There must be several men of spirit and experiences akin to mine who remember that little book-shop opposite Portland Road Station. It had a peculiar character; the books were of a solid kind --- chiefly theology and classics --- and for the most part those old editions which are called worthless, which have no bibliopolic value, and have been supplanted for practical use by modern issues. The bookseller was very much a gentleman, and this singular fact, together with the extremely low prices at which his volumes were marked, sometimes inclined me to think that he kept the shop for mere love of letters. Things in my eyes inestimable I have purchased there for a few pence, and I don't think I ever gave more than a shilling for any volume. As I once had the opportunity of perceiving, a young man fresh from class-rooms could only look with wondering contempt on the antiquated stuff which it rejoiced me to gather from that kindly stall, or from the richer shelves within. My Cicero's Letters for instance: podgy volumes in parchment, with all the notes of Graevius, Gronovius, and I know not how many other old scholars. Pooh! Hopelessly out of date. But I could never feel that. I have a deep affection for Graevius and Gronovius and the rest, and if I knew as much as they did, I should be well satisfied to rest under the young man's disdain. The zeal of learning is never out of date; the example --- were there no more --- burns before one as a sacred fire, forever unquenchable. In what modern editor shall I find such love and enthusiasm as glows in the annotations of old scholars?
Even the best editions of our day have so much of the mere school-book; you feel so often that the man does not regard his author as literature, but simply as text. Pedant for pedant, the old is better than the new.
一定会有一些心情和经历与我相似的人,还记得波特兰街车站对面的那间小书店。那里的书很有特点，种类是固定的一一主要是神学方面的书和古典著作,大部分是旧版本,但还够不上珍本,因此被认为毫无价值,在实用中已被现代版本的书取代。书店的老板是一位很有修养的绅士,这个不同寻常的现象,再加上书上所标的极为低廉的价格,使我有时不禁会想,他开这间店,很可能只是出于对文字的热爱。许多对我而言是无价之宝的书,在那里只需花几便士就能买下,我想我从未在那里买到过超过一先令的书。有一次,我看到一个刚出校门的年轻人在看着这些老古董的时候,露出惊讶而蔑视的表情;不过我却乐于从令人感到亲切的书摊上,或是店里摆满书籍的书架上,去收集这些旧书。例如我的那本《西塞罗信札》就是用羊皮纸印刷的,开本窄，书很厚,而且还有葛莱维斯2、格洛诺维斯雷,以及数不清的其他老学者的注解。“呸!已经完全过时了。”一一俗人一定会这样说的。然而我并没有这样的感觉。我对葛莱维斯、格洛诺维斯和其他学者有很深的仰慕之情,如果我的学识能够像他们一样渊博,就算面对年轻人的鄙视,我也可以处之泰然。学习的热情是永远不会过时的;先驱们虽然已经不在,但他们的事迹在人们心中燃起了神圣的火焰,那是永远也无法扑灭的。那些老学者的注解中所闪耀着的对学问的喜爱和热情,在现在的编辑身上还能找得到吗?
甚至,当今最好的版本也只是像教科书一样。你常常会有这样的感觉:编者没有把书当作文学作品,而只是当成了课本。文人与文人惺惺相惜,旧书总比新书好。
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