M. Derome loquitur:--


"Let us now enter the communal library of some large provincial town.
The interior has a lamentable appearance; dust and disorder have made
it their home. It has a librarian, but he has the consideration
of a porter only, and goes but once a week to see the state of
the books committed to his care; they are in a bad state, piled in
heaps and perishing in corners for want of attention and binding.
At this present time (1879) more than one public library in Paris
could be mentioned in which thousands of books are received annually,
all of which will have disappeared in the course of 50 years or so
for want of binding; there are rare books, impossible to replace,
falling to pieces because no care is given to them, that is to say,
they are left unbound, a prey to dust and the worm, and cannot be
touched without dismemberment."


All history shows that this neglect belongs not to any
particular age or nation. I extract the following story from
Edmond Werdet's Histoire du Livre."[1]


[1] "Histoire du Livre en France," par E. Werdet. 8vo, Paris, 1851.


"The Poet Boccaccio, when travelling in Apulia, was anxious to visit
the celebrated Convent of Mount Cassin, especially to see its library,
of which he had heard much. He accosted, with great courtesy,