Minerva Shelved

I love LibraryThing. I could add books forever. I only wish the good people there would expand their list of libraries to include institutions in Russia. I would not have as many dead end searches as I now do. I have in my account some 32 books cataloged so far. I’m still not very comfortable with tagging in LT; I’ve yet to learn whether tags are separated with commas or spaces. It would be nice if WordPress had a LibraryThing widget, so I could display the cover images in my sidebar. Instead, you’ll have to make to with the RSS feed of recently added books. See “On Minerva’s Shelf” in the sidebar.

I’ve always been interested in reading lists in literature, that is, those books read by characters of literary works. Authors sometimes assign books to a character to indicate that person’s intellectual development, in the same way we do in the real world. Here is just one literary example of the importance of the personal library.

In Clarissa, before Lovelace moves Clarissa into her new lodgings in London, he makes sure that everything is perfect, down to the last detail. He does not ignore the books in the house.

I hinted to thee in a former, that I had provided books for the lady’s in-door amusement. Sally and Polly are readers. My beloved’s light closet was their library. And several pieces of devotion have been put in, bought on purpose at second-hand. (Clarissa, Letter from Lovelace to Belford, Vol. III, Letter LXII)

Clarissa does indeed inspect this library, and her opinion of both her new situation and her new neighbors improves as a result:

I have turned over the books I found in my closet; and am not a little pleased with them; and think the better of the people of the house for their sakes.

Stanhope’s Gospels; Sharp’s, Tillotson’s, and South’s Sermons; Nelson’s Feasts and Fasts; a Sacramental Piece of the Bishop of Man, and another of Dr. Gauden, Bishop of Exeter; and Inett’s Devotions, are among the devout books:–and among those of a lighter turn, the following not ill-chosen ones: A Telemachus, in French; another in English; Steel’s, Rowe’s, and Shakespeare’s Plays; that genteel Comedy of Mr. Cibber, The Careless Husband, and others of the same author; Dryden’s Miscellanies; the Tatlers, Spectators, and Guardians; Pope’s, and Swift’s, and Addison’s Works.

In the blank leaves of the Nelson and Bishop Gauden, is Mrs. Sinclair’s name; and in those of most of the others, either Sarah Martin, or Mary Horton, the names of the two nieces.
(Clarissa, Letter from Clarissa to Miss Howe, Volume 4, Letter I)

Clarissa’s London lodging is (unknown to her) a brothel. Mrs. Sinclair is its madam, and the “nieces” are her employees. Score one more for Lovelace.

We’ve all made assumptions about others based on what’s on their bookshelves (or coffeetables, as the case may be). I know I spend time scanning the shelves of my hosts. It’s like snooping through their medicine cabinet, without the fear of touching something infectious. Although I must admit, sometimes I come across books that make me shiver just as much as the odd prescription ointment.

And yet, who’s read everything on that bookshelf at home? Can a tool like LibraryThing reflect what you’ve read or only what you own? There are other sites for recording what you’ve read, Good Reads comes to mind. And while LibraryThing may represent your physical inventory, the groups and forums are for readers.

So today Lovelace might set up some LibraryThing accounts to dupe Clarissa, perhaps at the same time creating false identities on some other social networking sites for Mrs. Sinclair and her girls.