o thousands of homes, whether beautiful or
humble; for the library is properly regarded as one of the most
important features of home as well as mental equipment.

In _The House Beautiful_ William C. Gannett emphasizes the importance
of considering the library as foremost in furnishing a home. He says:
"It means admission to the new marvels of science, if one chooses
admission. It means an introduction to the noblest company that all
the generations have produced, if we claim the introduction.
Remembering this, how can one help wishing to furnish his house with
some such furniture? A poet for a table piece! A philosopher upon the
shelf! Browning or Emerson for a fireside friend!

"A family's rank in thought and taste can well be gauged by the books
and papers that lie upon the shelf or table of the library."

Not many years ago, Mr. Howard Pyle said: "I sometimes think that we
are upon the edge of some new era in which the art of beautifying
books with pictures shall suddenly be uplifted into a higher and a
different plane of excellence; when ornate printed colour and perfect
reproduction shall truly depict the labour of the patient draughtsman
who strives so earnestly to beautify the world in which he lives, and
to lend a grace to the living therein." The prophecy is already
fulfilled, and a modern book, in order to win favor among present-day
bibliophiles, must embody an harmonious assimilation of many arts.

The ardor of possessing books, commonly called bibliomania, also
styled bibliophilism and "biblio"--whatever else that has suggested
itself to the fruitful imaginations of dozens of felicitous writers
upon the subject,--is described by Dibdin as a "disease which grows
with our growth, and strengthens with our strength." Kings and queens
have not been immune from this prevalent though harmless malady. The
vast resources of Henry VII were employed in collecting a library of
which a modern millionaire collector might be justly proud. Many
specimens of his magnificent collection, bearing the royal stamp, are
now to be found in the British Museum. Queen Elizabeth and Lady Jane
Grey were submissive victims of the bibliomania. It is worthy of note
that while there were but few women book-collectors in the Elizabethan
period, there are at the present time in our own country almost as
many women as there are men engaged in this fascinating pursuit. As
late as 1843, Dibdin remarks that "it is a remarkable circumstance,