And all this time Frank Morris’ little book shop on West Madison Street was the center of the very select among artists and literati. Frank Morris was the friend of all of them. In his shop they used to assemble and talk of future glories and the fame of the past. Everybody loved Frank, and many were homeless after his shop had fallen victim to the flames. But soon he was established again, on Adams Street. Those of his old friends who were left followed him there, and now, after times of storm, he is settled in new quarters in the Marshall Field Building. There is no more genial man to talk to than Frank. He is not only a seller of books, but is a part of the most important period of American literature, of our famous nineties. Many poets have written poems to Frank Morris. Here are two by Eugene Field. TO FRANK MORRIS: Believe me by all those endearing old charms With which your quaint shop is provided, I shall honor the trade by whose help I have made A collection of freaks that’s derided. And if you believe me--when then I’ve to ask That, till fortune betimes readjusts me With dollars and dimes for my yarns and my rhymes, You still shall continue to trust me. EUGENE FIELD. October, 1889. LINES WRITTEN UNDER PORTRAIT OF F. M. M.: This is the robber, as sure as you’re born, Against whose guile I fain would warn The bibliomaniac, tattered and torn, Who pauses to look at some second-hand book That lies on the shelf all covered with dust And is marked “four dollars for cash--no trust” In a gloomy corner that smells of must Down in the shop that Morris built! EUGENE FIELD. 1888. Powner’s Book Shop No, there is no accident, no riot on the corner of Clark Street, opposite the City Hall. The scrambling mass of people are simply book lovers and book collectors, and Powner’s has got in a new consignment of books. Such scenes occur every Saturday. The big stalls in front of the shop are filled with all sorts of books, old Roman antiquities, books on sports, old poetry, collected by someone who had disposed of his books, or who had left his treasures behind him. Mr. Powner used to be a school teacher in Greensburg, Indiana, and he started his book business about twelve years ago with the thoroughness of a school master. Rare and valuable books are his own special department, and he leaves modern books entirely to his clerks.