The study is to a scholar his private domain, his spiritual home and his intellectual world. I’ve been to the studies of several friends. Though of different sizes and with different furnishings, they are nevertheless about the same in boasting a roomful of books. Books shelved in bookcases lining the four walls. Books either piled up one upon another, or displayed in neat rows, or laid out in disorder like fields with crisscross footpaths or a jungle. In recent years, the appearance of various multivolume collected works in deluxe editions as well as selected works of every description has added to the splendor of a study. Among them there is no lack of great classics and master writings. On the other hand,some trash is inevitably mixed with them too. But that doesn’t hinder the owner of the study from enjoying the company of his library.
A study is always a place of enormous appeal to us. I’ve been engaged in writing for several decades, but I’ve never had a study of my own–a study that is independent, intact and true to its name, that is.