Fourth Annual Banquet of the Bibliophile Society: New Algonquin Club, Boston, January 11, 1906 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Bibliophile Society

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1334022208 ISBN 13: 9781334022203

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2024

Synopsis

Excerpt from Fourth Annual Banquet of the Bibliophile Society: New Algonquin Club, Boston, January 11, 1906

Such heavenly organizations, however, are not registered in the office of our Secretary of State, and mundane gatherings like this must depend upon the preparations made by human beings; for Lord Bacon says: Certainly the great multiplication of Virtues upon Human Nature resteth upon Societies well Ordained and Disciplined. This is evidently a slant at the Treasurer of The Bibliophile Society, with whose discipline we are all familiar; and his ordinances include not only this array of guests, but a mysterious form which stands there underneath its modest veil. The ster ling qualities of the pure gold and silver in this mysterious piece are typical of the character of our guest of honor and fellow member.

An old college professor, whose students sought to pose him by asking him to define aphenomenon, replied: Well, a cow is not a phenomenon, an apple tree is nota phenom enon; but when you see that cow climbing that apple tree, tail foremost, to pick the apples, that is a phenomenon! Now, a collector is not a phenomenon, nor a society of collectors we all collect our own treasures and perhaps would collect our neighbors' also but for cer tain legal formalities nor is the possessor of the rarest books and manuscripts a phe nomenon. Have not Lenox, Carter Brown, Burton and Hubert Bancroft made such col lections? Nevertheless, an apple tree that not only grows golden fruit, but periodically shakes it down into the mouth of the expectant cow is, I will submit, a phenomenal phenom enon. That a collector should prize beauti ful rarities, and should pursue them the whole globe round, is natural enough; but that the same collector should place his unique pos sessions at the disposal of this Society (of which he is a member), and thus permit the rarest blossoms of his garden to bloom for every one of our members (no extra blossoms for the general public) is, you will agree, a phenom enon as rare as the André Journal; as simple and unaffected as the Charles Lamb letters.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2024
• ISBN 10: 1334022208
• ISBN 13: 9781334022203
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 25