...and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books. — One must be an in? venter to read well. As the proverb says, * He that would bring home the wealth of the Indies mnst carry oat the wealth of the Indies.' —When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page...

...of thinking — pursuing the wide world at hand — heroic work? How is it that, in Emerson's words, "When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the...whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion"?'1 What kind of heroism involves such luminous reading? It is no different from Emerson's...

...printed page. I only would say that it needs a strong head to bear that diet. One must be an inventor to read well. As the proverb says, "He that would...labor and invention, the page of whatever book we 20 read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense...

...books.34 "One must be an inventor to read well." Ralph Waldo Emerson claims in "The American Scholar." "As the proverb says, 'He that would bring home the...Indies, must carry out the wealth of the Indies.'" Reading is to Emerson as history is to Barth: "we reap what we sow," for "when the mind is braced by...