and he had this in view when he wrote the opening
line of _Endymion_. (Is n't "A thing of beauty," &c., the
opening line?) Such books as the Council has planned are an
education to bibliophiles; the work is progressive, for each
issue is finer than the one which preceded it. Can any book be
finer than "Andre's Journal"? If so, I can't conceive it. Such
noble types, the pages so perfectly balanced; the margins so
broad; the paper of such beautiful texture; the ink so
brilliantly black; the maps so marvelously reproduced; the
etchings so artistically conceived and executed and the title
page so beautifully engraved; then the binding--real
vellum--so rich, simple, and in such perfect taste; even the
box-cover is fitting in every sense. A perfect book, it seems
to me. If there are any shortcomings, and you know them, don't
tell me of them, that in my ignorance I may be content.

Please thank all the members of the Council for me. Somebody
must have spent many, many hours in arriving at a final
judgment upon all the parts which make up such a beautiful
whole.

I have yet to enjoy the pleasure of _reading_ the "Journal,"
then I will be thankful to Mr. Bixby and to Senator Lodge.

Yours sincerely,
(Signed) CHARLES A. DECKER.

Mr. Decker is one of the many pleasant and appreciative members of
The Bibliophile Society whose personal acquaintance it has not been my
good fortune to make, but from whom the Society has received many
delightful and inspiring letters. The numerous communications thus
received from all quarters have been placed before the Council, with
the result that the individual interest of every worker has been
greatly augmented in the Society's welfare. Indeed, I attribute no
small measure of the success and the good name of the Society to the
indirect influence of such words of encouragement and expressions of
appreciation as have come from the members.

I sincerely wish for health and continued success to our worthy Book
Clubs, and regret that there are not more of them.

Sit bona librorum . . . copia.

HENRY H. HARPER.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book
Clubs, by Henry H. Harper

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOOK-LOVERS, BIBLIOMANIACS... ***

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