15 MAY 1897, Page 24

The Private Library. By A. L. Humphreys. (Strangeways and Sons.)—Mr.

Humphreys, who gives an obiter dictum that Free Libraries are institutions " of doubtful good," writes pleasantly and with all the ease of an expert about libraries in general and books in particular. "Book Values" (a knowledge which requires the devotion of a lifetime), " The Care of Books," "The Catalogue," " Bookcases," are among the subjects of which he treats.