On Books and the Housing of Them

by William Ewart Gladstone

Excerpt from On Books and the Housing of Them

First of all it seems to have referred to the red capital letters placed at the head of chap ters or other divisions of works.

Genres: Books About Books, Nonfiction, Essays

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

One of the most prominent figures in nineteenth century British politics. Known as G.O.M, which stood for 'Grand Old Man' (although his rival Benjamin Disraeli joked that it was actually 'God's Only Mistake')

William Ewart Gladstone served four times as Liberal Prime Minister (1868 - 1874, 1880 - 1885, 1886 and 1892 - 1894). As such, he dominated the latter half of the century.

His hobbies included reforming prostitutes, felling trees and insulting Benjamin Disraeli. Despite a mutual dislike between Gladstone and Queen Victoria, he was one of the most successful politicians of his day.

His rule was dominated by the Irish Question, but his reforms were far-reaching and addressed a wide range of domestic and foreign policy issues.

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given how much I love my books and the plans I have for built in bookcases in our new home, I had to buy this. However the scale of Gladstone's plans are rather grander then mine. A quick and historically interesting book.

[Arianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quaint, in its own way. Clearly not entirely applicable today, but informative nonetheless. It made me wonder if Borders bookstores used this as its shelving model. And it makes me curious as to what Gladstone's reaction would be to the robotically-accessed book storage which many university libraries are implementing today, when he had such strong feelings against the rolling stacks!

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Books and the Housing of Them, by William Ewert Gladstone (1890, 48pp). Yes, THAT Gladstone — the statesman whose career lasted over 60 years, including 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four terms beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. This delightful volume was penned due to Gladstone’s concern that the earth’s ability to handle the rapid profusion of books was of even greater concern than the increasing numbers of people, which itself was frightening. (Note that this was penned in 1890). The passage of time and the explosive profusion of books to which we are witnesses suggests his early alarm was prescient. Along with climate change, the quantity of books capable of burying mankind must be one of the top terrors of our day. He notes that at the time of his writing all of this, the Bodleian Library [of Oxford] had 20,000 volumes (and I note that the family of Bodleian libraries now has in excess of 13 million books). By way of comparison, the British Library has 150 million volumes, though that is dwarfed by the U.S. Library of Congress’ 164 million. The NY Public Library alone has 55 million books, slightly more than the Library of Canada (54m) and the Russian Library (44m). Almost as an aside to his central theme of housing books, Gladstone pointedly notes that a “little learning is only dangerous when it forgets it is little”, [you surely know some who are not so aware], and “specialism is only dangerous when it forgets that is is special.” Wise words for all of us!! After only a bit of entertaining wandering, the author eventually focuses on how book-lovers can best house their books, explaining cost efficiencies, ideal bookcase sizes and construction, and why such considerations are important, i.e., to avoid cracked floors and bulging walls. Most wonderfully, Gladstone addresses issues with which all of us struggle: dust, fixed vs moveable shelves, categorizations, shelving by size, and more. An original copy of this skim volume was far beyond my ability to afford, but I did find a visually unsatisfying but otherwise enjoyable pdf. You can too.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is precise and controlling but he sincerely loves books. He seems to view them almost like people and refers to one form of housing them as a "burial". For a short 26 pages, he talks a lot. Unfortunately, I found a good amount of what he said forgettable. Especially since we live in a very different time. Were the libraries of 1890s Britain and United States really that big that this was a necessary essay? I know reading was prominent if you were literate but how many people had substantial libraries to accommodate this? Or is this mainly a problem of the upper classes?

Note that he speaks of the collectors and the writers in the masculine almost exclusively. I'm not judging given his time period, it just threw me off a few times. I don't know what I expected from a Victorian politician. He does expect the reader to have enough space to deal with a lot of shelving, which as a poor apartment dweller, I can tell you is a real problem. Also, an "octavo" that he refers to constantly is a standard sized hardback or paperback book. 3 stars.

[Raven]

"We ought to recollect, with more of a realized conception than we commonly attain to, that a book consists, like a man, from whom it draws it lineage, of a body and a soul."

"But books are the voices of the dead. They are a main instrument of communion with the vast human procession of the other world."

"Well, then, bound or not, the book must of necessity be put into a bookcase. And the bookcase must be housed. And the house must be kept. And the library must be dusted, must be arranged, should be cataloged. What a vista of toil, yet not unhappy toil!"

"But under the shadow of this catalog let there be as many living integers as possible, for every well-chosen subdivision is a living integer and makes the library more and more an organism."

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a bit of a strange irony, reading a concerned essay on the shelf space needed for acceptable library storage, in the form of a pdf on my phone. Perfectly enjoyable though, especially when imagining Gladstone's horror at the complete lack of appropriate binding on these digital books.

[Nicholas M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Housing books?

Advice from an expert, still valid today. The rest of these words are here because Amazon required thirteen of them.

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you prefer non-electronic books, this little volume will tell you how to get 20,000 volumes into a modest 40x20 room with economy and appeal. But I think Gladstone would be glad to know America saved the English "from being extruded some centuries hence into the surrounding waters" by the sheer mass of their books, by inventing the Kindle. It also means that in our private libraries, at least, we will not have to inter books in compact storage, which "can hardly be contemplated without a shudder at a process so repulsive applied to the best beloved among inanimate objects."

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting essay on books and personal libraries by the Victorian British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), it’s easy to see that the man loved books. I also find interesting that the issue of copyright was a problem back then, something that still hasn’t been resolved to many people’s opinion a hundred years later. The essay also makes you more appreciative of ebooks, which take up just an atom or twos width.