In torrid heats of late July,
In March, beneath the bitter bise,
He book-hunts while the loungers fly–
He book-hunts, though December freeze;
In breeches baggy at the knees,
And heedless of the public jeers,
For these, for these, he hoards his fees–
Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs!

No dismal stall escapes his eye,
He turns o’er tomes of low degrees,
There soiled romanticists may lie,
Or Restoration comedies;
Each tract that flutters in the breeze
For him is charged with hopes and fears,
In mouldy novels fancy sees
Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs.

With restless eyes that peer and spy,
Sad eyes that heed not skies nor trees,
In dismal nooks he loves to pry,
Whose motto ever more is Spes!
But ah! the fabled treaure flees;
Grown rarer with the fleeting years,
In rich men’s shelves they take their ease,–
Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs!

ENVOY

Prince, all the things that tease and please,–
Fame, hope, wealth, kisses, cheers, and tears,
What are they but such toys as these–
Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs?

Andrew Lang, in “Ballades and Verses Vain.”

The Destiny of Man, Viewed in the Light of his Origin. By John Fiske. Copyright 1884. Published 1893 (20th edition). A book-length essay discussing human evolution and the role of infancy in the development of mankind.

John Fiske was a librarian at Harvard, later a lecturer at Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri). He lectured and published on American History and on evolution, and was a frequent contributor to the Atlantic Monthly.

As this is the season to make up our list of papers and magazines for the ensuing year, I will take a glance around my own cosy room set apart for a library.

It is here that I do the most of my reading, writing, and planning; and although I pretend to be deeply engaged while ensconced in the large willow rocker, strictly forbidding entrance to my farmer office, yet the children and “Spot,” my Gordon setter, will intrude, making things lively for awhile, driving my thoughts wool-gathering and breaking many a thread of thought that I had fondly hoped would place my name high on the roll of scribblers. It is a good thing to have the little innocent children and the dog to blame for these shortcomings, as they can not take issue with us on the question.

But I started to talk about a farmer’s library; and taking my own for a small sample, let us see how it looks….

On glancing up from the stand on which I am writing, the first objects that attract my notice are my breach loader, cartridge belt, and game-bag hanging on the wall; then by the side of the stove hangs the file of The Prairie Farmer, within easy reach of my left hand; next it swings the Country Gentleman, then comes the Forest and Stream, then Colman’s Rural World, then the Drainage Journal; next Harper’s Weekly, then Harper’s Bazar. This is my wife’s paper and she persists in hanging it among mine. Then comes Harper’s Monthly and the Century, not forgetting the Sanitary Journal. On the other side of the room we find the Inter Ocean, Democrat, and several other political papers fairly representing both sides, also some standard books of valuable information; and last but not least, the Prairie Farmer Map which you sent for my club.

Now, this may be considered a pretty large outlay for a common farmer to make, but outside of life insurance, I consider it my best investment.

In this selection I get the cream of all matters of practical importance to the farmer….

Alex Ross.
Cape Girardeau, Mo.