"books do furnish a room"

[Stephen Goranson]

In NY Review of Books Anthony Grafton quoted "books do furnish a room." In town here there's a used bookstore by that name--named, I presume, after the 1971 novel with that title, on display there.
Mere google oldest cite is from 1913:
("books do furnish a room so !" as we frequently hear it said)

The next there, from 1941, with italic "do," may also suggest it was frequently said, though perhaps not frequently published:
books _do_ furnish a room

Next, 1971.

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edy/~goranson

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