1870: On the Uses of Reading

Jeanne d’Anatis

A lady’s library must never exceed her dressing table in size. Books are ornaments, to be admired for their bindings and dusted by the housemaid. The Bible, Shakespeare, and the Book of Household Management: sufficient scripture, poetry, and science for any woman.

I sometimes think we are not discouraged from reading so much as from finishing. A woman who reads to the end of a book is liable to expect the same of her life.