The Book of Knowledge is For Sale at Kalamazoo Public Library

It sounds like something out of a movie that needs to be kept out of the hands of evildoers, but The Book of Knowledge is real and has a price.

I don't think it answers the question of the meaning of life, the universe and everything, but The Book of Knowledge certainly sounds impressive. It turns out that the book is not one tome, but twenty-two volumes of a children's encyclopedia first published in 1912.  Friends of Kalamazoo Public Library has a complete set of this vintage work for sale.

Founding Father Ben Franklin offers the advice, "an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest," and Thomas Jefferson was fond of Thomas Bacon's idea that "knowledge is power." Although Paul McCartney famously said money can't buy you love, an investment of less than a thousand dollars seems priceless.

This set will appeal to the vintage books collector or anyone with children or grandchildren in their life. Richly illustrated, it offers a wide breadth of knowledge about our planet and its inhabitants. I've got to think it would be interesting to anyone to read just to see what they thought of our world more than one hundred years ago.

If you are one who favors book learning over street smarts, I'd say get to Freinds Book Store in the basement of Kalamazoo Public Library's main branch downtown and take a look, before The Book of Knowledge falls into the wrong hands.