The Private Library What We Do Know, What We Don't Know, What We Ought to Know About Our Books

"The Private Library" by Arthur Lee Humphreys is an informative manual from the early 1900s that gives advice on keeping and loving your personal book collection. It talks about how to arrange, look after, and enjoy your books. Humphreys uses what he learned while visiting libraries in big houses to explain how many book collections are a mess. He pushes for a better way to take care of books. At the beginning, the author talks about why you would want a personal library, saying it should be useful and look nice. He's worried that many people don't pay enough attention to their books, even though books are just as important as other things they own. Humphreys makes it clear readers should pay more attention, get more organized, and truly appreciate their books. All of this encourages readers to make their reading spaces better and understand why each book in their collection is important.