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Blogs by Bo Drury
An Old Book 7/26/2007 7:58:22 AM
A treasure found in an old book gathering dust on the shelf. The value is only to the person who has the oportunity to read these great tales and pass them on. Among my Mothers things was a set of small red books. I had noticed them off and on for years but had never bothered to look at them. I knew they were old and they were attractive. Something decorators would like to lie around for color. I wanted those books because I love books. I ended up with only one, volume six. I sat down last night and picked it up to see what it was about. It has been gathering dust for a number of years now. To my surprise it was a collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling, Edna Ferber, Edgar Allen Poe, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, O. Henry, Henry James, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was printed in 1938, by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. The first printing was in 1891, by Harper and Brothers. It is a real treasure to me. The set survived the tornado in 1979, I am sad that I do not have the complete set. In the preface under the heading 'fiction' some one has written, and I quote;
“A great brawny fellow in a bearskin is talking animatedly, illustrating what he says with great sweeping gestures. As he continues, the faces around him reflect his mood. Tired lines disappear, dull eyes brighten, and a sense of pleasure and relief envelope us all. He is the first story teller.
Since then this scene has been repeated in all ages but in varying ways, and the audience still listens, or reads, with rapt attention. The story teller, though he may not be present in person, is still the center. He is still the magician, and as we look ahead through the long ages that lie in front of us we see no reason to think that things will ever be otherwise. It would be a sorry world indeed, if ever they were.”
This was written almost seventy years ago and still is so true this day. For here we are telling and writing our stories for those who love to read to enjoy and pass down to others, as those famous writers listed above shared with us. How fortunate we are…...Bo Drury
