668 pages, indexed. The jacket is chipped at the edges and its head creased at the back; the pages are tanned, else clean, unmarked and solid. First published 1950."An unmitigated delight for any bibliophile, Holbrook Jackson's musings on the joys of reading combine his irrepressible wit with the wisdom of famous readers from all corners of the world. These three volumes, now back in print, are a leisurely, luxuriant confabulation on "the usefulness, purpose, and pleasures that proceed from books."