On book collecting III
Het Amerikaanse vlugschrift (zie blz. 11 en 24) zegt verder:
You stand to gain a great many things by becoming a collector of books. One of them is diversion. A wise poet once said, ‘There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away.’ As your collection takes form and absorbs your interest, you will find that Taxes, Politics, Labor problems, and the Russians are less likely to harass your waking and sleeping hours. But you gain more than that. Your knowledge of books and the world of bookmen will always be stimulating, oftentimes useful, and may bring you honor and fame. Best of all, perhaps, will be your gain in friendships with fellow collectors and dealers, some near at hand and others the country's length away. You may plan exhibitions at your local library and find the schools eager to borrow and use your material. You can help your local historical and literary societies, and they can help you. Another rich recompense may be the knowledge that you have created something useful to posterity; that you have risen above the humdrum of plodding from nine to five for three square meals a day and have used some of your resources and ability to build an enduring and authoritative book collection that may prove valuable to readers, scholars or historians for years to come.
And when the time for retirement comes the man who has been a collector is indeed a fortunate one. On retirement a man loses many of the contacts of business associates and friends. His library at this time is a never failing source of interests to him and is the most satisfying answer to the question, ‘What shall I do when I retire?’
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