Book-Collectors as Benefactors of Public Libraries (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 edition. Excerpt: ... BOOK-COLLECTORS AS BENEFACTORS OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES BY GEORGE WATSON COLE title of this paper is to be taken in its broadest sense. By the term "book-collectors" is meant not only those who are widely known because of their collections of books; but bibliophiles, lovers of books as beautiful specimens of the art preservative of arts; dilettanti, followers of a single branch of knowledge as a matter of pleasure or amusement; scholars, versed in learning; and, in fact, all for whom books are necessities, as much so as air, sunlight, and fire, or as their food, shelter, and clothing. Nor is the title to be limited in its application to those who have by their beneficence donated their collections to libraries, for it is our intention to include all who have been conservators of literature and learning. And finally, the term "public libraries" is not to be restricted to the meaning usually attached to those words, but is to be extended so as to include all libraries, whether public or private, that are so liberally administered that any well-accredited scholar may gain access to their treasures for the purpose of pursuing his investigations. It might appear from what has been already said that the subject has been so enlarged as to include anything relating to book-lovers or books. A moment's consideration, however, will convince anyone that the subject is of too great an extent to permit of its being 3 treated except in a restricted way; for neither time nor space permits the inclusion of more than a few notable or typical examples. Until about the middle of the fifteenth century the production of books was both costly and laborious, and was chiefly confined to the monasteries of Europe and Asia, where alone learning was cultivated. Such being the...