Excerpt from Catalogue of My English Library I confess that I am an advocate of fine bindings. But bookbinding is so much a matter of taste and individual fancy, that little need be said here, for every one can gratify his own taste according to his means. There are few things, however, upon which the rich can display their wealth and taste to better advantage than upon their libraries. Binding ad mits of an infinite variety of design in ornaments, and whether cheap or dear may, in skilful hands, always be kept within the bounds of good taste. For public libraries, where chiefly the contents of the books are regarded, cheap, or what is techni cally called half binding in calf or morocco, is usually sufficient but in private hands of the wealthy, where books are not only a library but articles of luxury and furniture, great pains should be taken to secure not only the best editions, but those adorned with a variety of choice and artistic bindings. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.