Another Coincidence
Recently, I purchased an 1817 copy (1st printing was 1809)
of *Reliques of Robert Burns* , which I had mentioned in an earlier post about the Scottish version of English. Today, I finally decided to shelve it without, for the time being, doing the repair work that is needed on the binding. (I have a table full of books claiming priority.) So, I placed it on top of the other Burns books, and proceeded to look along the shelf to see what could be moved to stand it next to its relatives. My eye lit upon two volumes entitled *Select Reviews*. I could not clearly remember what that was, so I pulled out the first of the two volumes and opened it directly to a review of *Reliques of Robert Burns* from the Edinburgh Review (1809), a review I will note that ran 14 double columned pages of about 9 point type. What are the odds of that? I should note that I arrange my books by date of birth of the author so that they run chronologically. Books such as *Select Reviews* are placed roughly around the time of publication of books nearby, in this case, 1809 - 1814. This is the second time this year I have had such an occurrence. A while back I bought a copy of Hallam's *Constitutional History of England*. Research on the internet indicated that Macaulay wrote a comprehensive review of the work. So the following weekend I happened upon a then contemporary copy of Macaulay's Essays (beautifully leather bound with gilt designs and edges) and the first thing I opened to was his review of Hallam, which reached to some 50 or more pages. One final note. Book reviews in the 19th century bear little resemblance to the meager comments forced onto a single page of the New York Times Book Review Section. We have lost so much. -- Francis A. Miniter In dem Lande der Pygmäen gibt es keine Uniformen, weder Abzeichen, noch irgend welche Normen, Und Soldaten sind dort nicht zu sehen. Siegfried von Vegesack, "Es gibt keine Uniformen" from In dem Lande der Pygmäen |
Another Coincidence
Francis A. Miniter wrote:
Recently, I purchased an 1817 copy (1st printing was 1809) of *Reliques of Robert Burns* , which I had mentioned in an earlier post about the Scottish version of English. Today, I finally decided to shelve it without, for the time being, doing the repair work that is needed on the binding. (I have a table full of books claiming priority.) So, I placed it on top of the other Burns books, and proceeded to look along the shelf to see what could be moved to stand it next to its relatives. My eye lit upon two volumes entitled *Select Reviews*. I could not clearly remember what that was, so I pulled out the first of the two volumes and opened it directly to a review of *Reliques of Robert Burns* from the Edinburgh Review (1809), a review I will note that ran 14 double columned pages of about 9 point type. What are the odds of that? I should note that I arrange my books by date of birth of the author so that they run chronologically. Books such as *Select Reviews* are placed roughly around the time of publication of books nearby, in this case, 1809 - 1814. This is the second time this year I have had such an occurrence. A while back I bought a copy of Hallam's *Constitutional History of England*. Research on the internet indicated that Macaulay wrote a comprehensive review of the work. So the following weekend I happened upon a then contemporary copy of Macaulay's Essays (beautifully leather bound with gilt designs and edges) and the first thing I opened to was his review of Hallam, which reached to some 50 or more pages. One final note. Book reviews in the 19th century bear little resemblance to the meager comments forced onto a single page of the New York Times Book Review Section. We have lost so much. Amazing coincidences! I love it! -- Jean B. |
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