Now, THAT’S a library. It must be a full time job just keeping it properly indexed. At the height of my collection , I believe I had no more than 2,000 books. Over the years, I’ve loaned many out to friends who all have somehow got it into their heads that I’m making the book a gift when I have clearly stated it was just a loan. In my misguided desire to impart my enthusiasm for a particular book, I’ve lost many cherished treasures. Your experience working with rare books must have been an education in itself. You are truly blessed to have your wife on board with your avocation.
Reminds me of a pleasant surprise I had many years ago while reading the second edition of the “Memoirs of General Grant. It’s a wonderful book with clear, simple prose reminiscent of Mark Twain. When the Union Army, immediately after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, started firing their cannon in celebration of the surrender, Grant asked one of his aids what that racket was all about. When informed it was in celebration of the surrender, he told him to have it stopped. He felt there was no reason to embarrass the Confederates for " FOR THEY ARE OUR FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, NOW.”
Some years later, I had a chance to read the first edition of his memoirs In the first edition, he didn’t say what was printed in the second edition I read earlier. What he actually said on hearing the cannon fire, “Tell them to stop. THEY ARE OUR PRISONERS, NOW.” Dyeing of throat cancer, Grant read the proofs of his book personally making the final corrections before it was published. So, that is what he actually said. But a few years after his death, the publisher came out with the second edition with the “FELLOW COUNTRYMEN.” quotation. I’m not sure, but I think the change, which was in subsequent editions, was not made for any altruistic desire to bind up the wounds of the country, but solely for the crass reason to increase sales in the southern states by making it more palatable.
The revelation made me wonder how many other docum ents down through history have been changed to serve a given purpose. In religion, isn’t that what we term, “REDACTION?”