THE PRIVATE LIBRARY , WHAT WE DO KNOW WHAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT OUR BOOKS

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Page 3 - Rowlandson, the Caricaturist. A Selection from his Works, with Anecdotal Descriptions of his Famous Caricatures, and a Sketch of his Life, Times, and Contemporaries. With nearly 400 Illustrations, mostly in Facsimile of the Originals. By JOSEPH GREGO, Author of "James Gillray, the Caricaturist ; his Life, Works, and Times.
Page 4 - Dickens : The Letters of Charles Dickens edited by his Sister-inlaw and his eldest Daughter 4 v.
Page 49 - The very sound of a Lady's Library gave me a great curiosity to see it ; and as it was some time before the lady came to me, I had an opportunity of turning over a great many of her books, which were ranged together in a very beautiful order.
Page 151 - 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. Or, to go lower still, how much do you think the contents of the book.shelves of the United Kingdom, public and private, would fetch, as compared with the contents of its -winecellars ? What position would its expenditure on literature take as compared with its expenditure on luxurious eating?
Page 152 - And the entire object of true education is to make people not merely do the right things, but enjoy the right things — not merely industrious, but to love industry — not merely learned, but to love knowledge — not merely pure, but to love purity — not merely just, but to hunger and thirst after justice.
Page 150 - What do we, as a nation, care about books? How much do you think we spend altogether on our libraries, public or private, as compared with what we spend on our horses?
Page 74 - I would needs go find it out, and met with it at the Temple : cost me 2s. 6d. But when I came to read it, it is so silly an abuse of the Presbyter Knight going to the warrs, that I am ashamed of it ; and by and by meeting at Mr. Townsend's at dinner, I sold it to him for 18</.
Page 25 - ... again. And even of the books we decide to read, there are almost always large portions which do not concern us, and which we are sure to forget the day after we have read them. The art is to skip all that does not concern us, whilst missing nothing that we really need. No external guidance can teach us this ; for nobody but ourselves can guess what the needs of our intellect may be. But let us select with decisive firmness, independently of other people's advice, independently of the authority...

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