a life membership for less than half
+the regular fee, viz., $225.00; the usual fee for life membership is
+$500.00, but you get it for $225.00 on account of acting as our
+honorary vice-president for this territory. Of course you would have
+no regular duties to perform. You would sign all the membership
+certificates in your district, and in case of the death of any member,
+you would have the privilege of naming his successor.</p>
+
+<p>"The Society issues every year a volume giving all the price currents
+for the year, and keeps the members posted on the advance or decline
+in the value of all important publications. We also give you in
+confidence the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[<a href="images/p081.png">81</a>]</span> ratings of various publishers, and print reports to
+members exposing all the frauds in the book business. Upon payment of
+the fee of $225.00, you receive all of this material free, for the
+balance of your life, and in addition all of the Society's regular
+publications, including the present one, consisting of &mdash;&mdash; volumes
+[here he produced the customary specimen sheets]. You see this one
+work alone is worth the full amount you pay for life membership [here
+occurred a "special offer" of some sort, given in a low monotone which
+the stenographer was unable to hear; and I must confess that I was so
+stupefied by this astounding fabrication that I myself have not the
+faintest recollection of what this "special offer" consisted]. We are
+very anxious to have your name as our honorary vice-president here,
+because you will not only be an honor to the Society, but the Society
+will be an honor to you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[<a href="images/p082.png">82</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Here my Treasurer friend produced a regular form of subscription
+contract for a set of books; but it contained no clause about life
+membership, or any other membership, and included no promise of
+anything further than the delivery of the books.</p>
+
+<p>The honor of such a vice-presidency being thrust upon me was indeed a
+thrilling sensation, and the story was told in a fluent, cohesive, and
+logical manner; so well, in fact, that had I not known in advance that
+it was purely imaginary from beginning to end, I could scarcely have
+avoided giving it full acceptance. But I had heard of the story
+before, and although partially prepared, it staggered me surprisingly.
+I afterwards learned that every one else canvassed by my interviewer
+was equally offered one of the "three vice-presidencies."</p>
+
+<p>There appears to be no defense for book clubs against these bogus
+impersonations.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[<a href="images/p083.png">83</a>]</span> The injured club, or society, can sustain no claim
+for any special damage, because, as not offering its publications in
+the open market, it actually suffers no ascertainable loss of
+patronage. The principal damage results to those who are thus
+victimized in permitting themselves to be deluded into the belief that
+they are acquiring the valid editions of reputable clubs. When club
+publications come into the open market they are usually picked up with
+avidity by collectors, and they have thus grown into very general
+favor among book-lovers. Indeed, the high esteem in which they have
+come to be regarded offers a productive field for a few crafty
+publishers to ply their wily designs in. The audacity of these
+schemers carries them to such incredible measures that they sometimes
+buy sheet-stock from reputable publishing houses, change the name of
+the edition, and deliberately manufacture new titles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[<a href="images/p084.png">84</a>]</span> on which they
+print the name of some book club or society. These counterfeits are
+sold to the unsuspecting book-buyer, who often imagines he has landed
+a prize. Later, he is likely to become disillusioned. There can be no
+doubt that the contemptible practice of thus mutilating and garbling
+books should be defined as a felony and made punishable by fine or
+imprisonment. Book-buyers, however, can in a measure help the
+situation and protect themselves by not dealing with such people; they
+should particularly remember that creditable book clubs <i>never</i> employ
+soliciting agents, and rarely, if ever, offer their publications for
+sale outside of the membership. Any one, therefore, representing
+himself as an authorized agent of a book club may usually be branded
+as an impostor. Most book clubs print only such number of copies of
+each publication as are subscribed and paid for by members in advance,
+and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[<a href="images/p085.png">85</a>]</span> funds thus advanced are used to pay the cost of the edition.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the evils referred to, the book club is with us to
+stay, and the very fact that it is continually pestered by these
+hangers-on is conclusive proof of its potency and usefulness; features
+which insure its secure foundation in the community.</p>
+
+<p>Very few people are able to appreciate the amount of gratuitous labor
+performed by the officers and committees of private book clubs. It is
+erroneous to suppose that beautiful books are a purely natural
+offspring of the book club. The preparation of the material for
+publication and successfully following it through all the various
+stages of manufacture requires an enormous amount of detail work, as
+well as an accurate knowledge of bookmaking. The president of a
+prominent book club recently said, in his annual address to the
+members:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[<a href="images/p086.png">86</a>]</span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I wish that our members could be witnesses at the many conferences
+held by the Committee on Publications and by the Council; of the
+various experiments needed to settle upon the size and shape of the
+book, the size of its page and its margins, the style of type, the
+initial letters, head-bands, tail-pieces, engravings, etc. etc.; of
+the printer's endless proofs, the making of a special paper (which
+sometimes proves to be unsuited), and, finally, the style of binding.
+What material, color, and general make-up shall it have? If our
+members could thus follow the progress of the work from beginning to
+finish they would be reconciled to disappointment. At any rate it is
+through their subscriptions that these experiments can be undertaken,
+and it is by knowledge thus gained that the Club has won credit for
+the Arts and Crafts of our country, and made an honorable record even
+in other lands; so that to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[<a href="images/p087.png">87</a>]</span> be a member of the Club has become an
+enviable distinction."</p>
+
+<p>Owing to the tricks and stratagem practiced in <i>manufacturing</i> "de
+luxe" editions, some of our bibliophiles have taken matters of
+bookmaking into their own hands, with the result that they have
+organized clubs and societies, the members of which take much pleasure
+in introducing to their library companions each year one or two
+charming new acquaintances which come bearing the club's seal of
+endorsement. A true bibliophile always feels a just pride in shelving
+one of these book-treasures of his own club's production, and
+thereafter displaying it before his friends, with the interesting bit
+of information that "This is the latest production of <i>our Club</i>; it
+is issued <i>only for members</i>." For obviously an owner's interest in
+any work is increased many fold by the fact that he is a constituent
+part of the organization which produced the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[<a href="images/p088.png">88</a>]</span> same: the relationship to
+the book in such a case is akin to the love of a parent for a child;
+and the owner of a fine library will not unusually regard his Club
+publications and privately printed books as the objects therein which
+are entitled to his fondest consideration.</p>
+
+<p>I have recently taken occasion to examine with considerable care the
+latest publications of the leading book clubs of this country, and to
+compare them with some of the first issues of these same clubs. The
+improvement in the later productions over the earlier ones astonished
+me. There were as good artists, editors, binders, type, paper, ink,
+and other accessories twenty years ago as we have now, and indeed it
+is doubtful if our modern printing presses show much improvement in
+the quality of work during that time; but it would seem that
+persistent effort along the lines of experimental work has been
+generously rewarded by a steady improvement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[<a href="images/p089.png">89</a>]</span> in the general results
+now attained. Nor is the situation injured by a slight tinge of
+friendly rivalry among clubs, to lend an additional zest to their
+labors, and to whet the praiseworthy ambition of each to make every
+succeeding issue a little better than the last. There are many zealous
+bibliophiles who belong to two or three book clubs at once, finding it
+interesting to collect and compare the works produced by the several
+clubs.</p>
+
+<p>Many of our great scholars as well as leading publishers are members
+of these book clubs, and serve on the councils and various committees;
+so it must not be supposed by skeptics that their publications are in
+the slightest degree amateurish. They employ the best talent and
+materials; the councils and publication committees, as well, being
+composed of persons of unquestioned integrity, who possess an
+intelligent understanding of bookmaking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[<a href="images/p090.png">90</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Some of these clubs (particularly those whose membership is largely
+local) have commodious quarters where the members may meet at all
+times, whether to discuss matters of common business interest, to
+exchange their latest jokes, or to generally discuss book-lore and
+other congenial topics. The social features of some of the book clubs
+are, however, reduced to the occasions of the annual meetings and
+dinners. The "Club-Room Question," in one of these organizations
+having a membership of five hundred, distributed in one hundred and
+sixty-seven cities and towns in this country and abroad, was recently
+reported upon by the Council as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The question of providing and maintaining club rooms and
+establishing a suitable library for the Society has been more
+or less discussed since its incorporation. The Council has not
+found that spacious and luxuriously furnished rooms are an
+important requisite in accomplishing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[<a href="images/p091.png">91</a>]</span> the expressed purpose
+and limitations of the Society. These, according to Article I.
+of the Constitution and By-laws, are to be "the study and
+promotion of the arts pertaining to fine bookmaking and
+illustrating, and the occasional publication of specially
+designed and illustrated books, for distribution among its
+members at a minimum cost of production."</p>
+
+<p>Then, too, while our membership is entirely homogeneous in
+bibliomaniacal spirit, it is so scattered over such a vast
+expanse of territory that only a small percentage of the
+members would be able to enjoy club-room privileges; even
+those within easy reach of such rooms would probably not
+frequent them enough to justify any considerable expense in
+maintenance. It would be necessary, also, to change the
+present constitution (and to assess the members for annual
+dues in order to meet current expenses), should the club-room
+idea be carried out. This would be objectionable on various
+grounds, and amongst these, because a non-resident member
+might thus be paying an annual fee without receiving any
+corresponding benefit in return; a condition in such case
+which would be tantamount to his meeting an increased charge
+each year for the privilege of subscribing and paying for the
+Society's publications.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[<a href="images/p092.png">92</a>]</span> Hence, the Council do not see their
+way to entertaining or recommending the club-room feature. But
+it is not supposed that the spirit of fellowship among our
+bibliophiles&mdash;naturally related as they are by a kindred
+interest&mdash;will in any degree suffer because of the lack of
+such facilities. A personal contact, however agreeable, does
+not seem essential. Certainly the many charming letters
+received from members whom we have never seen, go far to
+relieve the present lack in this regard, so far as the
+officers are concerned.</p>
+
+<p>As matters now stand, the Society has sufficiently comfortable
+quarters in one of the offices of the Treasurer, where the
+Council holds its meetings. These are found by experience to
+be quite ample for all practical purposes and present needs.</p></div>
+
+<p>Collectors of manuscripts and of unique copies often furnish the book
+clubs with valuable and otherwise unprocurable material to be printed
+for the members. Last year one collector alone furnished gratuitously
+to a society of which he is a member, many thousands of dollars' worth
+of unpublished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[<a href="images/p093.png">93</a>]</span> manuscripts of interesting historical matter to be
+printed exclusively for its members. In this way much valuable
+material is preserved in print, when it would otherwise remain forever
+unpublished and unobtainable.</p>
+
+<p>During the past few years it has been my pleasant privilege to spend
+many hours of each week in concurrent labor with the Council in the
+preparation of the publications of The Bibliophile Society, in which
+Council I have had the honor to serve continuously since its
+organization.</p>
+
+<p>There is no pleasure more delectable, no joy more inspiring than that
+of devising books which prove a delight to the eye and a satisfaction
+to the artistic tastes of those who are competent to appreciate the
+qualities that should characterize a perfectly made book.</p>
+
+<p>I now realize as never before why it is that our busiest men of
+affairs, and scholars of renown, are actuated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[<a href="images/p094.png">94</a>]</span> to serve so assiduously
+in this labor of love; for surely no amount of effort, however
+laborious, can be regarded as having been in any sense misguided or
+wasted when it elicits such approbation as expressed in the following
+letter from Charles A. Decker, Esq., a fellow member, of New York
+City:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<div class="padding">
+<p class="right">March 15th, 1904.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Mr. H. H. Harper</span>, Treasurer,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Bibliophile Society,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Colonial Building, Boston, Mass.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Harper</span>:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>My stock of superlatives is insufficient to adequately express
+my appreciation of "Andr&eacute;'s Journal." Keats must have had a
+psychic sense which enabled him to see the latest issue by our
+Society, and he had this in view when he wrote the opening
+line of <i>Endymion</i>. (Is n't "A thing of beauty," &amp;c., the
+opening line?) Such books as the Council has planned are an
+education to bibliophiles; the work is progressive, for each
+issue is finer than the one which preceded it. Can any book be
+finer than "Andr&eacute;'s Journal"? If so, I can't conceive it. Such
+noble types, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[<a href="images/p095.png">95</a>]</span> pages so perfectly balanced; the margins so
+broad; the paper of such beautiful texture; the ink so
+brilliantly black; the maps so marvelously reproduced; the
+etchings so artistically conceived and executed and the title
+page so beautifully engraved; then the binding&mdash;real
+vellum&mdash;so rich, simple, and in such perfect taste; even the
+box-cover is fitting in every sense. A perfect book, it seems
+to me. If there are any shortcomings, and you know them, don't
+tell me of them, that in my ignorance I may be content.</p>
+
+<p>Please thank all the members of the Council for me. Somebody
+must have spent many, many hours in arriving at a final
+judgment upon all the parts which make up such a beautiful
+whole.</p>
+
+<p>I have yet to enjoy the pleasure of <i>reading</i> the "Journal,"
+then I will be thankful to Mr. Bixby and to Senator Lodge.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Yours sincerely,</p>
+<p class="right">(Signed) <span class="smcap">Charles A. Decker.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Decker is one of the many pleasant and appreciative members of The
+Bibliophile Society whose personal acquaintance it has not been my
+good fortune to make, but from whom the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[<a href="images/p096.png">96</a>]</span> Society has received many
+delightful and inspiring letters. The numerous communications thus
+received from all quarters have been placed before the Council, with
+the result that the individual interest of every worker has been
+greatly augmented in the Society's welfare. Indeed, I attribute no
+small measure of the success and the good name of the Society to the
+indirect influence of such words of encouragement and expressions of
+appreciation as have come from the members.</p>
+
+<p>I sincerely wish for health and continued success to our worthy Book
+Clubs, and regret that there are not more of them.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sit bona librorum . . . copia.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Henry H. Harper.</span></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book
+Clubs, by Henry H. Harper
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK-LOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS... ***
+
+***** This file should be named 22605-h.htm or 22605-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/6/0/22605/
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Christine D. and the
+booksmiths at http://www.eBookForge.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/22605-h/images/cover.jpg b/22605-h/images/cover.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1eecc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/cover.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/coverth.jpg b/22605-h/images/coverth.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79f4dd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/coverth.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/f001.png b/22605-h/images/f001.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2895cce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/f001.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/f003.png b/22605-h/images/f003.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ba04c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/f003.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img04.jpg b/22605-h/images/img04.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13a3213
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img04.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img04th.jpg b/22605-h/images/img04th.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e36cdad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img04th.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img05.jpg b/22605-h/images/img05.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8e82e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img05.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img05th.jpg b/22605-h/images/img05th.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b521ffa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img05th.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img21.jpg b/22605-h/images/img21.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f47095
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img21.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img21th.jpg b/22605-h/images/img21th.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b67da66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img21th.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img39.jpg b/22605-h/images/img39.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3b92a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img39.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/img39th.jpg b/22605-h/images/img39th.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d33c1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/img39th.jpg
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p007.png b/22605-h/images/p007.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7b8a2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p007.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p008.png b/22605-h/images/p008.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f190139
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p008.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p009.png b/22605-h/images/p009.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2932ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p009.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p010.png b/22605-h/images/p010.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8891b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p010.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p011.png b/22605-h/images/p011.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9a1380
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p011.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p012.png b/22605-h/images/p012.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0944a17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p012.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p013.png b/22605-h/images/p013.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74a7d3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p013.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p014.png b/22605-h/images/p014.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7412ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p014.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p015.png b/22605-h/images/p015.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3e335a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p015.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p016.png b/22605-h/images/p016.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7b4e39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p016.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p017.png b/22605-h/images/p017.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52988a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p017.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p018.png b/22605-h/images/p018.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd6028d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p018.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p019.png b/22605-h/images/p019.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..869060c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p019.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p020.png b/22605-h/images/p020.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e354447
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p020.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p021.png b/22605-h/images/p021.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dce0b64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p021.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p022.png b/22605-h/images/p022.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3fb3e6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p022.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p023.png b/22605-h/images/p023.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1fa4dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p023.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p024.png b/22605-h/images/p024.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e951f5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p024.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p025.png b/22605-h/images/p025.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2c285a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p025.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p026.png b/22605-h/images/p026.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb69856
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p026.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p027.png b/22605-h/images/p027.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81bd326
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p027.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p028.png b/22605-h/images/p028.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a3f050
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p028.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p029.png b/22605-h/images/p029.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4082370
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p029.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p030.png b/22605-h/images/p030.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e49efc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p030.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p031.png b/22605-h/images/p031.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a30d6ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p031.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p032.png b/22605-h/images/p032.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6645085
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p032.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p033.png b/22605-h/images/p033.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79854c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p033.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p034.png b/22605-h/images/p034.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddc98aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p034.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p035.png b/22605-h/images/p035.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c8f57c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p035.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p036.png b/22605-h/images/p036.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12caf45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p036.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p037.png b/22605-h/images/p037.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bd21f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p037.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p038.png b/22605-h/images/p038.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fd2d4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p038.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p039.png b/22605-h/images/p039.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5327ed5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p039.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p040.png b/22605-h/images/p040.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aed50b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p040.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p041.png b/22605-h/images/p041.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22c214e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p041.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p042.png b/22605-h/images/p042.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7de6e96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p042.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p043.png b/22605-h/images/p043.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b50fab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p043.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p044.png b/22605-h/images/p044.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6137249
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p044.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p045.png b/22605-h/images/p045.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe20a0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p045.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p046.png b/22605-h/images/p046.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0539e5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p046.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p047.png b/22605-h/images/p047.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc49b15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p047.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p048.png b/22605-h/images/p048.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12ddd1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p048.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p049.png b/22605-h/images/p049.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28a4197
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p049.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p050.png b/22605-h/images/p050.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a42236
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p050.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p051.png b/22605-h/images/p051.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..783fd4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p051.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p052.png b/22605-h/images/p052.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..827a211
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p052.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p053.png b/22605-h/images/p053.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f77101
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p053.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p054.png b/22605-h/images/p054.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e78d572
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p054.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p055.png b/22605-h/images/p055.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e5fdf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p055.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p056.png b/22605-h/images/p056.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..485bf8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p056.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p057.png b/22605-h/images/p057.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6e76a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p057.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p058.png b/22605-h/images/p058.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2596e1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p058.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p059.png b/22605-h/images/p059.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..970d8c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p059.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p060.png b/22605-h/images/p060.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6130927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p060.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p061.png b/22605-h/images/p061.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e5b763
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p061.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p062.png b/22605-h/images/p062.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fad0a2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p062.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p063.png b/22605-h/images/p063.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c468967
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p063.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p064.png b/22605-h/images/p064.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a43cf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p064.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p065.png b/22605-h/images/p065.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4125b51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p065.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p066.png b/22605-h/images/p066.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d14a89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p066.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p067.png b/22605-h/images/p067.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..710786a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p067.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p068.png b/22605-h/images/p068.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6125645
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p068.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p069.png b/22605-h/images/p069.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a4275b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p069.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p070.png b/22605-h/images/p070.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94928c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p070.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p071.png b/22605-h/images/p071.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c8f02d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p071.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p072.png b/22605-h/images/p072.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6bda99d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p072.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p073.png b/22605-h/images/p073.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c62e67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p073.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p074.png b/22605-h/images/p074.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7fe5d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p074.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p075.png b/22605-h/images/p075.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b3b2bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p075.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p076.png b/22605-h/images/p076.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8a5fc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p076.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p077.png b/22605-h/images/p077.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff87f80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p077.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p078.png b/22605-h/images/p078.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9e4198
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p078.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p079.png b/22605-h/images/p079.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4b44d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p079.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p080.png b/22605-h/images/p080.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a132978
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p080.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p081.png b/22605-h/images/p081.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96a553e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p081.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p082.png b/22605-h/images/p082.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f232506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p082.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p083.png b/22605-h/images/p083.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b88a979
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p083.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p084.png b/22605-h/images/p084.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae7da90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p084.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p085.png b/22605-h/images/p085.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d16293
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p085.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p086.png b/22605-h/images/p086.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05d0374
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p086.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p087.png b/22605-h/images/p087.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e55610a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p087.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p088.png b/22605-h/images/p088.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..caf7f63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p088.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p089.png b/22605-h/images/p089.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ab8d13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p089.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p090.png b/22605-h/images/p090.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16deb59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p090.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p091.png b/22605-h/images/p091.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe6fbdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p091.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p092.png b/22605-h/images/p092.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5de068
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p092.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p093.png b/22605-h/images/p093.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d33cace
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p093.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p094.png b/22605-h/images/p094.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e9761a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p094.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p095.png b/22605-h/images/p095.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..983199f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p095.png
diff --git a/22605-h/images/p096.png b/22605-h/images/p096.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b94712f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605-h/images/p096.png
diff --git a/22605.txt b/22605.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c2a3de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1825 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs, by
+Henry H. Harper
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs
+
+Author: Henry H. Harper
+
+Release Date: September 15, 2007 [EBook #22605]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK-LOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS... ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Christine D. and the
+booksmiths at http://www.eBookForge.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOKLOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS
+
+AND
+
+BOOK CLUBS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  Book-Lovers
+  Bibliomaniacs
+
+  and
+
+  Book Clubs
+
+By
+
+HENRY H. HARPER
+
+  Privately Printed
+  At The Riverside Press
+  Cambridge
+
+  BOSTON
+  MDCDIV
+
+COPYRIGHT 1904 BY H. H. HARPER
+
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY
+
+
+HAVING been asked to make a few remarks upon Book-loving, Book-buying,
+and Book Clubs,--not for publication before the great audience of
+readers, but for the exclusive use of the members of a private Book
+Club,--I venture thus to offer my views, hoping that in the light of
+my own personal experience I may be able to give a few useful hints
+and suggestions to those who may peruse the pages which follow.
+
+If this little tome, in which are recorded the reflections of one who
+for many years has mingled with publishers, booksellers, bibliophiles,
+collectors, and bibliomaniacs, should prove to be of any interest or
+service, and is found worthy of a small space in some sequestered nook
+in the library, where it may in silent repose behold its more worthy
+and resplendent companions, the fondest ambition of the author will be
+gratified beyond peradventure.
+
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+BOOKLOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS
+
+AND
+
+BOOK CLUBS
+
+
+BOOK-collecting is undeniably one of the most engaging pursuits in
+which a refined and artistic taste may be indulged. From the earliest
+times, and even before the days of printing, this pleasant diversion
+has been pursued by persons of moderate means as well as by those of
+wealth and distinction, and every succeeding generation of
+book-collectors has exceeded its predecessors in numbers and in
+enthusiasm. The alluring influences of bibliophilism, or book-loving,
+have silently crept into thousands of homes, whether beautiful or
+humble; for the library is properly regarded as one of the most
+important features of home as well as mental equipment.
+
+In _The House Beautiful_ William C. Gannett emphasizes the importance
+of considering the library as foremost in furnishing a home. He says:
+"It means admission to the new marvels of science, if one chooses
+admission. It means an introduction to the noblest company that all
+the generations have produced, if we claim the introduction.
+Remembering this, how can one help wishing to furnish his house with
+some such furniture? A poet for a table piece! A philosopher upon the
+shelf! Browning or Emerson for a fireside friend!
+
+"A family's rank in thought and taste can well be gauged by the books
+and papers that lie upon the shelf or table of the library."
+
+Not many years ago, Mr. Howard Pyle said: "I sometimes think that we
+are upon the edge of some new era in which the art of beautifying
+books with pictures shall suddenly be uplifted into a higher and a
+different plane of excellence; when ornate printed colour and perfect
+reproduction shall truly depict the labour of the patient draughtsman
+who strives so earnestly to beautify the world in which he lives, and
+to lend a grace to the living therein." The prophecy is already
+fulfilled, and a modern book, in order to win favor among present-day
+bibliophiles, must embody an harmonious assimilation of many arts.
+
+The ardor of possessing books, commonly called bibliomania, also
+styled bibliophilism and "biblio"--whatever else that has suggested
+itself to the fruitful imaginations of dozens of felicitous writers
+upon the subject,--is described by Dibdin as a "disease which grows
+with our growth, and strengthens with our strength." Kings and queens
+have not been immune from this prevalent though harmless malady. The
+vast resources of Henry VII were employed in collecting a library of
+which a modern millionaire collector might be justly proud. Many
+specimens of his magnificent collection, bearing the royal stamp, are
+now to be found in the British Museum. Queen Elizabeth and Lady Jane
+Grey were submissive victims of the bibliomania. It is worthy of note
+that while there were but few women book-collectors in the Elizabethan
+period, there are at the present time in our own country almost as
+many women as there are men engaged in this fascinating pursuit. As
+late as 1843, Dibdin remarks that "it is a remarkable circumstance,
+that the bibliomania has almost uniformly confined its attacks to the
+_male_ sex, and among people in the higher and middling classes of
+society. It has raged chiefly in palaces, castles, halls, and gay
+mansions, and those things which in general are supposed not to be
+inimical to health,--such as cleanliness, spaciousness, and splendour,
+are only so many inducements to the introduction and propagation of
+the bibliomania!"
+
+It should be remembered, however, that one possessing a fondness for
+books is not necessarily a bibliomaniac. There is as much difference
+between the inclinations and taste of a bibliophile and a bibliomaniac
+as between a slight cold and the advanced stages of consumption. Some
+one has said that "to call a bibliophile a bibliomaniac is to conduct
+a lover, languishing for his maiden's smile, to an asylum for the
+demented, and to shut him up in the ward for the incurables." _Biblio_
+relates to books, and _mania_ is synonymous with madness, insanity,
+violent derangement, mental aberration, etc. A bibliomaniac,
+therefore, might properly be called an insane or crazy bibliophile. It
+is, however, a harmless insanity, and even in its worst stages it
+injures no one. Rational treatment may cure a bibliomaniac and bring
+him (or her) back into the congenial folds of bibliophilism, unless,
+perchance, the victim has passed beyond the curative stages into the
+vast and dreamy realms of extra-illustrating, or "grangerizing."
+People usually have a horror of insane persons, and one might well
+beware of indulging a taste for books, if there were any reasonable
+probability that this would lead to mental derangement. There could be
+furniture-maniacs, rug-maniacs, and china-maniacs just as well as
+book-maniacs, but people do not generally hesitate to purchase
+furniture, rugs, and china for fear of going crazy on the subject, and
+no more reason is there why rational persons should hesitate to make a
+collection of good books for a library, for fear of being called
+bibliomaniacs. In _Sesame and Lilies_ Ruskin says: "If a man spends
+lavishly on his library, you call him mad--a bibliomaniac. But you
+never call one a horse-maniac, though men ruin themselves every day by
+their horses, and you do not hear of people ruining themselves by
+their books."
+
+This is preeminently the age of collectors, and scarcely a week passes
+without the discovery of some new dementia in this direction. Only a
+few days ago I read of a new delirium which threatens disaster to the
+feline progeny; it may be called the _cat-tail mania_, seeing that its
+victims possess an insatiable desire for amputating and preserving the
+caudal appendages of all the neighborhood cats. A self-confessed
+member of this cult was recently arrested in one of the eastern
+States.
+
+There are several species of bibliophiles; there are _many_ species
+of bibliomaniacs. Some admire books for what they contain; others for
+their beautiful type, hand-made paper, artistic illustrations, ample
+margins, untrimmed edges, etc.; and there are others who attach more
+importance to the limited number of copies issued than to either the
+contents or workmanship.
+
+If a book is to attain any considerable commercial value and increase
+in worth year after year, it is of first importance that the number of
+copies issued be actually limited; and the greater the restriction the
+more likelihood that the monetary value will be steadily enhanced. But
+it must not be forgotten that the mere "limitation" will not of itself
+create a furore among judicious book-buyers; the book, or set of
+books, should rest upon some more secure basis of valuation than that
+of scarcity.
+
+Dibdin says in his _Bibliomania_, issued in 1811: "About twelve years
+ago I was rash enough to publish a small volume of poems, with my name
+affixed. They were the productions of my juvenile years; and I need
+hardly say at this period how ashamed I am of their authorship. The
+monthly and analytical reviews did me the kindness of just tolerating
+them, and of warning me not to commit any future trespass upon the
+premises of Parnassus. I struck off five hundred copies, and was glad
+to get rid of half of them as wastepaper; the remaining half has been
+partly destroyed by my own hands, and has partly mouldered away in
+oblivion amidst the dust of booksellers' shelves. My only consolation
+is that the volume is _exceedingly rare_!"
+
+The contents, first to be considered, should be worthy of
+preservation; next in importance is the selection of appropriate type,
+and the size and style of page, which should be determined by the nature
+of the work and the period in which it was written. The size of the book
+and the margins of the page must be carefully considered in order to
+harmonize with the text-page. In choosing illustrations it is important
+to determine whether they should be ornate and illustrative, or classic
+and emblematical in design. The paper should be handmade, to order, and
+of such correct size as not to lose the deckle edges in cutting; and the
+printing should be done in "forms" of not more than eight. The paper
+should be scientifically moistened before printing, and the ink allowed
+several weeks in which to dry before handling the printed sheets. The
+bindings should harmonize with interiors, and due care taken against
+over-decoration of the covers. These few technical hints will serve to
+acquaint the book-lover with some at least of the many important
+features which must be regarded in the preparation of a fine book,--a
+book fitted to demand and merit a place upon the library shelves of
+discriminating bibliophiles, and as well increase in demand and price
+whenever thereafter its copies may "turn up" for sale.
+
+Next in importance, after considering literary and mechanical fitness,
+and the limitation of the work, is the question of distribution; its
+scope, and the class of subscribers. The stock of a corporation, if
+limited to a reasonable number of shares and issued only to a few expert
+investors of high standing, and for tangible considerations, will
+obviously be considered a safer and more attractive investment than if
+it be scattered indiscriminately among a class of professional
+manipulators for stock-jobbing purposes. With such a stock where thus
+closely held for investment purposes, an order for a few shares may
+largely elevate its market value. But if the stock were issued in
+unlimited quantities, the monetary value would be entirely lost. Again,
+if the stock had no corporeal assets as a basis for its issue, the
+"limited and registered" clause could not sustain it in the market.
+
+So it is with books: if the number of copies issued be held within a
+reasonable constraint, consistent with the price charged per copy, and
+if they are subscribed for by book-lovers who prize them for their
+literary or historic value and luxurious appearance no less than for
+pecuniary values, they are not likely to find their way into the
+bookstalls, or to be "picked up" in auction rooms at less than their
+original price. This condition applies particularly to legitimate club
+editions and privately printed editions. If an edition of five hundred
+copies is widely distributed throughout the country, it is reasonable
+to assume that the speculative market therefor would be less apt to
+suffer from congestion than if the sale of the whole number of sets
+were confined to one locality.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Passing now to those who, in one way or another, are to meet with
+and handle the completed book, we may begin with a class of _literary
+barnacles_ who stick about the libraries of their friends and of the
+public institutions, and feed their bibliophilistic appetites on what
+others have spent much time and money in collecting. These may perhaps
+more appropriately be called biblio-spongers, and are of all ranks in
+the community, many even owning beautiful homes, and having ample
+resources at command; but while enjoying the congenial atmosphere of a
+well-furnished library, and the delights of caressing the precious and
+wisely selected tomes of others, they are still of such temperaments
+that they would no more think of _buying_ books than would another of
+buying an opera-house in order to satisfy theatre-going propensities.
+These people should be taught that fine books, like friends, are not
+loanable or exchangeable chattels. They will argue that there is no
+use spending money for books, because they reside within easy reach of
+a public library where such books as they desire are readily
+obtainable, or perhaps suggest that "I have free access to my friend
+Smith's library; he scarcely ever uses it;" without reflecting that
+Smith would probably use it more, if his friends used it less. And yet
+such folk will still incur the needless expense of providing their own
+homes with chairs, unless, haply, such homes may chance to be within
+convenient reach of some park or public institution where _free_ seats
+are provided.
+
+Most of us are disposed to idealize a besotted bibliomaniac as a
+harmless being whose companionship and favor are neither to be courted
+nor particularly avoided,--a sort of shellfish basking on the bank of
+life's flow in whatever sunshine it may absorb, and paying little heed
+to the thoughts or actions of others.
+
+The following curious inscription which is found on an old
+copperplate print of the famous bibliomaniac, John Murray, will
+illustrate one of the varieties:--
+
+    Hoh Maister John Murray of Sacomb,
+    The Works of old Time to collect was his pride,
+      Till Oblivion dreaded his Care:
+    Regardless of Friends, intestate he dy'd,
+      So the Rooks and the Crows were his Heir.
+
+Mr. Nathan Haskell Dole, President of The Bibliophile Society, aptly
+describes a miserly bibliomaniac as a
+
+    Victim of a frenzied passion,
+      He is lean and lank and crusty;
+    Naught he cares for dress or fashion
+      And his rusty coat smells musty;
+
+while in characterizing the natural impulses of true bibliophilism, he
+says that
+
+    Bibliophiles take pride in showing
+      All the gems of their collections;
+    They are generous in bestowing,
+      They have genuine affections.
+
+Peignot says a bibliomaniac is one who has "a passion for possessing
+books; not so much to be instructed by them as to gratify the eye by
+looking on them." This presumption is about as reasonable as it would
+be to say that a man is a monomaniac because he gets married when he
+is in no special need of a house-servant, or body-guard.
+
+In his _Bibliomania_ Dibdin enumerates eight symptoms of this "darling
+passion or insanity," in the following order: "A passion for
+large-paper copies, uncut copies, extra-illustrated copies, unique
+copies, copies printed on vellum, first editions, true editions, and
+black-letter copies."
+
+The first of these should be omitted from the symptomatic category:
+it would be fallacy to assume that one is a maniac because one admires
+the ample margins and paramount qualities of these large-paper copies,
+which Dibdin himself says are "printed upon paper of a larger
+dimension and superior quality than the ordinary copies. The presswork
+and ink are always proportionately better in these copies, and the
+price of them is enhanced according to their beauty and rarity. . . .
+That a volume so published has a more pleasing aspect cannot be
+denied." He adds that "this symptom of the bibliomania is at the
+present day both general and violent." No wonder! And yet the charming
+Dr. Ferriar dips his pen in gall and writes the following satirical
+lines upon this highly commendable "weakness:"--
+
+    But devious oft, from every classic Muse,
+    The keen collector, meaner paths will choose.
+    And first the margin's breadth his soul employs,
+    Pure, snowy, broad, the type of nobler joys.
+    In vain might Homer roll the tide of song,
+    Or Horace smile, or Tully charm the throng,
+    If, crost by Pallas' ire, the trenchant blade
+    Or too oblique or near the edge invade,
+    The Bibliomane exclaims with haggard eye,
+    "No margin!"--turns in haste, and scorns to buy.
+
+Dibdin ventures to further assert that "the day is not far distant
+when _females_ will begin to have as high a relish for large-paper
+copies of every work as their male rivals." If he could return to this
+sphere and behold the enormously increased number of women
+bibliophiles in our country at the present time, the subject would
+doubtless furnish him with a congenial theme for another of his
+rambling discourses, this time perhaps under the caption of
+_Bibliowomania_. He was far in advance of the age in which he lived;
+for although he had very little upon which to base the prediction, he
+yet prophesied that not many years would lapse before women would
+invade the fields of book-collecting and prove themselves valiant
+competitors in the market. This, in fact, is now common enough, and I
+myself have known of many instances in auction-rooms where a small
+army of rampant bibliomaniacs have been obliged to retreat and to
+abandon their pursuit of some coveted treasure, on finding it boldly
+covered by a _carte-blanche_ order from a feminine competitor. Women
+rarely appear in the book auction-room, but leave their orders to be
+executed through a trusted broker, and many a collector has found
+himself suddenly obliged to soar aloft to dizzy heights in quest of
+some prize, on being thus lifted and pursued by one of the
+representatives of an unseen and unknown member of the gentler sex.
+
+Many people suppose the term "uncut," characteristic of Dibdin's
+second "symptom," to signify that the leaves of such volume as may be
+concerned have never been severed, whether for convenience of reading
+or otherwise. "Uncut," however, in its technical sense does not imply
+that the sheets are folded and bound just as they came from the press.
+The leaves may all be cut, and the tops trimmed, and even gilded,
+without striking terror to the heart of the bibliomaniac. Dibdin,
+indeed, treats this last mentioned symptom in merely a superficial way
+and dismisses it with a few cursory remarks, viz: "It may be defined a
+passion to possess books of which the edges have never been sheared by
+the binder's tools." This definition is vague and unsatisfactory. Mr.
+Adrian H. Joline (_Diversions of a Booklover_, Harper & Bros., New
+York, 1903,--a charming book that should be read by every
+book-fancier) discourses upon the subject more intelligently; he
+observes that the word _uncut_ appears to be a stumbling-block to the
+unwary, and says: "The casual purchaser is sometimes deceived by it,
+for he thinks that it means that the leaves have not been severed by
+the paper-knife. I have read with much glee divers indignant letters
+in the very interesting 'Saturday Review' of one of our best New York
+journals, in which the barbarian writers have denounced the _uncut_,
+and have assailed in vigorous but misguided phrases those who prefer
+to have their books in that condition. Henry Stevens tells us that
+even such a famous collector as James Lenox, founder of the splendid
+library into whose magnificent mysteries so few of us dare to
+penetrate, was misled by the word _uncut_, and chided Stevens for
+buying an _uncut_ book whose pages were all open. He says: 'Again when
+his tastes had grown into the mysteries of _uncut_ leaves, he returned
+a very rare, early New England tract, expensively bound, because it
+did not answer the description of _uncut_ in the invoice, for the
+leaves had manifestly been cut open and read.' When it was explained
+to him that in England the term _uncut_ signified only that the edges
+were not _trimmed_, he shelved the rarity with the remark that he
+'learned something every day.' . . . Perhaps the Caxton Club of
+Chicago is wise in describing its productions as 'with edges
+untrimmed.' Even a Philistine ought to be able to comprehend that
+description, although I once knew a man who supposed that a book
+'bound in boards' had sides composed of planking."
+
+Dr. Ferriar's satirical lines in his _Second Maxim_ will find
+sympathizers among admirers of uncuts:--
+
+    Who, with fantastic pruning-hook,
+    Dresses the borders of his book,
+    Merely to ornament its look--
+        Amongst philosophers a fop is:
+    What if, perchance, he thence discover
+    Facilities in turning over,
+    The virtuoso is a lover
+        Of coyer charms in "uncut copies."
+
+I have been requested to "explain the reason, if there be any, for
+leaving leaf-edges fastened [unopened]--even in evanescent
+magazines--and why people keep books in this condition, without
+looking at the contents." The reason why the binder does not open all
+the leaves is that it involves additional labor and expense which the
+publisher usually does not care to incur, as it does not essentially
+add to the selling value. Indeed, some collectors hesitate to open the
+leaves of their books with the paper-knife, for fear that the selling
+price would be thereby depreciated. This is an entirely mistaken idea,
+though it prevails very generally among those who do not understand
+the real meaning of the term "uncut." Most booksellers prefer having
+the leaves of the volumes all opened, as many buyers and readers
+object to the nuisance of cutting them open. Some of the magazine
+publishers have modern folding machines equipped with blades for
+severing all the leaves. In fine book-making, however, most of the
+folding and cutting is done by hand.
+
+The third "symptom" defined by Dibdin, viz: "extra-illustrating,"
+commonly called _grangerizing_, is really so far removed from the
+indicative stages of bibliomania as to render it entirely
+inappropriate as a proper single characteristic; it is the whole
+disease in its worst form. Fortunately, it is not a frequent infirmity
+among our present day bibliomaniacs. I cannot refrain from quoting Mr.
+William P. Cutter's vehement denunciation of the class of literary
+foragers who are thus affected. He observes that "this craze for
+'extra-illustrating' seizes remorselessly the previously harmless
+bibliophile, and leads him to become a wicked despoiler and mutilator
+of books. The extra-illustrator is nearly always the person
+responsible for the decrepit condition of many of the books which
+'unfortunately lack the rare portrait,' or have, 'as usual,' some
+valuable plate or map lacking. Were this professional despoiler, or
+his minions, the ruthless booksellers, to destroy the sad wrecks which
+result from their piratical depredations, all would be well. But they
+set these poor maimed hulks adrift again, to seek salvage from some
+deluded collector, or some impoverished or ignorant librarian.
+
+"It is curious that the very volume in which our reverend friend
+Dibdin so heartily condemns these inexcusable bandits, should be
+seized on as a receptacle for their ill-gotten prizes. May the spectre
+of Thomas Frognall Dibdin haunt the souls of these impious rascals,
+and torture them with never-ceasing visions of unobtainable and rare
+portraits, non-existent autographs, and elusive engravings in general!
+They even dare to profane your sacred work, the _Biblia_ of
+book-lovers, by the 'insertion' of crudities invented by their
+fiendish imagination. They have committed the 'unpardonable sin' of
+bibliophilism. Not only do they carry on this wicked work, but
+actually flaunt their base crimes in the face of their innocent
+brethren. Hearken to this:--
+
+"DIBDIN, T.F. _Bibliomania._ London, 1811. Extended to five volumes,
+with extra printed titles, and having eight hundred engravings
+inserted, comprising views, old titles(!), vignettes, and six hundred
+and seventy-five portraits of authors, actors, poets, sovereigns,
+artists, prelates, &c., &c., 250 guineas."
+
+Limited space prevents me from making any remarks upon the other five
+"symptoms," none of which are of any special interest, except to
+collectors to whose eccentricities they particularly relate.
+
+As to "Autograph Editions," the craze for these continues without
+abatement. To me, this has always been one of the unsolved mysteries
+of the book-mania. I can readily appreciate how a collector would
+prize an author's inscribed copy of some choice edition, but why
+intelligent people should be allured into the belief that an author's
+stereotyped autograph displayed upon a front page gives any added
+value to a set of subscription books, will to me, I fear, forever
+remain a disentangled enigma. I was once applied to by an agent
+representing a $6000 "Autograph Edition" of Jean Jacques Rousseau.
+Having never seen Rousseau's autograph, I asked that it be shown me.
+"Oh," said the agent, "Rousseau himself don't sign the copies, but the
+set will be signed by the publishers." Would not a much less expensive
+and more expeditious way of obtaining publishers' autographs be found
+in writing a postal card of inquiry for the "prices and terms" on
+their publications?
+
+Gilpin has left the following quaint account of the eccentric old
+bibliomaniac, Henry Hastings, the uncompanionable neighbor of Anthony
+Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury. The accompanying pen-and-ink sketch
+represents Louis Maynelle's idealization of this interesting
+character; it was made especially for this volume:--
+
+"Mr. Hastings was low of stature, but strong and active, of a ruddy
+complexion, with flaxen hair. His clothes were always of green cloth.
+His house was of the old fashion; in the midst of a large park, well
+stocked with deer, rabbits, and fish-ponds. He had a long narrow
+bowling green in it, and used to play with round sand bowls. Here too
+he had a banqueting room built, like a stand in a large tree.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"He kept all sorts of hounds that ran buck, fox, hare, otter, and
+badger; and had hawks of all kinds, both long and short winged. His
+great hall was commonly strewed with marrow-bones, and full of
+hawk-perches, hounds, spaniels, and terriers. The upper end of it was
+hung with fox-skins of this and the last year's killing. Here and
+there a polecat was intermixed and hunter's poles in great abundance.
+The parlour was a large room, completely furnished in the same style.
+On a broad hearth, paved with brick, lay some of the choicest
+terriers, hounds and spaniels. One or two of the great chairs had
+litters of cats in them, which were not to be disturbed. Of these,
+three or four always attended him at dinner, and a little white wand
+lay by his trencher, to defend it if they were too troublesome. In the
+windows, which were very large, lay his arrows, cross-bows, and other
+accoutrements. The corners of the room were filled with his best
+hunting and hawking poles. His oyster table stood at the lower end of
+the room, which was in constant use twice a day, all the year round;
+for he never failed to eat oysters both at dinner and supper, with
+which the neighbouring town of Pool supplied him.
+
+"At the upper end of the room stood a small table with a double desk,
+one side of which held a church Bible; the other the _Book of
+Martyrs_. On different tables in the room lay hawks' hoods, bells, old
+hats with their crowns thrust in, full of pheasant eggs, tables, dice,
+cards, and store of tobacco pipes. At one end of this room was a door,
+which opened into a closet, where stood bottles of strong beer and
+wine, which never came out but in single glasses, which was the rule
+of the house, for he never exceeded himself nor permitted others to
+exceed.
+
+"Answering to this closet was a door into an old chapel, which had
+been long disused for devotion; but in the pulpit, as the safest
+place, was always to be found a cold chine of beef, a venison pasty, a
+gammon of bacon, or a great apple-pye, with thick crust, well baked.
+His table cost him not much, though it was good to eat at. His sports
+supplied all but beef and mutton, except on Fridays, when he had the
+best of fish. He never wanted a London pudding, and he always sang it
+in with 'My part lies therein-a.' He drank a glass or two of wine at
+meals; put syrup of gilly-flowers into his sack, and had always a tun
+glass of small beer standing by him, which he often stirred about with
+rosemary. He lived to be an hundred, and never lost his eyesight, nor
+used spectacles. He got on horseback without help, and rode to the
+death of the stag till he was past four-score."
+
+It is said of George Steevens, the famous Shakespearian collector,
+that he "lived in a retired and eligibly situated house, just on the
+rise of Hampstead Heath. It was paled in, and had immediately before
+it a verdant lawn skirted with a variety of picturesque trees. Here
+Steevens lived, embosomed in books, shrubs and trees, being either too
+coy or too unsociable to mingle with his neighbours. His habits were
+indeed peculiar: not much to be envied or imitated, as they sometimes
+betrayed the flights of a madman and sometimes the asperities of a
+cynic. His attachments were warm but fickle both in choice and
+duration. He would frequently part from one with whom he had lived on
+terms of close intimacy, without any assignable cause, and his
+enmities once fixed were immovable. There was indeed a kind of venom
+in his antipathies, nor would he suffer his ears to be assailed or his
+heart to relent in favour of those against whom he entertained
+animosities, however capricious and unfounded. In one pursuit only was
+he consistent: one object only did he woo with an inflexible
+attachment; and that object was Dame Drama."
+
+In Dibdin's Bibliomaniacal romance, "Philemon" is credited with the
+following narrative concerning one who was probably a bibliomaniac in
+all that the compound sense of the term implies:--
+
+"You all know my worthy friend Ferdinand, a very _helluo librorum_.
+It was on a warm evening in summer, about an hour after sunset, that
+Ferdinand made his way towards a small inn or rather village alehouse
+that stood on a gentle eminence skirted by a luxuriant wood. He
+entered, oppressed with heat and fatigued, but observed, on walking up
+to the porch 'smothered with honeysuckles,' as I think Cowper
+expresses it, that everything around bore the character of neatness
+and simplicity. The hollyhocks were tall and finely variegated in
+blossom, the pinks were carefully tied up, and roses of all colours
+and fragrance stood around in a compacted form like a body-guard
+forbidding the rude foot of trespasser to intrude. Within, Ferdinand
+found corresponding simplicity and comfort.
+
+"The 'gude man' of the house was spending the evening with a
+neighbour, but poached eggs and a rasher of bacon, accompanied with a
+flagon of sparkling ale, gave our guest no occasion to doubt the
+hospitality of the house on account of the absence of its master. A
+little past ten, after reading some dozen pages in a volume of Sir
+Edgerton Brydges's _Censura Literaria_, which he happened to carry
+about him, and partaking pretty largely of the aforesaid eggs and ale,
+Ferdinand called for his candle and retired to repose. His bedroom was
+small but neat and airy; at one end and almost facing the window there
+was a pretty large closet with the door open; but Ferdinand was too
+fatigued to indulge any curiosity about what it might contain.
+
+"He extinguished his candle and sank upon his bed to rest. The heat
+of the evening seemed to increase. He became restless, and throwing
+off his quilt and drawing his curtain aside, turned towards the window
+to inhale the last breeze which yet might be wafted from the
+neighbouring heath. But no zephyr was stirring. On a sudden a broad
+white flash of lightning--nothing more than summer heat--made our
+bibliomaniac lay his head upon his pillow and turn his eyes in an
+opposite direction. The lightning increased; and one flash more vivid
+than the rest illuminated the interior of the closet and made manifest
+an old mahogany book-case stored with books. Up started Ferdinand and
+put his phosphoric treasures into action. He lit his match and trimmed
+his candle and rushed into the closet, no longer mindful of the
+heavens, which now were in a blaze with the summer heat.
+
+"The book-case was guarded both with glass and brass wires; and the
+key--nowhere to be found! Hapless man! for to his astonishment he saw
+_Morte d'Arthur_, printed by Caxton--_Richard Coeur de Lion_, by W. de
+Worde--_The Widow Edyth_, by Pynson--and, towering above the rest, a
+large-paper copy of the original edition of _Prince's Worthies of
+Devon_, while lying transversely at the top reposed John Weever's
+_Epigrams_!
+
+"'The spirit of Captain Cox is here revived,' exclaimed Ferdinand;
+while on looking above he saw a curious set of old plays with _Dido,
+Queen of Carthage_, at the head of them! What should he do? No key! No
+chance of handling such precious tomes till the morning light with the
+landlord returned!
+
+"He moved backwards and forwards with a hurried step, prepared his
+pocketknife to cut out the panes of glass and untwist the brazen
+wires; but a 'prick of conscience' made him desist from carrying his
+wicked design into execution. Ferdinand then advanced towards the
+window, and, throwing it open and listening to the rich notes of a
+concert of nightingales, forgot the cause of his torments--his
+situation reminded him of _The Churl and the Bird_--he rushed with
+renewed madness into the cupboard, then searched for the bell, but
+finding none, he made all sorts of strange noises. The landlady rose,
+and, conceiving robbers to have broken into the stranger's room, came
+and demanded the cause of the disturbance.
+
+"'Madam,' said Ferdinand, 'is there no possibility of inspecting the
+books in the cupboard? Where is the key?'
+
+"'Alack, sir,' rejoined the landlady, 'what is there that thus
+disturbs you in the sight of those books? Let me shut the closet-door
+and take away the key of it, and you will then sleep in peace.'
+
+"'Sleep in peace!' resumed Ferdinand; 'Sleep in wretchedness, you
+mean! I can have no peace unless you indulge me with the key of the
+book-case. To whom do such gems belong?'
+
+"'Sir, they are not stolen goods!'
+
+"'Madam, I ask pardon. I did not mean to question their being honest
+property, but'--
+
+"'Sir, they are not mine or my husband's.'
+
+"'Who, madam, who is the lucky owner?'
+
+"'An elderly gentleman of the name of--sir, I am not at liberty to
+mention his name, but they belong to an elderly gentleman.'
+
+"'Will he part with them? Where does he live? Can you introduce me to
+him?'
+
+"The good woman soon answered all Ferdinand's rapid queries, but the
+result was by no means satisfactory to him.
+
+"He learnt that these uncommonly scarce and precious volumes belonged
+to an ancient gentleman whose name was studiously concealed, but who
+was in the habit of coming once or twice a week, during the autumn, to
+smoke his pipe and lounge over his books, sometimes making extracts
+from them and sometimes making observations in the margin with a
+pencil. Whenever a very curious passage occurred, he would take out a
+small memorandum book and put on a pair of large tortoise-shell
+spectacles with powerful magnifying glasses in order to insert this
+passage with particular care and neatness. He usually concluded his
+evening amusements by sleeping in the very bed in which Ferdinand had
+been lying.
+
+"Such intelligence only sharpened the curiosity and increased the
+restlessness of poor Ferdinand. He retired to his bibliomaniacal bed,
+but not to repose. The morning sunbeams, which irradiated the bookcase
+with complete effect, shone upon his pallid countenance and thoughtful
+brow. He rose at five, walked in the meadows till seven, returned and
+breakfasted, stole upstairs to take a farewell peep at his beloved
+_Morte d'Arthur_, sighed 'three times and more,' paid his reckoning,
+apologized for the night's adventure, told the landlady he would
+shortly come and visit her again and try to pay his respects to the
+anonymous old gentleman.
+
+"'Meanwhile,' said he, 'I will leave no bookseller's shop in the
+neighbourhood unvisited till I gain intelligence of his name and
+character.'
+
+"The landlady eyed him steadily, took a pinch of snuff with a
+significant air, and returning with a smile of triumph to her kitchen,
+thanked her stars that she had got rid of such a madman!"
+
+To return, however, to the subject more immediately in hand, it
+will be observed that the present age is more prolific of bibliophiles
+than any preceding one, and that the growing interest in collecting
+fine books is attended by a relatively increasing demand for a higher
+standard of excellency of manufacture. A few years ago, there were
+only two or three publishers in this country who "specialized" in fine
+editions, while at present there are no less than thirty publishing
+houses, large and small, and as many more "private presses" engaged in
+the production of beautiful books to appease the demands of
+book-buyers. Many of these are well established and conducted upon
+thoroughly honest business principles; some, unfortunately, are not.
+The publication and sale of books--especially the so-called "de luxe"
+editions--is, like some other branches of industry, beset with
+numerous evils; so many sharp practices, indeed, having been resorted
+to by a few conscienceless publishers, and by a certain class of
+unscrupulous agents, that buyers have become wary, not to say weary,
+of being made the victims of their deceptive inventions. It is indeed
+lamentable that a few such pestiferous schemers should thus bring a
+certain degree of reproach upon the entire publishing business. It is
+a common practice among these _soi-disant_ publishers--many of whom
+possess neither capital, credit, nor sense of honor--to buy some lot
+of etchings or old prints from a junk-shop, or second-hand dealer, at
+a trifling price, and thereupon work the same off on credulous
+admirers of rare prints for possibly a thousand times their real
+value. And it is a common practice for these insidious sharks further
+to prey upon unsuspecting book-buyers by obtaining publications of
+reputable houses and falsifying them by the insertion of spurious
+titles calculated to delude the buyer into the belief that there are
+"only fifty copies issued." Many of them are ostracized book-salesmen
+who have at some previous time enjoyed the confidence of their
+employers, but have been ex-communicated by all honest publishers and
+booksellers on account of dishonest proclivities. They are therefore
+set adrift to prey upon the public, and are a constant menace to both
+publishers and buyers. I shall pay my further respects to these
+counterfeiters later on when I come to the subject of Book Clubs; in
+the mean while, it need hardly be pointed out that reprehensible
+methods of this kind are uniformly condemned among all respectable
+publishers and book-dealers, and that buyers should cautiously
+discriminate against those who practice them. It is not surprising
+that even the honest publishers and dealers themselves are
+occasionally made the scapegoats of these obnoxious parasites; but the
+astute collector is rarely "caught" by their schemes; and after a
+book-buyer has passed the primary or "experience" stages of
+book-collecting, he (or she) is designated as a "dead one," in the
+common parlance of the underground trade here referred to. Fortunate,
+indeed, are the bibliophiles who have passed unscathed into the
+category of "dead ones."
+
+That my present condemnatory observations are not directed against
+that great majority of publishers, booksellers, and agents whose
+methods in business are founded upon sincerity and integrity, will, I
+take it, be clearly understood; and I am, indeed, forced partially to
+disagree with Mr. Joline in his vigorous and general proscription of
+"subscription book-agents," for experience shows that there are many
+worthy people of this class, however much they may suffer by the sins
+of some of their kind. An acquaintance once said to me that he would
+"_never buy another book_," because he had been "buncoed" by a
+book-agent, to whom he otherwise referred with an uncomplimentary
+adjective. But this did not convince me that his position was more
+logical than that of the man who declared he would never take another
+bath because a watch had been stolen from his pocket while he was in
+bathing at some beach resort. It is incomprehensible that any one
+could imagine that our paper currency system is fraudulent because
+there are a few "green-goods" men in the country, or because
+counterfeit bills appear every now and then.
+
+We read so much in the papers nowadays of the extravagant sums paid
+for rare books by our modern millionaire bibliomaniacs that one is apt
+to become somewhat panic-stricken upon experiencing the first symptoms
+of the bibliomania. While these more opulent victims of book-madness
+vie with one another in the auction-room, the rational bibliophile
+sits in the gallery and views with silent awe and amazement the
+scrimmage over some apparently trifling volume that wouldn't fetch ten
+cents, but for the fact that it is "unique," and that so and so paid a
+stupendous sum for it at some previous sale. Despair not, dear
+bibliophile, of never being able to join in the mad scramble for these
+"uniques;" nor need you feel that they are essential to the formation
+of a library. They possess no virtues perceptible to the ordinary
+bibliophile, and it requires all the eloquence of a Cicero to
+elucidate their charms when displaying them to friends. For after all,
+the chief point of interest in such books is their cost price, and
+this you may be obliged to refrain from mentioning for fear you will
+be accused of being mentally unbalanced.
+
+It is not necessary to squander a fortune in collecting a library,
+nor to be hasty in buying every book you come across. Better go slowly
+and select wisely; you will derive more enjoyment from it, and in
+later years have less to charge to "experience account."
+
+There are a few "busy" book-collectors who intrust the selection of
+their books to secretaries or librarians, and thus sacrifice the
+keenest enjoyment of this captivating pursuit. Of all absurdities,
+this seems the most insupportable. It would be far more sensible to
+have your secretary select your friends, because if you should happen
+not to like these, you could abandon them without ceremony or expense.
+Why not also attend the opera and your various social functions by
+proxy, through your secretary? If he were as good a courtier as he is
+"literary adviser," he might succeed in getting as much enjoyment out
+of the receptions and dinners as you would, if you were to attend in
+person. Then, think of the _time_ you would save! We frequently hear
+the remark: "I have no time to devote to my library. I am very fond of
+books, but haven't time to collect or read them." And yet seeing what
+may be done in this regard by care and system, and that the greatest
+readers have been the busiest men, it seems strange that persons of
+intelligence should thus express themselves; should admit such obvious
+fatuity of view and procedure.
+
+In referring to this class of book-buyers, Roswell Field says, "The
+book-lover, so-called, who lacks any of the thrills that go with the
+_establishment_ as well as the enjoyment of a library in all of its
+appointments has deprived himself of many of the most pleasurable
+literary and semi-literary emotions. That bibliophile never pats his
+horse or his dog. To him his books are merely tools of trade,
+accessories to knowledge, to be pawed over, thrown away and replaced
+by new copies when worn out. He glories in the fact that his books are
+his servants rather than his companions, and he affects to despise and
+laugh at the sentimental relation which others have established with
+their books. Look out for that man! He is not of us; he is not of the
+elect; there is as little of warmth and the genial glow of fellowship
+in his library as in the middle gallery of the catacombs in the Appian
+Way. His very books cry out against him; but he hears them not, for he
+is deaf as well as blind."
+
+One of the busiest men in New York City, whose name is familiar in
+financial circles throughout the civilized world, is one of the most
+voracious collectors of the age. He probably transacts more business
+in a day than half a dozen ordinarily busy men, and yet finds time to
+give his personal attention to every minute detail of his vast
+collections, to which are added hundreds, and probably thousands, of
+items every year. This is only one of many such examples among our
+busiest men.
+
+I have often heard persons lament in a pensive and apologetic sort of
+way, "Yes, I have a great weakness for fine books." The very presence
+of this mis-called weakness, however, is unmistakable proof of great
+mental strength, and those who suffer from it may find solace in the
+fact that the giants of commerce, leading statesmen, and great men of
+affairs in general are frequently thus afflicted all through the
+periods of their greatest activity and success. What can possibly
+afford a more agreeable relaxation from the toils and perplexities of
+the day than to recline in an easy chair before an open grate fire in
+the library, surrounded by the silently reposing tomes which record
+and preserve the noblest thoughts of past and present generations?
+Surely no enjoyment in the home or office can be more delectable and
+unfailing in assuaging the worry and solicitude of a strenuous life
+than the silent companionship of books. It is a noteworthy fact that a
+large percentage of the leading stock brokers, bankers, active
+statesmen, and sedulous lawyers are bibliophiles. I attribute this to
+the fact that all of these vocations are extremely taxing upon the
+nervous system, and those men who are busily engaged in them are,
+during the intermittent hours of rest and recreation, naturally
+inclined to seek the most enjoyable and refreshing diversions; for, as
+Horace says,--
+
+    . . . nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis
+    Ducere sollicitae jocunda oblivia vitae.
+
+    Along with old books, or a nap, and divine hours of leisure--
+    To taste thus forgetfulness--sweet, in the midst of life's troubles.
+
+In an article written for The Bibliophile Society's (1903) Year
+Book, Caroline Ticknor says, "The true book-lover loves his books for
+their helpfulness, for their companionship; but he regards them as
+well for their elegant settings." She also observes that "strange as
+the anomaly may seem, there are still many persons of ample means, and
+some education, who, although they would be horrified at the very
+thought of admitting to the home a cheap rug or vase, to destroy the
+harmony and bring discord and confusion into the luxuriance of the
+furnishings, yet will nonchalantly tolerate the incongruity of a
+miserable fragment of a library made up of the cheapest and meanest
+editions to be found in the market, such as would be scorned by those
+of the most limited means and plebeian tastes. These will be found
+inappropriately housed amid the most sumptuous surroundings. A single
+rug to adorn the floor, or a single vase resting on a mantle, will
+often be found to have cost ten times as much as the whole home
+library. And yet the intellects of these people have been nurtured and
+trained in their youth by the brilliant thoughts of ancient and modern
+writers! Even the favorite author, be it Shakespeare, Dickens,
+Longfellow, Tennyson, or some other, is frequently represented by a
+half dozen or so disconsolate-looking volumes, the remainder of the
+set either never having been bought, or else, if bought, thrown aside,
+or strewn around the attic, or abandoned as a child would discard a
+toy which afforded it no further amusement.
+
+"It is worthy of remark, however, that the enormously increased
+demand of late for beautiful books evinces the fact that cultured and
+wealthy people are growing to appreciate the importance not only of
+having a good library, but that its quality should embody a degree of
+estheticism to correspond with the surroundings."
+
+Many of the most delightful persons, well read and competent to
+discourse intelligently upon the merits of books and authors, have
+never experienced a single pulsation of true bibliophilism; they have
+never known the joy of possessing and admiring a beautiful book, and
+that the attachment one bears for such a treasure is wholly
+reciprocal. They have not learned that fine books, like human beings,
+are capable of mutual affection, and that it is not necessary to
+devour them in order to value their charms. "We do not gather books to
+read them, my Boeotian friend," says Mr. Joline; "the idea is a
+childish delusion. 'In early life,' says Walter Bagehot, 'there is an
+opinion that the obvious thing to do with a horse is to ride it; with
+a cake, to eat it; with a sixpence to spend it.' A few boyish persons
+carry this further, and think that the natural thing to do with a book
+is to read it. The mere reading of a rare book is a puerility, an
+idiosyncrasy of adolescence; it is the _ownership_ of the book which
+is the matter of distinction. The collector of coins does not
+accumulate his treasures for the purpose of ultimately spending them
+in the marketplace. The lover of postage-stamps, small as his horizon
+may be, does not hoard his colored bits of paper with the intent to
+employ them in the mailing of letters. When some one complained to
+Bedford that a book which he had bound did not shut properly, he
+exclaimed, 'Why, bless me, sir, you've been _reading_ it!'"
+
+Herrick says that "the truest owner of a library is he who has bought
+each book for the love he bears to it; who is happy and content to
+say, 'Here are my jewels, my choicest possessions!'" Seneca, the great
+Roman philologer, wrote: "If you are fond of books, you will escape
+the _ennui_ of life; you will neither sigh for evening, disgusted with
+the occupations of the day, nor will you live dissatisfied with
+yourself or unprofitable with others." "I am quite transported and
+comforted in the midst of my books," says the younger Pliny, who was
+an ardent book-fancier; "they give a zest to the happiest and assuage
+the anguish of the bitterest moments of existence. Therefore, whether
+distracted by the cares or losses of my family or my friends, I fly to
+my library as the only refuge in distress: here I learn to bear
+adversity with fortitude."
+
+Southey thus immortalizes his speechless, yet beloved, library
+companions:
+
+    My never failing friends are they,
+    With whom I converse day by day.
+
+Balfour is no less eloquent in paying worthy tribute to his library:
+"The world may be kind or hostile; it may seem to us to be hastening
+on the wings of enlightenment and progress to an imminent millennium,
+or it may weigh us down with the sense of insoluble difficulty and
+irremediable wrong; but whatever else it may be, so long as we have
+good health and a library, it can never be dull."
+
+"Bookes," said the immortal Milton, "demeane themselves as well as
+men. Books are not absolutely dead things, but doe contain a potencie
+of life in them to be as active as that soule was whose progeny they
+are: nay they do preserve as in a violl the purest efficacie and
+extraction of that living intellect that bred them. Unlesse warinesse
+be us'd, as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a
+man kills a reasonable creature, God's Image; but Hee who destroys a
+good Booke, kills reason itselfe, kills the image of God, as it were
+in the eye."
+
+In the garnering of book-treasures, some collectors are prompted
+wholly by mercenary motives--most of them, fortunately, are not. There
+are biblio-mercenaries of such sordid inclinations that they would
+readily part with almost any book in their possession,--even inscribed
+presentation copies!--if lightly tempted with money considerations.
+Verily, these parsimonious traders would barter their own souls, if
+they possessed any value.
+
+I am indebted to the Secretary of a well-known book club for the
+following facts, to confirm which I saw all the correspondence. A
+certain book-buyer joined the club some time ago, and subscribed for
+the first publication issued after he became a member. Upon receiving
+the work he wrote: "I consider them among the most beautiful examples
+of book-making that I have ever seen, and prize them above all other
+books in my library." Six months later he sold the copy to a
+book-agent for twice its original cost. He "passed" the next
+publication issued by the club, as it did not interest him, but
+appended a postscript to his letter, saying: "If any member wants an
+extra copy, I have no objection to one being issued upon my membership
+and turned over to him, provided I receive the increase in price."
+
+The following humorous incident is recorded in the (1903) Year Book
+of another prominent book club. It may be explained that the club
+issued a very elaborate and beautiful publication, printed upon deckle
+edge handmade paper, illustrated with remarque proof copperplate
+etchings on Japanese vellum, and in duplicate without remarque on
+Whatman paper: "One of the members upon receiving the first two
+volumes of the ---- publication, writes: 'The Society starts out by
+making the worst kind of a blunder. The man's picture in the front of
+the volume is put in twice and on _two kinds of paper_. I could excuse
+this error, but imagine my horror when upon turning to the back of the
+volume I found the _same mistake repeated_. This is too much.' He
+closed by expressing a desire to resign, saying that he did not know
+he 'was joining a faddists club,' and takes occasion to remark further
+that 'the books are cheaply finished, not even being trimmed and
+gilded;' also that he 'can buy better books in the stores, _with full
+gilt edges_, for less money.'"
+
+So much has been written about the vagaries of book-collectors and
+bibliomaniacs that the subject has long since become threadbare, and
+about the only unexplored field of labor left to the choice of him who
+would gain a hearing with the reader--if one can be found who is not
+already weary of reading what the wags think of his (or her) own
+peculiar whims--is to fall in with the spirit of the age and compile
+an "International Library of the World's Greatest Gibberish about
+Bibliomaniacs." We have the "World's Greatest" everything else in
+book-lore, and I shall not be surprised if some enterprising publisher
+gets out a "definitive" _de luxe_ edition of the "World's Greatest
+Dictionaries." Indeed, the Holy Bible itself has not escaped, for they
+are now making a "de luxe" edition, in fourteen volumes! to be sold by
+subscription. It will not be an "Autograph Edition," however.
+
+The freaks and fancies of capricious book-gatherers and bibliomaniacs
+have undergone so few changes in the last hundred years that modern
+writers on Bibliomania, after vainly searching the horizon for some new
+development in the way of symptoms of the disease, or characteristics of
+those afflicted, have wandered off into the verdure of adjacent fields
+to avoid repetition. Some of them, from sheer lack of anything new to
+say, have set upon each other in the most unflattering terms. Many of
+the writers on the delectable "Joys of a Book-buyer," or "Habits of a
+Bibliomaniac," etc., evidently appreciate the fact that these much
+persecuted human beings have other pastimes and habits than collecting
+books, and that they really inhabit the earth in all its civilized parts
+and partake unstintedly of its many pleasurable diversions. But again,
+there is another extreme, for I once read a book issued under the
+misleading title of "Pleasures of a Book-collector," or something of the
+sort, which might have been more appropriately called the "Pleasures of
+a Single Man," seeing that the work had more to do with the hero's
+hopeless love for a fair damsel, and his hours at clubs, cafes, and
+other places of amusement in which I had no special interest, than it
+did with the acquirement of literature. Thus, with the delusive idea
+that I was to be ushered into some of the secret enjoyments of the
+pleasing diversion of book-buying, I presently found myself more
+familiar with the habits, vices, and various unimportant matters of the
+author's conception--points, in short, having no bearing whatever upon
+the subject under consideration--than with the pleasures of a
+book-collector. The book was not badly written, nor wholly
+uninteresting; but if a man buys a ticket to the opera, he doesn't go
+prepared to see a cock-fight.
+
+For literary scoffers and malcontents who find fault with everything
+and everybody, who even scold publishers because their own books bring
+but meagre royalties, who fuss and fume over the harmless foibles of
+the very ones upon whom they depend for their audience, and like an
+ungrateful dog fasten their teeth in the charitable hand that offers
+them food, there can be but small sympathy. One is tempted to enlarge
+upon this familiar type, but here I am digressing from my subject, and
+am committing much the same offence as that of which I have elsewhere
+accused others.
+
+I have been asked to include within the scope of my article a few
+remarks about Book Clubs and Book Societies. In presuming to trespass
+upon sacred yet inviting ground of this character, I must be
+understood as approaching the subject with due reverence and apology.
+It is an indisputable fact that among the agencies that have
+contributed to the advancement and ennobling of the bookmaker's art in
+the past twenty years, the legitimate Book Club has been one of the
+most potential. We have only to refer to _Growell's American Book
+Clubs_ in order to learn of the many clubs and societies of this kind
+which have arisen in the past few years, with varying degrees of
+success and failure,--success, when intelligently conducted upon
+honest cooeperative principles, and failure, if irrationally directed,
+without regard to the maxims upon which successful clubs are managed.
+The province of these worthy accessories in the world of fine
+bookmaking has not been free from invasion by sharks and charlatans,
+some of whom have succeeded for a time under the guise of honest and
+reciprocal motives.
+
+In this country there are private book clubs and societies that have
+won places of enviable distinction both here and abroad, and naturally
+among the foremost of these are the ones which have been pestered by
+"imitators." The following significant remarks are taken from the
+president's annual address to the members of an old and honored book
+club:--
+
+"Fame brings its penalties, and during the last year many of us have
+suffered considerable annoyance, both individually and as members of
+the Club, through the exploitation of books advertised sometimes as
+publications of The ---- Club, and more often as publications of the
+---- Society. These have usually been offered in connection with works
+of distinguished authors in numerous volumes, stated, as a rule, to be
+limited to a thousand copies, and described as the contents of the
+private library of a lady, which the agent declares to have been
+placed in his hands to dispose of as quickly as possible, regardless
+of cost. No widow's cruse, apparently, could be more unfailing in its
+supply than this 'private library.' While annoying, the device of a
+'---- Society,' though manifestly designed to confuse the public mind
+and trade on the reputation of this Club, can scarcely deceive our
+members or even the book-loving public. It, nevertheless, is an
+annoyance, and the more vexatious because scarcely calling for other
+remedy than exposure.
+
+"It is possible, however, that harm to the good name of the Club may
+be wrought through the advertisement, in an English newspaper, to
+which my attention has been drawn, of a so-called '---- Society of
+Great Britain,' which is declared to have been recently formed in
+conjunction with the '---- Society of the United States,' which is
+described as having been established in 1884, and to have occupied its
+own Club House since 1888, and to have published handsomely printed
+books for sale exclusively to the members. It is announced, however,
+that the '---- Society of Great Britain,' although intending to act in
+conjunction with the American society, 'will work upon somewhat
+different lines, at any rate at first.' It may well be that this
+cleverly deceptive advertisement will require some attention from us,
+either directly or through members resident abroad.
+
+"This, however, seems to be the only fly in our ointment, and we may
+congratulate ourselves that there is nothing more serious to disturb
+our enjoyment of the anniversary which we now celebrate."
+
+Another and more palpable fraud has been perpetrated in copying the
+name of The Bibliophile Society, but with a slight prefix, just enough
+to afford a loop-hole through which to escape legal prosecution. Not
+enough, however, to enable the public to distinguish between the
+spurious and the genuine, and even the members themselves have
+sometimes been deceived by unscrupulous agents representing their
+wares as the regular productions of the valid society. The audacious
+promoters of this so-called Society had the boldness not only to
+pilfer the name of the legitimate society, but also the name of its
+president, which was ostentatiously printed upon their letter heads,
+together with the name of Dr. Richard Garnett. Both of these gentlemen
+have recently published their denunciations through the columns of the
+press, and protested vigorously against this unauthorized use of their
+names.
+
+The _modus operandi_ of this pestiferous concern is to send numbered
+"complimentary certificates" throughout the country to persons whose
+names are obtainable from directories, and when acknowledgment cards
+are received from those who deign to accept the exalted compliment,
+they are forthwith called upon, usually by some "officer" of the
+Society,--sometimes the "President," but usually the "Treasurer,"
+"Secretary," or "Registrar."
+
+Some time ago I was honored by a call from one of these circumventive
+"Treasurers," but happened to be conveniently busy at the time, and so
+made an appointment with him to meet me at my office the next day.
+Meanwhile, I prepared to have his statements reduced to writing by a
+stenographer, anticipating that it might be necessary to refresh my
+memory upon certain passages that I might fail to remember verbatim.
+The following is the substance of the "canvass" as taken by the
+stenographer in an adjoining room, the door of which was wide open:--
+
+"I am the Treasurer of the ---- Society, with headquarters in
+London. By a special grant from the English Government, we have
+recently been permitted to extend our membership into this country,
+and three hundred life members are to be admitted under this
+enlargement of our constitutional privileges. It may interest you,
+first, to know something of the origin of this Society. It was
+organized in London about three hundred years ago by the Duke of
+Roxburghe [who was not born until more than a hundred years later],
+and was originally composed of about thirty members of the royal
+family. The original charter limited the membership to fifty members,
+and in less than a month the limit was reached. Through the powerful
+influence of the royal family the Society had easy access to all the
+great repositories of unpublished manuscripts, and the most valuable
+and interesting of them were selected for publication. These
+publications became so enormously valuable that it stimulated a desire
+on the part of others to join the Society, and particularly, some of
+the nobility of France and Germany. It was decided to increase the
+membership to three hundred, and to take in a few members from France,
+Germany, Italy, and Russia. The Society thrived for about a thousand
+years [this is either a stenographic error, or else he meant to say a
+hundred]; then there was a period of inactivity, and later on it was
+revived again, and the membership limit increased to five hundred.
+Last year we obtained permission to again increase the membership by
+taking in three hundred prominent people in America. I am over here to
+arrange for three vice-presidents,--two for the East and one for the
+West. I have a special commission to ask you to become one of the
+honorary vice-presidents and to offer you a life membership for less
+than half the regular fee, viz., $225.00; the usual fee for life
+membership is $500.00, but you get it for $225.00 on account of acting
+as our honorary vice-president for this territory. Of course you would
+have no regular duties to perform. You would sign all the membership
+certificates in your district, and in case of the death of any member,
+you would have the privilege of naming his successor.
+
+"The Society issues every year a volume giving all the price
+currents for the year, and keeps the members posted on the advance or
+decline in the value of all important publications. We also give you
+in confidence the ratings of various publishers, and print reports to
+members exposing all the frauds in the book business. Upon payment of
+the fee of $225.00, you receive all of this material free, for the
+balance of your life, and in addition all of the Society's regular
+publications, including the present one, consisting of ---- volumes
+[here he produced the customary specimen sheets]. You see this one
+work alone is worth the full amount you pay for life membership [here
+occurred a "special offer" of some sort, given in a low monotone which
+the stenographer was unable to hear; and I must confess that I was so
+stupefied by this astounding fabrication that I myself have not the
+faintest recollection of what this "special offer" consisted]. We are
+very anxious to have your name as our honorary vice-president here,
+because you will not only be an honor to the Society, but the Society
+will be an honor to you."
+
+Here my Treasurer friend produced a regular form of subscription
+contract for a set of books; but it contained no clause about life
+membership, or any other membership, and included no promise of
+anything further than the delivery of the books.
+
+The honor of such a vice-presidency being thrust upon me was indeed a
+thrilling sensation, and the story was told in a fluent, cohesive, and
+logical manner; so well, in fact, that had I not known in advance that
+it was purely imaginary from beginning to end, I could scarcely have
+avoided giving it full acceptance. But I had heard of the story
+before, and although partially prepared, it staggered me surprisingly.
+I afterwards learned that every one else canvassed by my interviewer
+was equally offered one of the "three vice-presidencies."
+
+There appears to be no defense for book clubs against these bogus
+impersonations. The injured club, or society, can sustain no claim for
+any special damage, because, as not offering its publications in the
+open market, it actually suffers no ascertainable loss of patronage.
+The principal damage results to those who are thus victimized in
+permitting themselves to be deluded into the belief that they are
+acquiring the valid editions of reputable clubs. When club
+publications come into the open market they are usually picked up with
+avidity by collectors, and they have thus grown into very general
+favor among book-lovers. Indeed, the high esteem in which they have
+come to be regarded offers a productive field for a few crafty
+publishers to ply their wily designs in. The audacity of these
+schemers carries them to such incredible measures that they sometimes
+buy sheet-stock from reputable publishing houses, change the name of
+the edition, and deliberately manufacture new titles on which they
+print the name of some book club or society. These counterfeits are
+sold to the unsuspecting book-buyer, who often imagines he has landed
+a prize. Later, he is likely to become disillusioned. There can be no
+doubt that the contemptible practice of thus mutilating and garbling
+books should be defined as a felony and made punishable by fine or
+imprisonment. Book-buyers, however, can in a measure help the
+situation and protect themselves by not dealing with such people; they
+should particularly remember that creditable book clubs _never_ employ
+soliciting agents, and rarely, if ever, offer their publications for
+sale outside of the membership. Any one, therefore, representing
+himself as an authorized agent of a book club may usually be branded
+as an impostor. Most book clubs print only such number of copies of
+each publication as are subscribed and paid for by members in advance,
+and the funds thus advanced are used to pay the cost of the edition.
+
+Notwithstanding the evils referred to, the book club is with us to
+stay, and the very fact that it is continually pestered by these
+hangers-on is conclusive proof of its potency and usefulness; features
+which insure its secure foundation in the community.
+
+Very few people are able to appreciate the amount of gratuitous labor
+performed by the officers and committees of private book clubs. It is
+erroneous to suppose that beautiful books are a purely natural
+offspring of the book club. The preparation of the material for
+publication and successfully following it through all the various
+stages of manufacture requires an enormous amount of detail work, as
+well as an accurate knowledge of bookmaking. The president of a
+prominent book club recently said, in his annual address to the
+members:--
+
+"I wish that our members could be witnesses at the many conferences
+held by the Committee on Publications and by the Council; of the
+various experiments needed to settle upon the size and shape of the
+book, the size of its page and its margins, the style of type, the
+initial letters, head-bands, tail-pieces, engravings, etc. etc.; of
+the printer's endless proofs, the making of a special paper (which
+sometimes proves to be unsuited), and, finally, the style of binding.
+What material, color, and general make-up shall it have? If our
+members could thus follow the progress of the work from beginning to
+finish they would be reconciled to disappointment. At any rate it is
+through their subscriptions that these experiments can be undertaken,
+and it is by knowledge thus gained that the Club has won credit for
+the Arts and Crafts of our country, and made an honorable record even
+in other lands; so that to be a member of the Club has become an
+enviable distinction."
+
+Owing to the tricks and stratagem practiced in _manufacturing_ "de
+luxe" editions, some of our bibliophiles have taken matters of
+bookmaking into their own hands, with the result that they have
+organized clubs and societies, the members of which take much pleasure
+in introducing to their library companions each year one or two
+charming new acquaintances which come bearing the club's seal of
+endorsement. A true bibliophile always feels a just pride in shelving
+one of these book-treasures of his own club's production, and
+thereafter displaying it before his friends, with the interesting bit
+of information that "This is the latest production of _our Club_; it
+is issued _only for members_." For obviously an owner's interest in
+any work is increased many fold by the fact that he is a constituent
+part of the organization which produced the same: the relationship to
+the book in such a case is akin to the love of a parent for a child;
+and the owner of a fine library will not unusually regard his Club
+publications and privately printed books as the objects therein which
+are entitled to his fondest consideration.
+
+I have recently taken occasion to examine with considerable care the
+latest publications of the leading book clubs of this country, and to
+compare them with some of the first issues of these same clubs. The
+improvement in the later productions over the earlier ones astonished
+me. There were as good artists, editors, binders, type, paper, ink,
+and other accessories twenty years ago as we have now, and indeed it
+is doubtful if our modern printing presses show much improvement in
+the quality of work during that time; but it would seem that
+persistent effort along the lines of experimental work has been
+generously rewarded by a steady improvement in the general results now
+attained. Nor is the situation injured by a slight tinge of friendly
+rivalry among clubs, to lend an additional zest to their labors, and
+to whet the praiseworthy ambition of each to make every succeeding
+issue a little better than the last. There are many zealous
+bibliophiles who belong to two or three book clubs at once, finding it
+interesting to collect and compare the works produced by the several
+clubs.
+
+Many of our great scholars as well as leading publishers are members
+of these book clubs, and serve on the councils and various committees;
+so it must not be supposed by skeptics that their publications are in
+the slightest degree amateurish. They employ the best talent and
+materials; the councils and publication committees, as well, being
+composed of persons of unquestioned integrity, who possess an
+intelligent understanding of bookmaking.
+
+Some of these clubs (particularly those whose membership is largely
+local) have commodious quarters where the members may meet at all
+times, whether to discuss matters of common business interest, to
+exchange their latest jokes, or to generally discuss book-lore and
+other congenial topics. The social features of some of the book clubs
+are, however, reduced to the occasions of the annual meetings and
+dinners. The "Club-Room Question," in one of these organizations
+having a membership of five hundred, distributed in one hundred and
+sixty-seven cities and towns in this country and abroad, was recently
+reported upon by the Council as follows:--
+
+    The question of providing and maintaining club rooms and
+    establishing a suitable library for the Society has been more
+    or less discussed since its incorporation. The Council has not
+    found that spacious and luxuriously furnished rooms are an
+    important requisite in accomplishing the expressed purpose and
+    limitations of the Society. These, according to Article I. of
+    the Constitution and By-laws, are to be "the study and
+    promotion of the arts pertaining to fine bookmaking and
+    illustrating, and the occasional publication of specially
+    designed and illustrated books, for distribution among its
+    members at a minimum cost of production."
+
+    Then, too, while our membership is entirely homogeneous in
+    bibliomaniacal spirit, it is so scattered over such a vast
+    expanse of territory that only a small percentage of the
+    members would be able to enjoy club-room privileges; even
+    those within easy reach of such rooms would probably not
+    frequent them enough to justify any considerable expense in
+    maintenance. It would be necessary, also, to change the
+    present constitution (and to assess the members for annual
+    dues in order to meet current expenses), should the club-room
+    idea be carried out. This would be objectionable on various
+    grounds, and amongst these, because a non-resident member
+    might thus be paying an annual fee without receiving any
+    corresponding benefit in return; a condition in such case
+    which would be tantamount to his meeting an increased charge
+    each year for the privilege of subscribing and paying for the
+    Society's publications. Hence, the Council do not see their
+    way to entertaining or recommending the club-room feature. But
+    it is not supposed that the spirit of fellowship among our
+    bibliophiles--naturally related as they are by a kindred
+    interest--will in any degree suffer because of the lack of
+    such facilities. A personal contact, however agreeable, does
+    not seem essential. Certainly the many charming letters
+    received from members whom we have never seen, go far to
+    relieve the present lack in this regard, so far as the
+    officers are concerned.
+
+    As matters now stand, the Society has sufficiently comfortable
+    quarters in one of the offices of the Treasurer, where the
+    Council holds its meetings. These are found by experience to
+    be quite ample for all practical purposes and present needs.
+
+Collectors of manuscripts and of unique copies often furnish the book
+clubs with valuable and otherwise unprocurable material to be printed
+for the members. Last year one collector alone furnished gratuitously
+to a society of which he is a member, many thousands of dollars' worth
+of unpublished manuscripts of interesting historical matter to be
+printed exclusively for its members. In this way much valuable
+material is preserved in print, when it would otherwise remain forever
+unpublished and unobtainable.
+
+During the past few years it has been my pleasant privilege to spend
+many hours of each week in concurrent labor with the Council in the
+preparation of the publications of The Bibliophile Society, in which
+Council I have had the honor to serve continuously since its
+organization.
+
+There is no pleasure more delectable, no joy more inspiring than that
+of devising books which prove a delight to the eye and a satisfaction
+to the artistic tastes of those who are competent to appreciate the
+qualities that should characterize a perfectly made book.
+
+I now realize as never before why it is that our busiest men of
+affairs, and scholars of renown, are actuated to serve so assiduously
+in this labor of love; for surely no amount of effort, however
+laborious, can be regarded as having been in any sense misguided or
+wasted when it elicits such approbation as expressed in the following
+letter from Charles A. Decker, Esq., a fellow member, of New York
+City:--
+
+                                                March 15th, 1904.
+
+    MR. H. H. HARPER, Treasurer,
+      The Bibliophile Society,
+        Colonial Building, Boston, Mass.
+
+    DEAR MR. HARPER:--
+
+    My stock of superlatives is insufficient to adequately express
+    my appreciation of "Andre's Journal." Keats must have had a
+    psychic sense which enabled him to see the latest issue by our
+    Society, and he had this in view when he wrote the opening
+    line of _Endymion_. (Is n't "A thing of beauty," &c., the
+    opening line?) Such books as the Council has planned are an
+    education to bibliophiles; the work is progressive, for each
+    issue is finer than the one which preceded it. Can any book be
+    finer than "Andre's Journal"? If so, I can't conceive it. Such
+    noble types, the pages so perfectly balanced; the margins so
+    broad; the paper of such beautiful texture; the ink so
+    brilliantly black; the maps so marvelously reproduced; the
+    etchings so artistically conceived and executed and the title
+    page so beautifully engraved; then the binding--real
+    vellum--so rich, simple, and in such perfect taste; even the
+    box-cover is fitting in every sense. A perfect book, it seems
+    to me. If there are any shortcomings, and you know them, don't
+    tell me of them, that in my ignorance I may be content.
+
+    Please thank all the members of the Council for me. Somebody
+    must have spent many, many hours in arriving at a final
+    judgment upon all the parts which make up such a beautiful
+    whole.
+
+    I have yet to enjoy the pleasure of _reading_ the "Journal,"
+    then I will be thankful to Mr. Bixby and to Senator Lodge.
+
+                      Yours sincerely,
+                                      (Signed) CHARLES A. DECKER.
+
+Mr. Decker is one of the many pleasant and appreciative members of
+The Bibliophile Society whose personal acquaintance it has not been my
+good fortune to make, but from whom the Society has received many
+delightful and inspiring letters. The numerous communications thus
+received from all quarters have been placed before the Council, with
+the result that the individual interest of every worker has been
+greatly augmented in the Society's welfare. Indeed, I attribute no
+small measure of the success and the good name of the Society to the
+indirect influence of such words of encouragement and expressions of
+appreciation as have come from the members.
+
+I sincerely wish for health and continued success to our worthy Book
+Clubs, and regret that there are not more of them.
+
+    Sit bona librorum . . . copia.
+
+HENRY H. HARPER.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book
+Clubs, by Henry H. Harper
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK-LOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS... ***
+
+***** This file should be named 22605.txt or 22605.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/6/0/22605/
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Christine D. and the
+booksmiths at http://www.eBookForge.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/22605.zip b/22605.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f20ee03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/22605.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..817e353
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #22605 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22605)