acter." The shop seems to have
been a charming place: one went there not merely to buy books, but also
to have a cup of tea in the back parlor. It is sad to think that though
we have been hanging round bookshops for a number of years, we have
never yet met a bookseller who invited us into the private office for a
quiet cup. Wait a moment, though, we are forgetting Dr. Rosenbach, the
famous bookseller of Philadelphia. But his collations, held in amazed
memory by many editioneers, rarely descend to anything so humble as tea.
One recalls a confused glamor of ortolans, trussed guinea-hens,
strawberries reclining in a bowl carved out of solid ice, and what used
to be known as vintages. It is a pity that Dr. Johnson died too soon to
take lunch with Dr. Rosenbach.

"At last, on Monday, the 16th of May," says Boswell, "when I was sitting
in Mr. Davies's back parlor, after having drunk tea with him and Mrs.
Davies, Johnson unexpectedly came into the shop; and Mr. Davies, having
perceived him through the glass door, announced his awful approach to
me. Mr. Davies mentioned my name, and respectfully introduced me to him.
I was much agitated." The volatile Boswell may be forgiven his
agitation. We also would have trembled not a little. Boswell was only
twenty-two, and probably felt that his whole life and career hung upon
the great man's mood. But embarrassment is a comely emotion for a young
man in the face of greatness; and the Doctor was speedily put in a good
humor by an opportunity to utter his favorite pleasantry at the expense
of the Scotch. "I do, indeed, come from Scotland," cried Boswell, after
Davies had let the cat out of the bag; "but I cannot help it." "That,
sir," said Doctor Johnson, "is what a great many of your countrymen
cannot help."

The great book that dated from that meeting in Davies's back parlor has
become one of the most intimately cherished possessions of the race. One
finds its admirers and students scattered over the globe. No man who
loves human nature in all its quirks and pangs, seasoned with bluff
honesty and the genuineness of a cliff or a tree, can afford to step
into a hearse until he has made it his own. And it is a noteworthy
illustration of the biblical saying that whosoever will rule, let him be
a servant. Boswell made himself the servant of Johnson, and became one
of the masters of English literature.

It used to annoy us to hear Karl Rosner referred to as "the Kaiser's
Boswell." For to _