A Memory of EVERYMAN

To myself, as it must be to all who love browsing among the delightful annals of literature, Mr. Hoppé's devoted recension of The Reader's Guide to Everyman's Library is a peculiar treasure. But it also stirs extraordinary memories; for of all men now alive I was closest to Everyman's Library in its first hours of life. The series was known to me before it was born, before it received a name which for more than half a century has been familiar to the whole world. “Everyman's Library”; how hard to believe that this was once no more than “new series” and that Ernest Rhys struggled for weeks in vain to discover a distinctive title. When this came to him, he excitedly shouted “Eureka!” and, still shouting, but sedately, under his breath, ran to demand audience of J. M. Dent.