Many years ago Mr. Alexander Ireland gave me a copy of _The Book-Lover's Enchiridion_, and my debt to that 'treasury of thoughts on the Solace and Companionship of Books' is great. Mr. Ireland's object was 'to present, in chronological order, a selection of the best thoughts of the greatest and wisest minds on the subject of Books--their solace and companionship--their efficacy as silent teachers and guides--and the comfort, as of a living presence, which they afford amidst the changes of fortune and the accidents of life.' In this volume I have taken the subject and myself less seriously than would have been possible to Mr. Ireland. The 'thoughts' which I have collected are more 'detached', and they cover a wider field. I am under much obligation also to the _Ballads of Books_, which Mr. Brander Matthews compiled nearly a quarter of a century ago and Mr. Andrew Lang recast, and to Mr. W. Roberts's _Book-Verse_. Mainly, however, I have relied upon my own personal reading--'blessing,' as Lamb said, 'my stars for a taste so catholic, so unexcluding'--and upon research, in which I have had invaluable assistance from friends and colleagues. I am fortunately able to include many copyright pieces, and I have to thank the following for the necessary permission:-- Messrs. G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., for B. W. Procter's autobiographical fragment, 'My Books'; Messrs. Chapman & Hall, for what I have taken from a contribution to the _Fortnightly Review_ by Mark Pattison, and for the passage from Carlyle's _Historical Sketches_; Messrs. Chatto & Windus, for the poems by Laman Blanchard, also for the passage from R. Jefferies' _Life of the Fields_; and Messrs. Macmillan & Co., for the excerpt from the same author's _The Dewy Morn_; Messrs. Constable & Co., and the executors of the late George Gissing, for the passages from _The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft_; Mr. A. C. Fifield, for Samuel Butler's whimsical irreverence quoted from _Quis Desiderio_; Mr. Edward Garnett, for Richard Garnett's poem; the Houghton Mifflin Co., for Whittier's 'The Library'; Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., for R. L. Stevenson's 'Picture Books in Winter' (and Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons in respect of copyright in America); Mr. Elkin Mathews, for Lionel Johnson's poem; Messrs. G. Routledge & Sons, Ltd., for Longfellow's 'My Books', and 'Bayard Taylor' (and the Houghton Mifflin Co. in respect of copyright in America); Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., for J. A. Symonds's poem from _Lyrics of Life_; and Dr. A. Stoddart Walker, for permission to quote from J. S. Blackie's _Self-Culture_. In _Guesses at Truth_ the brothers Hare wrote: 'They who cannot weave a uniform net, may at least produce a piece of patchwork, which may be useful, and not without a charm of its own.' It is my modest ambition that book-lovers shall find this volume useful and not without charm. R. M. LEONARD. CONTENTS