"For books he had no respect, but merely considered them as tools to be worked with. Thus he did not bind them, and even when a paper book fell to pieces from use, as happened to Müller’s ‘Befruchtung,’ he preserved it from complete dissolution by putting a metal clip over its back. In the same way he would cut a heavy book in half, to make it more convenient to hold. He used to boast that he had made Lyell publish the second edition of one of his books in two volumes, instead of in one, by telling him how ho had been obliged to cut it in half. Pamphlets were often treated even more severely than books, for he would tear out, for the sake of saving room, all the pages except the one that interested him, The consequence of all this was, that his library was not ornamental, but was striking from being so evidently a working collection of books."
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University of Cambridge alumniFellows of the Royal SocietyNon-fiction authors from EnglandBiologists from EnglandBotanists from England
Original Language: English
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Vol. 1, ch. 3 (p. 150)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Darwin
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Francis Darwin
Sir Francis Darwin FLS FRS FRSE (16 August 1848 – 19 September 1925) was a British botanist. He was the third son of Charles Darwin.
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