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235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
35
XII.
As
often
as
I
survey
my
bookshelves
I
am
reminded
of
Lamb's
"ragged
veterans."
Not
that
all
my
volumes
came
from
the
second-hand
stall;
many
of
them
were
neat
enough
in
new
covers,
some
were
even
stately
in
fragrant
bindings,
when
they
passed
into
my
hands.
But
so
often
have
I
removed,
so
rough
has
been
the
treatment
of
my
little
library
at
each
change
of
place,
and,
to
tell
the
truth,
so
little
care
have
I
given
to
its
well-being
at
normal
times
(for
in
all
practical
matters
I
am
idle
and
inept),
that
even
the
comeliest
of
my
books
show
the
results
of
unfair
usage.
More
than
one
has
been
foully
injured
by
a
great
nail
driven
into
a
packing-case--this
but
the
extreme
instance
of
the
wrongs
they
have
undergone.
Now
that
I
have
leisure
and
peace
of
mind,
I
find
myself
growing
more
careful--an
illustration
of
the
great
truth
that
virtue
is
made
easy
by
circumstance.
But
I
confess
that,
so
long
as
a
volume
hold
together,
I
am
not
much
troubled
as
to
its
outer
appearance.
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