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235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
49
It
is
a
joy
to
go
through
booksellers'
catalogues,
ticking
here
and
there
a
possible
purchase.
Formerly,
when
I
could
seldom
spare
money,
I
kept
catalogues
as
much
as
possible
out
of
sight;
now
I
savour
them
page
by
page,
and
make
a
pleasant
virtue
of
the
discretion
I
must
needs
impose
upon
myself.
But
greater
still
is
the
happiness
of
unpacking
volumes
which
one
has
bought
without
seeing
them.
I
am
no
hunter
of
rarities;
I
care
nothing
for
first
editions
and
for
tall
copies;
what
I
buy
is
literature,
food
for
the
soul
of
man.
The
first
glimpse
of
bindings
when
the
inmost
protective
wrapper
has
been
folded
back!
The
first
scent
of
books!
The
first
gleam
of
a
gilded
title!
Here
is
a
work
the
name
of
which
has
been
known
to
me
for
half
a
lifetime,
but
which
I
never
yet
saw;
I
take
it
reverently
in
my
hand,
gently
I
open
it;
my
eyes
are
dim
with
excitement
as
I
glance
over
chapter-headings,
and
anticipate
the
treat
which
awaits
me.
Who,
more
than
I,
has
taken
to
heart
that
sentence
of
the
Imitatio--"In
omnibus
requiem
quaesivi,
et
nusquam
inveni
nisi
in
angulo
cum
libro"?
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