Excerpt from A Thousand Books for the Hospital Library: Selected From the Shelf-List of the Library of McLean Hospital, Waverley, Massachusetts The editors offer this list merely as a guide towards the selection of wholesome, readable literature for those who are ill either physically or mentally. While it has been compiled with the requirements of the latter class of patients in mind, it would seem no less suitable for the former, or, in fact, for any small library which desires only bright, wholesome, interesting books. It aims to suggest fresh titles for libraries already established, and not wholly to provide a buying list for the formation of new libraries. In making this list the editors have endeavored to keep in mind the following points: 1. Books in a hospital are for recreation, not for instruction, and therefore should consist principally of fiction, picture-books, travel, biography, light and popular science and out-door books. 2. They must be wholesome - not morbid, or gruesome, or depressing. Good detective stories and tales of adventure, however thrilling, if not horrible, and if they do not make vice attractive, are to be recommended, as they, more than almost anything else, hold the attention. 3. Illustrated books and book of pictures are invaluable, as a patient often will look at pictures when he is too ill to read. 4. The newest fiction is called for and read, yet the old favorites remain much in demand. With so much ephemeral stuff among the "best sellers," it is a delicate task to select the really good novels which will last, and there is a great temptation to fall back on the old and tried books to the exclusion of the more modern. The editors have tried to combine the two in just proportion, and also to give a few titles of the better class of the "second rate" which have proved popular. 5. It is not enough to provide books for those who wish to read. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.