The Library

Round the room are shelves of dainty lore,
And rich old pictures hang upon the walls,
Where the slant light falls on them; and wrought gems,
Medallions, rare mosaics and antiques
From Herculaneum, the niches fill;
And on a table of enamel wrought
With a lost art in Italy, do lie
Prints of fair women and engravings rare.

--N.P. Willis.

It was a noble room; four lofty windows--two on each side--admitting
abundance of light and air; at one end was a marble chimney-piece, over
which hung a fine picture of Christ disputing with the doctors in the
temple; on each side of this chimney-piece were glass cases filled with
rare shells, minerals, and other curiosities; all the remaining spaces
along the walls and between the windows were filled up with book-cases;
various writing tables, reading stands, and easy-chairs occupied the
center of the floor.

After a curious glance at this scene, Ishmael went to work at unpacking
the boxes. He found his task much easier than he had expected to find
it. Each box contained one particular set of books. On the top of one of
the boxes he found a large strong blank folio, entitled--"Library
Catalogue."

Ishmael took this book and sat down at one of the tables and divided it
into twelve portions, writing over each portion the name of the subject
to which he proposed to devote it, as "Theology," "Physics,"
"Jurisprudence," etc. The last portion he headed "Miscellaneous." Next
he divided the empty shelves into similar compartments, and headed each
with thy corresponding names. Then he began to make a list of the books,
taking one set at a time, writing their names in their proper portion of
the catalogue and then arranging them in their proper compartment of the
library.