y to books.
We have a very handsome clubhouse, and much taste and discrimination
have been exercised in its adornment. There are many good paintings,
including portraits of the various presidents of the club, which adorn
the entrance hall. After books, perhaps the most distinctive feature
of the club is our collection of pipes. In a large rack in the
smoking-room--really a superfluity, since smoking is permitted all over
the house--is as complete an assortment of pipes as perhaps exists in
the civilized world. Indeed, it is an unwritten rule of the club that no
one is eligible for membership who cannot produce a new variety of pipe,
which is filed with his application for membership, and, if he passes,
deposited with the club collection, he, however, retaining the title in
himself. Once a year, upon the anniversary of the death of Sir Walter
Raleigh, who it will be remembered, first introduced tobacco into
England, the full membership of the club, as a rule, turns out. A large
supply of the very best smoking mixture is laid in. At nine o'clock
sharp each member takes his pipe from the rack, fills it with tobacco,
and then the whole club, with the president at the head, all smoking
furiously, march in solemn procession from room to room, upstairs
and downstairs, making the tour of the clubhouse and returning to the
smoking-room. The president then delivers an address, and each member
is called upon to say something, either by way of a quotation or
an original sentiment, in praise of the virtues of nicotine. This
ceremony--facetiously known as "hitting the pipe"--being thus concluded,
the membership pipes are carefully cleaned out and replaced in the club
rack.

As I have said, however, the raison d'etre of the club, and the feature
upon which its fame chiefly rests, is its collection of rare books, and
of these by far the most interesting are its own publications. Even its
catalogues are works of art, published in numbered editions, and sought
by libraries and book-collectors. Early in its history it began
the occasional publication of books which should meet the club
standard,--books in which emphasis should be laid upon the qualities
that make a book valuable in the eyes of collectors. Of these, age
could not, of course, be imparted, but in the matter of fine and curious
bindings, of hand-made linen papers, of uncut or deckle edges, of
wide margins and limited editions, the club could control its own
publications. The