BOOKS A. AND M.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 225, 23 September 1929, Page 6

BOOKS A. AND M.

Curiously enough, books in ancient Rome seem to have been less valuable than in the Middle Ages. Publishers in Rome employed hundreds of nlaves to take down books from dictation, and they were sold sometimes on the bookstalls for a few pence. But when books were copied by voluntary workers their value enormously increased. St. Columba was once lent a copy of the Psalms and he wrote out many of them in a book of his own. The original owner of the Psalter was very indignant, claiming that no one had the right to copy from a book lent to him. The matter was referred, to the king, who gave judgment against St. Columba in the words: "To every cow its calf, and to every book its copy." Most of the inscriptions in books of the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries are of the nature of maledictions on any who steal the book, so one reads in Dr. Coulton's newly-republished work "Life in the Middle Ages" (Cambridge University Press). Thus a book belonging to one of the religious houses expresses the hope that anyone alienating tho book may be anathema-niaranatha. But the book seems to have come into the possession of Bishop Grandisson, of Exeter, who wrote underneath: "I, John, Bishop of Exeter, know not where the aforesaid House is, nor did I steal this book, but acquired it in a lawful way." Another inscription is still more emphatic, and the writer expresses his pious wish in verse:

This book is one, * And God's curse is another; They that take the oae God give them the other. The labour of writing a book is thus quaintly expressed in a manuscript of the time of Henry VII.: "Three fingers write, and the whole body is in travail; yet they who know not to write deem it no labour!" Victorian scholars loved to write long Latin inscriptions in books they presented to their friends. Many of these, like some epitaphs of the same period, dwelt on the virtues, learning and high position of the recipient of the book. Considerable ingenuity was often displayed in finding a classical equivalent for such titles as K.C.B. and K.T. Bookplates, often of very elaborate design, were also popular at this time, and many lovers of books spent much time, care and money on having suitable bindings for the volumes they most prized. With the growing popularity of the lending library private libraries have fallen into the background, and most people are content if they can possess a few odd volumes in dieap cloth bindings. Yet there was a real delight to be found in the leather-covered book, lovingly treasured by its possessor, and regarded as enshrining noble thoughts in type and binding worthy of them. Nothing can really take the place of an individual library. —W.M.