possessor reading the precious volumes as much as the last one,
which is not at all. Indeed, the books might as well be dummies,
'for the backs of the bindings and the titles are all that are looked at.
It is better to begin with a small selection of books, and add to them
as we need more. As Milton said that, " Words are the fool's
counters but the wise man's money," so books should be used for
their real value to the mind. For the Home Library I do not think
that sufficient value is set upon works of imagination. Family read-
ing ought not to be too dry and serious, or made too much like the
severe training of professional and academical study. The vast
majority of readers have to work for their daily bread, and need
relaxation and amusement in their leisure hours. A game of chess
is a better mathematical exercise for them than the propositions of
Euclid. Popularized science, however, where the text-books are
written by the best masters, may be quite as interesting, and more
instructive than most works of imagination. Theology and moral
philosophy, not less than social science, may be made delightful.
But as general culture should precede special knowledge, it is best
to humanize the family circle before making it scientific. And this
humane culture comes from the good story and the beautiful poem
more than from the learned treatise or the didactic discourse. The
works of Charles Dickens have had an immense influence upon
English-speaking humanity, but they have helped to change the
very conditions of life they described, and for that reason are no
longer as much read by the young as formerly. The same may be
said of the more exclusive and select circles that Thackeray satirized.
The " Vanity Fair " we mix in nowadays is not one of rakes and
marquises, of fashionable clubs and classical old schoolfellows. The
virtues and vices of humanity are the same always and everywhere,
but we have to take them out of one frame and put them into an-
other to suit the times. Major Pendennis and Colonel Newcome are
passed away, and their qualities are dressed in other uniforms.
Hence, the story-writers who take life on a large scale, and make
their stories less dependent upon the accidents of birth and place,
THE LIBRARY IN THE HOME. 125
last longer and are less ephemeral. Such are George MacDonald,
Charlotte Bronte, and the supreme George Eliot. The last-named,
especially, merely used the novel as a setting or frame for her pic-
tures of the truth.
It would be very difficult and of little use to suggest a list of books
for the library at home. Not only would the size of the library have
to be considered in relation to the means and social condition of
the particular family, but the previous education, tastes, capacities,
and idiosyncrasies of every member of the family, would have to be
taken into account. I have met persons of good intelligence who
worshipped Carlyle, and others who could not endure him. All
authors who write in a singular or affected style create repugnance
in some, to whom their ideas would be acceptable in another dress.
This is why Washington Irving and Hawthorne are so universally
beloved in every household. Their style has no affectations ; it is
as natural as their stories.
Page 75
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
possessor reading the precious volumes as much as the last one, which is not at all. Indeed, the books might as well be dummies, 'for the backs of the bindings and the titles are all that are looked at. It is better to begin with a small selection of books, and add to them as we need more. As Milton said that, " Words are the fool's counters but the wise man's money," so books should be used for their real value to the mind. For the Home Library I do not think that sufficient value is set upon works of imagination. Family reading ought not to be too dry and serious, or made too much like the severe training of professional and academical study. The vast majority of readers have to work for their daily bread, and need relaxation and amusement in their leisure hours. A game of chess is a better mathematical exercise for them than the propositions of Euclid. Popularized science, however, where the text-books are written by the best masters, may be quite as interesting, and more instructive than most works of imagination. Theology and moral philosophy, not less than social science, may be made delightful.
But as general culture should precede special knowledge, it is best to humanize the family circle before making it scientific. And this humane culture comes from the good story and the beautiful poem more than from the learned treatise or the didactic discourse. The works of Charles Dickens have had an immense influence upon English-speaking humanity, but they have helped to change the very conditions of life they described, and for that reason are no longer as much read by the young as formerly. The same may be said of the more exclusive and select circles that Thackeray satirized. The " Vanity Fair " we mix in nowadays is not one of rakes and marquises, of fashionable clubs and classical old schoolfellows. The virtues and vices of humanity are the same always and everywhere, but we have to take them out of one frame and put them into another to suit the times. Major Pendennis and Colonel Newcome are passed away, and their qualities are dressed in other uniforms. Hence, the story-writers who take life on a large scale, and make their stories less dependent upon the accidents of birth and place,
last longer and are less ephemeral. Such are George MacDonald, Charlotte Bronte, and the supreme George Eliot. The last-named, especially, merely used the novel as a setting or frame for her pictures of the truth.
It would be very difficult and of little use to suggest a list of books for the library at home. Not only would the size of the library have to be considered in relation to the means and social condition of the particular family, but the previous education, tastes, capacities, and idiosyncrasies of every member of the family, would have to be taken into account. I have met persons of good intelligence who worshipped Carlyle, and others who could not endure him. All authors who write in a singular or affected style create repugnance in some, to whom their ideas would be acceptable in another dress. This is why Washington Irving and Hawthorne are so universally beloved in every household. Their style has no affectations ; it is as natural as their stories.