brac generally consists of whatever occupies the
plate rail--an interesting array of plates, pitchers, bowls, jars, cups
and saucers, steins, cider mugs, and tankards. And here our cherished
ancestral china finds a safe haven from which it surveys its young,
modern descendants with benignant toleration.

BOOKS

A spirit of friendliness and companionship radiates from a good book--a
geniality to be not only felt, but cultivated and enjoyed. The
friendship of man is sometimes short-lived and evanescent, but the
friendship of books abideth ever. Paraphrasing "Thanatopsis":

"For our gayer hours
They have a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and they glide
Into our darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness, ere we are aware."

Truly, a book for every mood, and a mood for every book,

THEIR SELECTION

The true measure of a book is not "How well does it entertain," but
"How much help does it give in the daily struggle to overcome the bad
with the good," and as one makes friends with muscle-giving authors the
fancy for light-minded acquaintances among books gradually wears away.
Although different tastes require special gratification in certain
directions, yet some few books must have place in every well-balanced
library. First always, the Bible, with concordance complete for study
purposes, a set of Shakespeare in small, easily handled volumes, a set
of encyclopaedias, and a standard dictionary. Then some of the best
known poets--Milton, Spenser, Pope, Goldsmith, Burns, Wordsworth,
Keats, Shelley, the Brownings, Byron, Homer, Dante, etc., with
Longfellow, Riley, and some others of our best-loved American
poets--for though we may not care for poetry we cannot afford to deny
ourselves its elevating influence; standard histories of our own and
other countries; familiar letters of great men which also mirror their
times--Horace Walpole, Lord Macaulay, etc.; essays of Bacon, Addison,
DeQuincey, Lamb, Irving, Emerson, Lowell, and Holmes; and certain works
of fiction which have stood the test of time and criticism, with
Dickens and Thackeray heading the list. Indulgence in all the
so-called "popular" novels of the day, like any other dissipation,
profits nothing, and vitiates one's taste for good literature at the
same time. Therefore, hold fast that which is known to be good in
novels, with here and there just a little spice of rec