No man was a greater lover of books than he [Shelley]. He was rarely to
be seen, unless attending to other people's affairs, without a volume of
some sort, generally of Plato or one of the Greek tragedians. Nor will
those who understand the real spirit of his scepticism, be surprised to
hear that one of his companions was the Bible. He valued it for the
beauty of some of its contents, for the dignity of others, and the
curiosity of all; though the philosophy of Solomon he thought too
_Epicurean_, and the inconsistencies of other parts afflicted him. His
favourite part was the book of Job, which he thought the grandest of
tragedies. He projected founding one of his own upon it; and I will
undertake to say, that Job would have sat in that tragedy with a
patience and profundity of thought worthy of the original. Being asked
on one occasion, what book he would save for himself if he could save no
other? he answered, 'The oldest book, the Bible.'--J. H. LEIGH HUNT. _My
Books._