Your article (Shelf-promotion: the art of furnishing rooms with books you haven’t read, 8 April) reminded me that Myles na gCopaleen (AKA Flann O’Brien), who wrote for the Irish Times, spotted this trend a long time ago and suggested a service that might provide a useful income for today’s impoverished students.
He’d visited the house of a newly married friend – “a man of great wealth and vulgarity” – who’d just “paid some rascally middleman” to stuff his library full of books as “some savage faculty for observation” had told him that respectable people had lots of books.
The trouble was that these books were all pristine, betraying the philistine owner. That led Myles to suggest a book-handling service: the man obviously needed “a person who will maul the books”. In fact, there could be several degrees of book-handling, from the low-cost (four leaves in each to be dog-eared, and a tram ticket, cloak-room docket or other suitable bookmark inserted), to the high-end, which would have pencilled marginalia added (“Yes, but cf Homer, Od, iii, 151”; “I remember poor Joyce saying the very same thing to me”; and even forged messages of gratitude from the author – “From your devoted friend and follower, K Marx”).
Karin Barry
London
• What a useful article, particularly for those of us with too many books looking for a home. First there is my late husband’s extensive classics/history/law library; then, as I delve deep into my marmalade years, having to look to the future of at least parts of my own library – women’s history and travel – is sensible. As long as the books will be appreciated, they would be glad to hear from some poor denuded shelves.
Susanna Hoe
Oxford
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
.jpg?w=600)
