Page:A Brief Outline of the Histories of Libraries.djvu/98

92 these newly rich, ignorant even of the elements of belles-lettres, books are not aids to study, but simply ornaments of dining-rooms." A little further on he adds: "Why, in the homes of the idlest of the rich you will find all that orators or historians have written, with bookcases built clear to the ceiling! Formerly a library gave a home an air of culture; one is now put in, like a bathroom, simply as a necessary part of the equipment of a house." A sad state of affairs, I admit. And yet it is to be wished that our own rich men had the same taste in luxuries; for a collection of books can always be of use and value to some one, even if not to the owner.