Librarian's memoirs

I embezzled and I stole – I admit this and am ashamed of my actions. But what was I to do? My salary as a scribe was so laughably meager I was reduced to borrowing coin from my mother. I was a thief, but I also did a great deal of good for the palace library! Who secured the import of such tomes as The Lives of the Prophets, De Haemorrhoidibus, The Art of Midwifery for Maidens and many others? The palace library has me to thank for The Storehouse of All Knowledge Needed for a Merry and Satisfied Life and other rare tomes, such as Speculum Aureum and De Larvis Scenicis Et Figuris Camicis. Theft and embezzlement mean nothing. A man’s true value shows in the manner in which he treats books.