"The chronological ordering of the items is, in any case, neither casual nor arbitrary--We have had our share of arbitrary schemes, most notably when the entire stock was arranged alphabetically--Martin Luther adjoining Joseph Lister, thereby proving the truth of the adage that cleanliness be next to godliness, or if one be of a different theological cast, that apostasy bestrode apothecy. But this arrangement was not considered sufficiently noteworthy, and somehow escaped the notice of Terry Belanger in his Lunacy and the Arrangement of Books. One supposes that that booksellers resort to such arrangements often enough, so our lunacies must be discovered more subtly, and we are not yet subject to the strictures of the unfortunate Alexander Cruden the bookseller (of the early eighteenth century) who is said to have modeled the straitjacket at an early stage of its development as fashionable attire."

"I neglected to mention two easy solutions for shelving books of disparate sizes if it be important to keep them arranged by topic--First, take a two-by-four short piece, place it on edge under the shorter book (use a one-by-four if the book be thin, or a two-by-six if the size issue be more extreme, two two-by-fours side by side if the shorter book be thick...).

"Second, if direct display or visual accessibility be not crucially important, use an archival folder of the type with the internal pockets. Folders can all be the same size (say 8.5 by 11 or whatever) and the added pocket gives an opportunity conveniently to house notes or anything related to the book...some designs of these folders even give sufficient space for a spine label."