The Booklover and His Books

Booklover and His Books, by
Harry Lyman Koopman

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Title: The Booklover and His Books
Author: Harry Lyman Koopman
Release Date: September 15, 2007 [EBook #22606]
Language: English
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THE BOOKLOVER AND HIS BOOKS
[Illustration: From the Digestum Novum of Justinian, printed at Venice
by Jenson in 1477. The type page of which this is a reduction measures
12-1/2 by 8-1/2 inches. The initials in the original have been filled in
by hand in red and blue.
From the copy in the Library of Brown University]

THE BOOKLOVER AND HIS BOOKS
BY
HARRY LYMAN KOOPMAN, LITT.D.
LIBRARIAN OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
BOSTON THE BOSTON BOOK COMPANY 1917
Copyright, 1916, BY THE BOSTON BOOK COMPANY
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
TO THE AUTHORS AND THEIR PRINTERS WHO HAVE GIVEN
US THE BOOKS THAT WE LOVE

PREFATORY NOTE
The following chapters were written during a series of years as one
aspect after another of the Book engaged the writer's attention. As they
are now brought together, the result is not a systematic treatise, but
rather a succession of views of one many-sided subject. In consequence
there is considerable overlapping. The writer hopes, however, that this
will be looked upon not as vain repetition but as a legitimate

reinforcement of his underlying theme, the unity in diversity of the
Book and the federation of all who have to do with it. He therefore
offers the present volume not so much for continuous reading as for
reading by chapters. He trusts that for those who may consult it in
connection with systematic study a sufficient clue to whatever it may
contain on any given topic will be found in the index.
Most of these chapters appeared as papers in "The Printing Art"; two
were published in "The Graphic Arts," and some in other magazines.
The writer expresses his thanks to the proprietors of these periodicals
for the permission to republish the articles in their present collective
form. All the papers have been revised to some extent. They were
originally written in rare moments of leisure scattered through the busy
hours of a librarian. Their writing was a source of pleasure, and their
first publication brought him many delightful associations. As they are
presented in their new attire to another group of readers, their author
can wish for them no better fortune than to meet--possibly to
make--booklovers.
BROWN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, Commencement Day, 1916

TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOOKS AND BOOKLOVERS 3 FITNESS IN BOOK DESIGN 9
PRINT AS AN INTERPRETER OF MEANING 14 FAVORITE
BOOK SIZES 19 THE VALUE OF READING 28 THE BOOK OF
TO-DAY AND THE BOOK OF TO-MORROW 33 A
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIC OF THE BOOK 38 BOOKS AS A
LIBRARIAN WOULD LIKE THEM 44 THE BOOK BEAUTIFUL 49
THE READER'S HIGH PRIVILEGE 63 THE BACKGROUND OF
THE BOOK 79 THE CHINESE BOOK 87 THICK PAPER AND
THIN 92 THE CLOTHING OF A BOOK 97 PARCHMENT
BINDINGS 102 LEST WE FORGET THE FEW GREAT BOOKS 104
PRINTING PROBLEMS FOR SCIENCE TO SOLVE 115 TYPES
AND EYES: THE PROBLEM 120 TYPES AND EYES: PROGRESS
128 EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE OF LEGIBILITY 134 THE

STUDENT AND THE LIBRARY 139 ORTHOGRAPHIC REFORM
145 THE PERVERSITIES OF TYPE 152 A SECRET OF PERSONAL
POWER 162 INDEX 171

THE BOOKLOVER AND HIS BOOKS

THE BOOKLOVER AND HIS BOOKS

BOOKS AND BOOKLOVERS[1]
The booklover is distinguished from the reader as such by loving his
books, and from the collector as such by reading them. He prizes not
only the soul of the book, but also its body, which he would make a
house beautiful, meet for the indwelling of the spirit given by its author.
Love is not too strong a word to apply to his regard, which demands, in
the language of Dorothy Wordsworth, "a beautiful book, a book to
caress--peculiar, distinctive, individual: a book that hath first caught
your eye and then pleased your fancy." The truth is that the book on its
physical side is a highly organized art object. Not in vain has it
transmitted the thought and passion of the ages; it