..we'll never see eye to eye here. I see the old texts as a treasure of historic knowledge and a cornucopia of indivual experience and interpretation.

Sure we point to prejudice in many instances, but it was real, it happened and many people did think in the manners protrayed in various texts.

Rewrites constantly dilute the original source material. I don't need some editor pulling selected material from old editions and sanitizing it for my consumption or adding politically correct context for events.

This assumption that the reader won't realize hate or prejudice or may just blindly digest the same without realizing its context is absurd. In their attempts to purge the offensive stuff they end up purging history as it was lived.

Let me cite an example:

Any edition set of "The Book of Knowledge" put out by the Grolier Society and others from the 1900s throught the early 1930s is a cheap and yet priceless window into life as it was lived at the turn of the last century. The blend of fiction, arts and crafts, history, science and industry and the grainy early B&W photography give kids an incomparable view of life in this period for both kids and adults. Sure, the science and industry are now woefully out of date and the history is incomplete. Of course some of the fiction is passe and there is surely in one or more of the volumes a plethora of culturally insensitive references, portrayals or depictions - but it now serves a new purpose other than the original purpose of educating children in its many various & sundry entries. It now serves as an example of life, thinking and the manner in which kids were educated in this time period.

I know shelf space is at a premium in libraries and school libraries, but I would love to see a small shelf in the children's section dedicated to old knowledge and history where the child is made well aware with a sign that the books on this shelf are out of date and sometimes in error. They could peruse it though the same way folks visit a museum - and learn quite a bit of history, and their ancestors in the process. A very mini-library from the past separated from the library of today which must discard the obsolete and cater to their demographic. Each row in the shelf could be dedicated to a period: i.e pre-1900 books, 1900-1930 books and 1930-1950 books. If the library could afford it the shelves could be 3 of those ancient stacking types with glass coverings they used to advertise in the back of early National Geographics, thereby making the display distinction clear and complete.

Certain old books, even obsolete ones, serve a definite purpose in educating. Balancing new knowledge with the old is the key to providing kids with a link to the past and a more complete understanding of the world they live in and how it has evolved.

Appreciating old texts does not mean one need celebrate racism, hate or propaganda just because these things crept their way into texts of the period. Seeing old texts and looking only for their injustices to black Americans or native Americans is naturally going to negate any appreciation of the valid uses they still can offer society.