ch
the drawers are to be put--but how often are they practically useless or
wasteful of precious room, by being made shallower or deeper than is
required. The room should be surrounded with bookcases, the lower
portion made to take large books, and with some part of it covered in
with cupboard fronts, with shelving inside to file away periodicals and
papers; the shelf which this lower projection forms will do admirably
for the arrangement of ornaments, small busts, or other personal things,
with which a man crowds the room he really lives in; of course, I am
speaking to those who make a den or working-room of their library, and
not to those who fit a back room up with various tiers of shelving, on
which are arranged a library of books which are seldom looked at, and
where the room is only occasionally used, and that only for the purpose
of a cloak-room on grand occasions. Above this lower nest of cupboards
and shelving should be shelving arranged for various sizes of books,
part carried up all round the room, so as to be within easy reach; the
top of these will be found useful for china or busts, or other objects
of art, while the centre portions may be carried up to the ceiling to
give greater accommodation; all these breaks will take away from the
stiffness of the room, and, if properly arranged, will all assist in
making the library a room pleasant to work or play in. All this kind of
work can be made of plain deal, stained and polished, and is infinitely
cheaper than the elaborate movable cases of wainscot or walnut, in
which the aim of the designer seems often to make the frame-work as
expensive as possible, whereas, in truth, the books within are really
what should be thought of and cared for.

'The floor should be painted or stained and varnished all over, so as to
be easily cleaned and dusted, and everything that is likely to
permanently hold dust should be avoided. On the floor, thus painted, a
few cheap Indian or other rugs may be laid about in places where most
necessary and useful.

'Too much trouble cannot be taken to make the library a pleasant room to
live in; it should have everything arranged and adapted for use and
comfort, and not be stiff and dreary with any set arrangement. The
panels of the cupboard doors may be filled in with Japanese lacquer-work
or painted decoration, and here and there, in the recesses, nests of
shelves may be fitted with projecting brackets, designed as part of
them, for pie