the aching fingers, and the broken
fingernails. But it will be fairly asked what is to
be done, when the shelves are fixed, with
volumes too large to go into them? I admit
that the dilemma, when it occurs, is
formidable. I admit also that no book ought to be
squeezed or even coaxed into its place: they
should move easily both in and out. And I
repeat here that the plan I have
recommended requires a pretty exact knowledge by
measurement of the sizes of books and the
proportions in which the several sizes will
demand accommodation. The shelf-spacing
must be reckoned beforehand, with a good
deal of care and no little time. But I can
say from experience that by moderate care
and use this knowledge can be attained, and
that the resulting difficulties, when measured
against the aggregate of convenience, are
really insignificant. It will be noticed that
my remarks are on minute details, and that
they savor more of serious handiwork in the
placing of books than of lordly survey and
direction. But what man who really loves
his books delegates to any other human
being, as long as there is breath in his body,
the office of inducting them into their homes?

And now as to results. It is something to
say that in this way 10,000 volumes can be