Old Books Are Best
TO J. H. P.
Beverly Chew. From the ‘Critic’ of March 13, 1886.
Old Books are best! With what delight
Does “Faithorne fecit” greet our sight
On frontispiece or title-page
Of that old time, when on the stage
“Sweet Nell” set “Rowley’s” heart alight!
And you, O Friend, to whom I write,
Must not deny, e’en though you might,
Through fear of modern pirate’s rage,
Old Books are best.
What though the prints be not so bright,
The paper dark, the binding slight?
Our author, be he dull or sage,
Returning from that distant age
So lives again, we say of right:
Old Books are best.