One of the priorities of a classical education is the reading of old books. That’s not to say we never read new books, but it is to recognize the value, weight, and significance of old books, their power to “keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds,” as C. S. Lewis wrote in his essay “On the Reading of Old Books.”
Below we have invited six writers from the classical era to the modern to chime in with Lewis and answer this question: Why read old books?
Reason # 1: Old books are a treasure
Ure ieldran lufodon wisdom ond ðurh ðone begeaton welan ond us læfdon. Her mon mæg giet gesion hiora swæð.
Our forefathers loved wisdom, and through it they acquired riches which they bequeathed to us. Here one can yet see their path.
Alfred the Great (849-899 AD)
Preface to his translation of Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care
Reason # 2: Old books can lead us to Christ
Tu prima m’invïasti
Verso Pernaso a ber ne le sue grotte,
E prima appresso Dio m’alluminasti.
Facesti come quei che va di note,
Che porta il lume dietro e sé non giova,
ma dopo dé fa le persone dotte…
Per te poeta fui, per te cristiano.
You [Virgil] were the one...
who first invited me to sip
of the springs in the grottoes on Parnassus;
and then you lighted me the way to God.
You did as one upon the road at night
who holds a torch that those behind may see,
though he himself’s unaided by the light...
A poet you made me, and a Christian too.
Dante (1265-1321)
The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio XXII
Reason # 3: Old books are gifts from God
Quoties ergo in profanos scriptores incidimus illa, quae admirabilis in iis affulget veritatis luce admoneamur, mentem hominis, quantumlibet ab integritate sua collapsam et perversam, eximiis tamen etiamnum Dei donis vestitam esse et exornatam. Si unicum veritatis fontem, Dei Spiritum esse reputamus, veritatem ipsam neque respuemus, neque contemnemus, ubicunque apparebit: nisi velimus in Spiritum Dei contumeliosi esse; non enim dona Spiritus, sine ipsius contemptu et opprobrio, vilipenduntur.
Therefore, in reading pre-Christian authors, the admirable light of truth displayed in them should remind us, that the human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from its Creator. If we reflect that the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth, we will be careful, as we would avoid offering insult to him, not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears. In despising the gifts, we insult the Giver.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book II, Chapter 2.15
Reason # 4: Old books form us in virtue
Add unto this, subservience from the first
To presences of God’s mysterious power
Made manifest in Nature’s sovereignty,
And fellowship with venerable books,
To sanction the proud workings of the soul,
And mountain liberty.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
The Prelude, Book IX
Reason # 5: Old books are our rightful heritage
Nevertheless, there are some of us who do hold that the metaphor of inheritance from human history is a true metaphor, and that any man who is cut off from the past, and content with the future, is a man most unjustly disinherited.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
“On Man: Heir of All the Ages”
Reason # 6: Old books are a tonic
Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means old books.
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
“On the Reading of Old Books”
Bonus reason: Old words are just cool
Verba a vetustate repetita non solum magnos assertores habent sed etiam adferunt orationi maiestatem aliquam non sine delectatione; nam et auctoritatem antiquitatis habent et, quia intermissa sunt, gratiam novitati similem parant.
Archaic words not only enjoy the patronage of distinguished authors, but also give style a certain majesty and charm. For they have the authority of age behind them, and for the very reason that they have fallen into desuetude, produce an attractive effect not unlike that of novelty.
Quintilian (35-c. 96 AD)
Institutes of Oratory, Book I