I think paperbacks kind of ruined the book experience at home. In the old days - you had these exquisitely done books with highly artistic, leather bound covers, quality paper etc. It was not only a piece with literary value, but with significant presence in the home as one of the treasured belongings.

I'm one of the guilty ones that buys a number of paperbacks, because they're cheap, easily available and I don't have to worry about them getting somewhat mangled while packed in my suitcase etc. But in the end, the books, although still sitting on shelves, don't have the look and feel of the old grand style, they're not works of art they used to be. The content's still there and I'd st...

I think paperbacks kind of ruined the book experience at home. In the old days - you had these exquisitely done books with highly artistic, leather bound covers, quality paper etc. It was not only a piece with literary value, but with significant presence in the home as one of the treasured belongings.

I'm one of the guilty ones that buys a number of paperbacks, because they're cheap, easily available and I don't have to worry about them getting somewhat mangled while packed in my suitcase etc. But in the end, the books, although still sitting on shelves, don't have the look and feel of the old grand style, they're not works of art they used to be. The content's still there and I'd still recomment my kids read them, because after all the books are there for content mainly, not the looks and smell... but I still miss the look and feel of an old style library, full of books and the look of style, age, comfort and literary goodness.

What a wonderful article.

I have rarely, in four decades of academic life, encountered a more systematic collection, or one that not only reflected the owner's disposition but that also seemed to offer an intellectual history of the West. Dr. Brown had been first a classical scholar by training, and so he had most of Greek and Roman literature in well-edited editions. All of that was confined to a single room, which he whimsically called "the ancient parlor." Another room contained European literature, with a large bookcase devoted to Dante and other Italian writers. Two or three walls held the classics of German, French, and Spanish literature. Dr. Brown had read most of those works i...

What a wonderful article.

I have rarely, in four decades of academic life, encountered a more systematic collection, or one that not only reflected the owner's disposition but that also seemed to offer an intellectual history of the West. Dr. Brown had been first a classical scholar by training, and so he had most of Greek and Roman literature in well-edited editions. All of that was confined to a single room, which he whimsically called "the ancient parlor." Another room contained European literature, with a large bookcase devoted to Dante and other Italian writers. Two or three walls held the classics of German, French, and Spanish literature. Dr. Brown had read most of those works in the original; indeed, he had translated Rilke's Duino Elegies — still my favorite translation of Rilke, although quite unknown (as it was privately published). Another room was devoted to Russian and Slavic literatures: Early Russian literature had become a late passion for Dr. Brown, and he managed to publish an erudite two-volume study of pre-19th-century Russian literature before he died. I often think of Dr. Brown's ample, even exhaustive, library, which stays in my mind as a model, a Platonic ideal of a personal book collection that represents the full amplitude of a learned mind, in potentia.