The library in a house is a haven to which the unlucky wight, kept indoors by a steady rain overhead and a slushy mire underfoot, may, or ought to be able to, seek retreat and pass many hours of quiet and thorough enjoyment, instead of wandering aimlessly about the house, and looking out of the windows with an idiotic expression on his face at the dim and misty landscape. But how can it be a peaceful, restful refuge, when the would-be reader finds a vast number of volumes, treating of all manner of subjects, intermixed in a most marvellous fashion; flighty romantists, witty memoir writers, heavy theologians, enigmatic scientists, and deep-thinking philosophers elbowing each other and almost crushing the unlucky poets out of sight? Dismay seizes the daring explorer of the wonders of a country-house library; the book he wants is not to be found, and what is more he does not know where to look for it, great names stare at him from all sides, and seem to sneer at him for being so foolish as not to read them; but then he wants a particular book, and in despair, rather than face the long row of books which seem to jeer at his unsuccessful attempt to get what he is in search of, he composes himself down to read Punch, or stare out at the drip, drip, dripping rain.

Let us see if this can be avoided. Of course it can; the way to change the whole aspect of affairs is so to arrange the books on their shelves that the veriest stranger, after he has been in the library a couple of minutes, should know where to look for what he wants, and put his hand on the book if it be in the collection.

The twelve essential rules for the management of the library are:

1. Arrange your books on their shelves into classes, according to the subjects they treat of.

2. Put everything in its proper place.

3. Always keep directories, peerages, gazetteers, atlases, county maps, and lexicons in convenient and easily got at places. It will often save much time and trouble to keep them in book slides on the table, or in a separate bookcase.

4. Write your name and address in a large bold handwriting on the fly-leaf of every volume.

5. If you have your books specially bound, let the same style and colour of binding be used for one class of books.

6. Never allow animals in a library. They are apt to do serious mischief to MSS. and books, while chasing some imaginary rat. Newton had the results of many years of hard brain work completely destroyed through the pranks of his favourite little dog.

7. Keep servants out of the library, except at stated intervals, and, when admitted, let them be under your personal supervision. Everybody will remember that the first part of Carlyle’s ‘History of the French Revolution,’ while yet in MS., was used by a servant to light a fire.

8. Avoid dampness or excessive heat; books require warm dry air, in order to preserve their bindings. Thus it will be seen that the more the books are read the better it will be for the books.

9. On no account let the library be turned into a refreshment room for a juvenile party.

10. Never allow MS. notes, letters, &c., to litter the tables and the room. MS. notes should be kept in folding pads, or in drawers, and letters carefully filed and put away.

11. No book should be left open and placed face downwards, in order to mark the place where the reader has left off; no other practice so speedily spoils books as this.

12. Always have a good index or catalogue of the contents of your library.

The last is as important a rule as any. A library without a catalogue is, as Thomas Carlyle expresses it, “A Polyphemus without an eye in his head.” Isaac D’Israeli, who has left us such a vast treasure-house of book lore, says that the man who possesses a fine library cannot be “more animated than a leaden Mercury who does not aspire to make some small addition to his library, were it only by a critical catalogue. He must be as indolent as that animal called the sloth, who perishes on the tree he climbs, after he has eaten all its leaves.”

The task of cataloguing must not dismay the amateur; the task is a most useful one, and can easily be managed. The best catalogue would be this:

Let it be divided into three primary divisions: The body, containing the titles, authors’ names, date, and place of publication, and the size and description may be added if considered necessary; index of authors’ names, with the number of the pages of the catalogue on which their works will be found, and an index of subjects.

The body should be divided into thirteen divisions, which are: 1, Theology; 2, history and biography; 3, science and philosophy; 4, art; 5, bibliography; 6, antiquities; 7, political and commercial; 8, poetry; 9, travels; 10, MSS.; 11, novels; 12, miscellaneous; 13, periodical literature. These may be subdivided, if necessary. The subdivisions are: History into (1) national, (2) local, (3) biography, and (4) genealogy; science into (1) medicine, surgery, and chemistry, (2) natural history, (3) geology, and (4) mechanics; art into (1) painting, sculpture, &c., (2) music; antiquities into (1) chronicles, ballads, and other ancient literature, (2) history of antiquities; political into (1) standard works, (2) pamphlets, &c.; travels into (1) ancient, (2) modern; miscellaneous into (1) law, (2) drama, (3) educational, (4) miscellaneous.

The books in the body should be entered under the authors’ names, alphabetically arranged, under each division, the full titles, description, &c., following. A very good plan is to tack to each entry in the catalogue finding symbols, as “Bookcase A, shelf 3,” which denotes where the book is to be found.

Now as to the actual mode of taking the census of the books to be catalogued. A large number of sheets of paper, about the size of ordinary writing paper, must be procured, each sheet being divided into three columns. The centre column (the largest of the three) is reserved for the full description of the book as it is to stand in the body of the catalogue; the column on the left is reserved for the exact account of the subject treated of by the book; that on the right for the author’s name, as in the following example:

* Of course, the number of the page which should follow these entries cannot be filled in until the body of the catalogue is properly written out, when, as each entry is made in the catalogue, the number of the page in which the entry is made is placed both in the left and right columns.

The slips, when duly filled up, should be set aside in packets under their respective divisions. As soon as every book has been noted down, there remains nothing more to be done but to transcribe alphabetically the various slips on sheets of foolscap, and the task is completed.

Any works which are published anonymously should be entered in the third primary division under the heading “Anonymous,” and have the abbreviation “Anon.” added in the body or first primary division. Supplements may be from time to time prepared, carefully pursuing the same method as observed in forming the original catalogue. The supplement is then attached to the catalogue, the first page having a piece of parchment gummed on, with about an inch protruding from the cover; on this the words “Supplement of 188-” should be written.

The ancient learned Greeks and Romans had their book-shelves, or rather rows of niches, in which the parchment rolls were placed, made of cedar wood, encrusted with precious metals. Although this would, perhaps, be impracticable in our days, still the bookcases should be solid and massive, yet elegant. In some libraries the bookcases run right round the room, but no higher than 3 ft. to 4 ft., the tops forming a resting-place for various curiosities. This method, of course, leaves the upper part of the wall clear, whereon to hang pictures, trophies of arms, armorial shields, or other mural decorations. Other libraries have cupboards, or rather bookcases, with wooden panelled doors of 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. high, the regular bookcases being placed on the top of these. This is a very good plan, for the lower part of the bookcase may serve as a convenient resting-place for magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, and drawings.

One great point to be observed is to have the books protected by good glass; it gives a better appearance to the whole room when the glass is really good, and, above all, the books are safe from the injurious effect of dust or damp.

Magazines and periodicals are generally bound, and, therefore, may be placed on the shelves. A number of pamphlets relating to a certain subject may be cheaply, neatly and easily bound at home. Each pamphlet should be taken and opened at the middle; then, with the aid of a needle and some strong twine, it should be sewn in such a manner as to leave two loops, occupying about two-thirds of the length, on the outside at the back. When each pamphlet has been treated in a like way, taking especial care that each loop is of equal size, two strips of coarse canvas must be cut, long enough to wrap entirely round the whole set of pamphlets. Two pieces of pasteboard, of the exact size you wish the volume to be, must be procured; then, having previously passed the canvas strips under the loops of twine, you carefully paste or glue the canvas, and place them on the boards. Two pieces of clean paper, well gummed, are placed inside the cover over the canvas strips. A piece of canvas, or, better still, leather, of about double the thickness of the back of your volume, and the exact height of the pasteboard cover, is glued on to the back, a good piece overlapping on each side of the cover. Now nothing remains to be done but to glue a piece of parchment behind, writing on it the description of the contents. The whole is placed under a substantial weight, and in a couple of days you have a neat volume instead of a collection of stray sheets of printed paper.

Dabblers in literature, and the searchers after general knowledge, frequently cut out from papers and periodicals articles and paragraphs which interest them. These accumulate and soon encumber the writing-table, library-table, and the mantelpiece, and ultimately find their way into the fire or the waste-paper basket. This may be obviated and a more orderly appearance be given to the room, by collecting these newspaper scraps in a box or drawer, and at convenient intervals pasting them, in alphabetical order, into a large book formed of cheap paper. The cartridge paper should be folded twice; thus each sheet gives eight pages, and the printed scraps pasted in in two rows or three columns, leaving a good margin, whereon the subject treated of in the newspaper scraps should be legibly written, the date and name of the paper whence the scrap has been cut being written at the end of each cutting.

The foregoing notes are due to the late E. C. Rye, Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society.

Books placed in a library should be thoroughly dusted two or three times a year, not only to keep them in all their freshness, but also to prevent any development of insects and to disclose signs of dampness. The interior of a book also asks that care, which unfortunately is neglected very often. After having taken a book from the shelves, it should not be opened before ascertaining that the top edge is not covered with dust. If it is a book that has had the edge cut, it should be dusted with a soft duster, or the dust simply blown off. If it is a book which has uncut edges it should be brushed with rather a hard brush. By this method in opening the volume, one need not be afraid that the dust will enter between the leaves and soil them.

A library has generally three kinds of enemies to be guarded against, viz. insects, damp, and rats or mice. Every one knows how to guard against damp and rats or mice. Several means are adopted to keep insects at a distance. The first consists in the proper choice of woods: these are cedar, cypress, mahogany, sandal, or very dry and sound oak. All these are compact or of very strong aroma, and are such as insects do not like to pierce. Another source of safety is the use of astringent or poisonous chemicals in the binding of books.

The insects that make ravages in books multiply very rapidly; and very few libraries are free from them. The microscopic eggs, that are left by the female, give birth to a small grub, which pierces the leather boards and book for its nourishment, and to get to the air. These are familiarly called bookworms, but by the scientific world they are known as Hypothenemus eruditus which eats the leather, and Anobium striatum which bores through the paper. The larvÆ of the Dermestes also attack wood as well as books.

Alum, as employed in the paste used by binders, is not an absolute preventive, although it contributes greatly to the preservation of the leather. Resin as used by shoe-makers is preferable, and in effect works in the same way; but oil of turpentine has a greater effect. Anything of strong odour, like aniseed or bergamot, mixed perfectly but in small quantities, preserves the paste during an unlimited time.