[JH] #04 Why we collect books
Merry Christmas, Christus natus est.
Why I collect books
Yesterday I found a nice book in one of those roadside book exchange libraries that people put up in many places in The Netherlands. The hunter-gatherer in me loves them. Usually, I catch nothing of interest, but every once in a while a kind soul has left the right book for me. Yesterday I picked up the Dutch translation of Georges Duby’s The Age of the Cathedrals: Art and Society 980–1420. I love churches and I love the Middle Ages, so it was not a difficult decision.
On my way home my daughter, who is home from university, asked me whether I intended to read the book. Honestly, I’m not sure, and, I added, I don’t think that is a problem. I have always collected far more books than I can read. This situation is helped by the fact that I am a slow reader. But more importantly, I believe that being in the presence of books is good for me, I feel at home with books around me. As someone said: a house without books is a body without a soul.
Then I realized that my book collection habit was also part of my parenting strategy: I firmly believe it is important for children to grow up in a house with books everywhere. Not because they will read them all, of course not!, but I wanted to expose them to the risk of running into that one book that opens the world for them. I know that I have always had a good sense of the timeline of major events in European history because my father had (and still has) a nice collection of books in his study (don’t you dare call it an office, it is the study 🙂 Most of his books are about Reformed (puritan, really) theology and Dutch organs. In addition, he had a somewhat random collection of books. I vividly remember books about subjects such as bee-keeping, harpsichord building, photography, Greek-Orthodox Churches, five books about the First World War, and a ten-volume encyclopedia which I have read back to cover. And a few hundred others.
In the case of my own family, it seems the strategy has paid off, we have plenty of books in the house, everywhere. Every family member has experienced the joy of new worlds opening up through books, whether it is the 19th-century English novel, art history, or dinosaurs. While we have regularly moved between houses and countries, a good selection of books has always gone with us. We have always picked up good books between moves and we always left some behind for other readers.
This is why I collect books: I want to help find a reader for a book or a book for the reader. Since I don’t always know the right combination in advance, I just try to be generous. Does this make sense to you? Do you collect books? What motivates you?
Other Things (found online)
Jauchzet, frohlocket, it is time for Das Weihnachtsoratorium (BWV 248) You can read more about this musical celebration of Christmas here.
What else?
I am taking a short break between Christmas and New Year, but I will be back with another e-mail in 14 days. In January I need to invest a significant amount of time in finding new clients for the (new) website business. Do you or your organization need a website? Let me know, I would love to work with you. Please feel free to share this with other people. Thank you!