Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/608

 WOMAN'ti HOME 5^2 volumes that make such fascinating reading is to be seen everywhere, and the depredations made on it are viewed by most folks with greater equanimity than those on their bookcases. People punctilious on other matters are extraordinarily dishonest about books. My son used to write on his the old threat ; " This book is one thing, My fist is another. Touch not the one. For fear of the other ! " For filling a corner in any library that is not mainly composed of bookcases, I don't think the value of a Chippendale comer cupboard can be over-estimated ; it gives a grace, a finish, to a room that no other piece of furniture does. Nature abhors a vacuum, and it is just that ugly comer vacuum which the cupboard fills. I confess to being fond of furniture that has legs — other- wise, stands clear of the floor, and does not harbour dust. It is also more elegant, and this fact is now so well understood that old Sheraton and Chippendale cabinets, available for either books or china, are now frequently mounted in that way, usually on the lower part of some old piece of furniture, so that it really is all old together, if not of one piece. Some of the modern bookcases with glass doors, imi- tated from old models, with arch _,,. . . J • j^i Sheraton cabinet mounted in centre and with legs, are a delight to the eye. Indeed, there is hardly any model of old furniture that is not closely copied and in the market to-day. If it is not exactly cheap, it is moderate in comparison to the work of those great designers, Chippendale, Sheraton, and Hepplewhite, who, if they had glorious names — ^where are such names now ? — thoroughly' lived up to them. One knows their work at a glance, first by its beauty of line, then by the workmanship that makes its use the very perfection of comfort. It is said that Chippendale produced his results by using nothing but seasoned wood. Then in those leisured days workmen took time. It is because work is done with such haste nowadays that drawers will not open or shut properly, locks will not work, and when our temper gives way, it is the modern craftsman, not we, who are to blame. The lighting of a library or study is simple — the less light there is on the walls, the more on the writing and other tables, and by the fireplace, the better. The lattei lights should be placed low, so that, sitting in an easy-chair by the fire, one is able to read comfortably f and lamps, electric or otherwise, should be arranged according to the number of people making use of them, and the size of the room. I do not believe in a central light for a library, or, indeed, any room, if it can be avoided. To select the middle of a room in which to read is ridiculous. A library that has irregular walls and corners is twice as nice as a square room, and now that, with modern building, the alcove is coming more and moro into use, the sinful parsimony in taste and material that made windows straight in- stead of rounding and projecting them, so that they made practically another room, is a thing of the past. Some of the most charming rooms owe their beauty, not to furnishing, but to breaking up into all sorts of unexpected nooks and corners. No inspiration is wanted in arrang- ing these — merely to look after your carpet and cur- tains ; and a library of this kind, where. an easy-chair, a book- shelf, or even a revolving book- case, invite several persons at once to surrender them- selves to recrea- tion, is something to be thankful for in these restless da^'s. The first illustra- tion, showing a on legs for books or china library in an ancient Cornish house, repre- sents something very different from the informal one just described. Here is the indescribable atmosphere that the great scholar, the bibliophilist, alone can create, here are costly first editions by the score, writings on parchment, everywhere the rare, intangible fragrance of old, old leather bind- ings, breathing strange secrets, and you under- stand why the savant values his books before all else, understand also that books furnish more richly even than pictures ever can a room. Yet this one is homely, too, with its couches, easy-chairs, and flowers and birds, and the spirit of kindness that is so frequently found with true enlightenment. I think the same rule applies to magnifi- cent libraries as to humble sanctums which hold only a bookshelf or two. Yon were meant to be happy in them, and certain it is that books refuse to lend