Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 1, 1894 - Miscellanies, Volume I
(259) Page 235
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XIV
A GOSSIP ON A NOVEL OF DUMAS'S
The books that we re-read the oftenest are not
always those that we admire the most ; we choose
and we revisit them for many and various reasons,
as we choose and revisit human friends. One or
two of Scott's novels, Shakespeare, Moliere, Mon-
taigne, The Egoist, and the Vicomte de Bragelonne,
form the inner circle of my intimates. Behind these
comes a good troop of dear acquaintances ; The
Pilgrims Progress in the front rank, The Bible
in Spain not far behind. There are besides a
certain number that look at me with reproach as
I pass them by on my shelves : books that I once
thumbed and studied : houses which were once
like home to me, but where I now rarely visit.
I am on these sad terms (and blush to confess it)
with Wordsworth, Horace, Burns, and Hazlitt.
Last of all, there is the class of book that has its
hour of brilliancy — glows, sings, charms, and then
fades again into insignificance until the fit return.
Chief of those who thus smile and frown on me
by turns, I must name Virgil and Herrick, who,
were they but
' Their sometime selves throughout the year/
235
A GOSSIP ON A NOVEL OF DUMAS'S
The books that we re-read the oftenest are not
always those that we admire the most ; we choose
and we revisit them for many and various reasons,
as we choose and revisit human friends. One or
two of Scott's novels, Shakespeare, Moliere, Mon-
taigne, The Egoist, and the Vicomte de Bragelonne,
form the inner circle of my intimates. Behind these
comes a good troop of dear acquaintances ; The
Pilgrims Progress in the front rank, The Bible
in Spain not far behind. There are besides a
certain number that look at me with reproach as
I pass them by on my shelves : books that I once
thumbed and studied : houses which were once
like home to me, but where I now rarely visit.
I am on these sad terms (and blush to confess it)
with Wordsworth, Horace, Burns, and Hazlitt.
Last of all, there is the class of book that has its
hour of brilliancy — glows, sings, charms, and then
fades again into insignificance until the fit return.
Chief of those who thus smile and frown on me
by turns, I must name Virgil and Herrick, who,
were they but
' Their sometime selves throughout the year/
235
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Early editions of Robert Louis Stevenson > Collected works > Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Miscellanies, Volume I > (259) Page 235 |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/90437621 |
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Dates / events: |
1894 [Date published] |
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Places: |
Europe >
United Kingdom >
Scotland >
Edinburgh >
Edinburgh
(inhabited place) [Place depicted] |
Subject / content: |
Capital cities Description Essays Anthologies |
Form / genre: |
Written and printed matter > Books |
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Dates / events: |
1894-1898 [Date printed] |
Places: |
Europe >
United Kingdom >
Scotland >
Edinburgh >
Edinburgh
(inhabited place) [Place printed] |
Subject / content: |
Collected works |
Person / organisation: |
Chatto & Windus (Firm) [Distributor] Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] T. and A. Constable [Printer] Longmans, Green, and Co. [Publisher] Colvin, Sidney, 1845-1927 [Editor] |
Person / organisation: |
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] |
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