LIBRAKIKS AND BOOKCASKS 



17 



70. liuOKCASK nUII.T K(IUM) AMKKK AN I&amp;gt;KSK. 



of portfolios of drawings and prints, 



and, still more, of maps. Kxcept 



in large collections of hooks, these 



abnormal volumes are generally lew 



in number, which increases the diffi 

 culty of housing them. II folios are 



placed on an ordinary bookshelf which 



they do not completely till, they are 



apt to lean against each other, with 



consequent damage to the binding 



through buckling, and defacement ol 



the pages through the admission ol 



dust. I ndoubtedly, the ideal method 



is to provide a separate shelf for each 



great book on which it may be laid 



Hat ; but not only does this involve 



costly shelving, but it is so inelastic 



that there is no space to take 



additional books ol the same si/e. 



A good plan, therefore, is to legislate 



for the volumes standing upright, 



but to provide thin, removable 



vertical partitions, between each pair 



of which can be placed, say, two to live 



books, according to their thickness. 



\Yith reference to the proportions ol space which should be allotted to small and large books, it 



may be borne in mind that three-quarters ol the contents ol a normal library will not exceed ten inches 



in height, and this si/e will cover most ol the books in what are known as &quot; library editions.&quot; Most 



novels and reprints will go into a space eight inches high, and though probably the prevailing tendencv 



of publishers now is to make their books smaller and smaller, it is unwise to provide in the shelving a 



space less than eight inches. The present writer has never ceased regretting a bookcase he had made 



for a large series of daintv little reprints, which later had to be moved to other shelves in another room, 



and they left their old 

 home derelict because 

 it would not i-erve the 

 purpose o t the 

 ordinarv novel. \Vith 

 regard to the general 

 question of height, it 

 will usually be found 

 that seven teet six 

 mi lies to the under 

 side of the cornice is 

 as high as can be 

 c o m pass ed c o n - 

 veniently without a 

 library ladder, a piece 

 of furniture very apt 

 to get in the way, 

 and the level of the 

 top shelf should cer 

 tainly not be more 

 than six feet six inches 

 from the ground. It 

 is a mistake to put 

 the bottom shelf too 

 near the floor ; four 

 inches is certainly the 

 minimum amount it 

 should be raised. It 

 71 AT FETTERCAIRN. is m u c h more 



