The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, November 25, 1905, Page 6, Image 6
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| Make you
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^ your selecti
p Furni
Come in a
p fact, we ha^
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& nicke sectio:
P on this spac
i ?53
| WANC
In our lin<
J have it mad
What is a Book
Address by Dr. J. H. Boldridge
at a Meeting of the
Lancaster Public Library
Association.
Itejiorfcil for The News by Mh<
bene Swarinuen.
I think \* e have h.nl k ? roan..
goi i thing* from our excellent
v \ M?.yor l!i . t ir if flnperilnous lot
me to u mTrta ice to rohl inythin.
more.
1 r- ::iv v< v\ i m<- that I h>vr
b( : r. : ? iv-> t bo Ij! r
moi 1. t i; ;io tIns year. I h: v
been n charge r? . some extra
WO. i. <1 r:. i i his vt r h t !;.?
kept in . el . right I u y :
and fheu, in addition io that. I
hav - irnl a lino of reading of m\
own that I have trier! t<> keej
tip; hut I am interested in thr
work, and hope to ee this material
ellieien'ly and gradually multiplied
in tnis work. iSo I thought
1 YSoUill i (l 1 k J U.S I a leW UliliUt<
on Lijih theme: What is a book
i, withou undertaking to criti.
A ? . 4 I . I I.. I A II I II
uih ui oooh;- nere at an, snouid
Uul [j(5 rliJ'prif>C ll then a ft) liwi
some books m this Library thai
are not books. In every library
there are books that are nol
bo .vn ; h b; ,fIi11and the paper
ami the pi.i, itu ii constitute a
book. iNow, if wc can net. ihe
correct colic ptionot what a book
ifl, and if we can popularize thai
conception by talking about it
and by speaking about it and by
writing about it so as to get the
proper idea of a book into the
heads of our people in the com
muuity, I think we shall not
^fe? HI
JO H|
? j ^ i
r sitting ana living
r new Rugs just re
on before they are
ture! WM
nd see the handsoi
e any and all kind
ise any kind of po<
nal Book Cases ?
e, for it will pay y
3 of Carpeting you
e all ready to put
lack either for financial or other
support ho far as reading is concerned.
Now Home people have
an exaggerated idea of what
books are; then some people pit)
' too Utile stress on books. A
r gentleman out hero in the coun
try told nio some time ago that
| h.e told his lamily it a book a_ 1.
1 came there to net the dogs on
. I him; ho tint not v an! anything
! to no with a man who sold boohs
| at ad. Now a good many people
[have Unit same idea, and tiny
came by it honestly. It grows
out tit h v' >ncept on ot what ?
j b'?: lv IS.
i here are many books on thei
mar! et ?so cal.od books?wh'.ca
ait nor worth toe paper ihey << >
printed up n, and <i v?e are to
i im in ou x?? 11 iija m 01 ;i ??uuk uwui
, iflii'i sort oi a specimen, wo shall
I not have much faith 1:1 libraries.;
Now there are Rome nooks that 1
( have read that I wouid not read
, again; 1 would not. like for any
body in connection with me to
reau them at all. 1 remember a
lew years ago when I was on a
visit to Virginia, all the ladies
were raving over a book called
The Four Feathers. I do not
I know whether it has reached the
reading circles here.
By one of the audience: ''We
r spoke of getting it."
Speaker: "Well, its a good
tliii'K that yon didn't. The book
i is oor harmful at ail, but utterly
! worthless."
liy Mr. Wylie: "lYrhaps the
the ladies found out wliat kin 1 of
feathers to use in their hats."
Speaker: "That was not the
j idea. The hook is utterly worth
i less." i
Then, we have hooks that we
. value in some respects. They j
I
?? . . , ? ,
I room look fresh i
ceived They are
all gone.
mniTMi
me new Chairs, Be
Ls of Furniture, fr
jketbook. Do you
Come in and ask t
ou to keep up wit!
Yours foi
MERC.
can select any pa
down for you.
have a temporary value; they
are worth something for the lime
being ami their worth rapidly
passes away ; and there are some
hooks which are standard for all
I t i niPR nt n in u /i 11 ir cnlna I'rum 1 ti u
fii.t conception up to the present
time aim will r?*neh out as 1oiih
as man lives. And books are so
! numerous and multiplying at
such a rapid rate if we are to an
eornpii !i anv tinn_ at ail, \v<> inn -t
have i h proper conception of
what a book is.
I lit n l>;\. k to the th n. gain :
|
j What is a book. 1 would like to
\ ui> t-oncen ion 01 11 itn>I Ji
I i
t .ere is anything in 11, let uwork
along that line.
Drop the th me lor a mom nt, J
then conio back to u again. All
of us are obtaining knowledge
from our contact with men and
1 tilings and wit.ii the relations
that subsist between men and
tin11^s and men and men and
things and men. Now if a man
obtains by observation some new
fact and sits down by the lire
side and tells us of it, we are
very much interested in.it be
cause it is a new tact and because
it has a direct relation to life,
l'hey may be facts with regard to
the heavens or earth or animals |
or crops or trees or birds and |
when a man accumulates quite a
hody of facts, which is natural by
means of his observation, why we
want him to impart to us those
facts. We like to hear* him tell
these things.
A true book is simply a record
of the experience which a man
Ion had in the accumulation of
knowledge, and a book then is a
record of experience, and the
more of life or life experience in
it the better ; I mean real, true,
genuine experience. A book that
_r?
JGS I.
K Rt
KF
I
md inviting by b
i beauties, so con
\
Furr
id Room Suits, Ch
om the cheapest
i know we sell the
;o see them. Kee
1 our offerings.
* business,
S.NTIWE
ttern you want i
has no experience in it?has not
the imparting of any valuable
knowledge?is really no book. A
book which has any heart exper
ience of a man in it has experience
in it. You will allow me
o draw illustrations from law.
ab< ur which I do not profess to
know anything at all,but our dis
tingui t ( President will bear me
out in ir, but tie eommon law is
ba .don ih1 experience of the
K . inn ppt ..;mir peop e for more
than a thou.'tad years. A distiiig;i.htn!
member of the Supreme
tf >urt Ol" lie Unit' d States
iiio written it, and a number of
others have written on it, and the
Hiimo point is made?tneaccumu
lation of the expi rienre of ages.
A distinguished lawyer told nie
a few year.? ago that when a
point of law was looked up,if the
mind could see the reason ol the
law, it was founded on common
law; and it no reason could be
found, you could make sure it
had its origin 111 some statute.
I he English law is the common
law. It is the condensed criticism
and experience of the
J uil^es and Magistrates for a
thousand years or more. When
yon read a book like Blaekstone
or Kent, you have got something.
Now take another illustration
?take arithmetic. The knowledge
which is contained iu one
of our high school arithmetics
is knowledge which has been
in proofs of accumulation for
thousands of years in different
countries, and professors and
teachers use it because it contains
thn BcciimnlaU^ ?
V.. v MvvM?iutiit?ir\| TAJin IDIlUr
of the wiaewt of men for many
yearR.
Take hiatory?the name thing.
HiRtory i? a record of the exper
ience of different men of differ
I
uying one of e
le and make ^
?
liture I >)
lifFoniers?in ?
to the best, y
i Globe-Wer- X
p your eyes ?
? CO? |
TIZX
V
,*
ent ages in different conditions.
It applies to fiction as well as
anything else. I suppose the
greatest historic novel is Scott's
Ivanhoe, every part of which
comes within the range of actual
experience of some one or wore
individuals in different places in
the middle ages. Charles Kingslev's
' Hypatia" takes you b ick in
the time of the over turning of
inc Human Empire by the f ir- "
onri . iih. livery pari of that in >k
has the accumulated experience
of different people during that
age. Kingsley had read widely
of the authors during that period.
That ifl mv conception of a
b <ok. So tiiat my conception of
a book will rule out a great deal
at one sweep. And so if you can
get a man to see that if he reads
the right kind of a book, he haft
something in his heart and in hie
mind w 1 < i c h no one can take away
from turn. I tell you what my
mother used to say : "If I give
you money, Homebody might
take it away from you; if you
have knowledge, no one can take
it away from you." And I have
always ruled my life on that idea.
I spoke a few minutes ago of a
gentleman Who does not like
book?, i I thick he is one of #
the heft farmers in the County. I
suspect for the size of his farm,
and for the force of Ins work, ho i
e t ho Koot f'\? ?v? * 1
,..v ?cot miuitu iii me uounr.y.
Why ? II e ?s not a reading mail, A
but he basin hi? house a book on
agriculture and it is one of the
most scientific books that baa
ever been written in this country,
lie gets valuable knowledge out
of that book on how to prepare
and cultivate the soil. It is the
accumulated experience of scientific
farmers not only in thia
country but in every country of ^