Curiosities of Literature

October 26, 2007 3:10 PM

Curiosities of Literature by Isaac D'Israeli (1766-1848).

Also at spamula.net is Giornale Nuovo, the wonderful blog of MeFi's own misteraitch. It's one of the most interesting blogs I know of, and it has introduced me to a lot of great stuff, like the artwork of Kahn & Selesnick and Odd Nerdrum. Sadly, it has come to an end. Thanks for all the great posts, misteraitch.

Via wood s lot.

posted by homunculus (9 comments total)

The BIBLIOMANIA, or the collecting an enormous heap of books without intelligent curiosity, has, since libraries have existed, infected weak minds, who imagine that they themselves acquire knowledge when they keep it on their shelves. Their motley libraries have been called the madhouses of the human mind; and again, the tomb of books when the possessor will not communicate them, and coffins them up in the cases of his library-and as it was facetiously observed, these collections are not without a Lock on The Human Understanding.*

Ah, good pungent stuff. Thanks!
posted by fleetmouse at 3:40 PM on October 26, 2007

I need a rain check.
posted by Mblue at 3:45 PM on October 26, 2007

Another one for the list. Thanks!
posted by carsonb at 4:22 PM on October 26, 2007

Yeah, I was saddened to learn about the demise of the Giornale. It was a great blog.
posted by languagehat at 5:13 PM on October 26, 2007

I have this book. It looked dense. I'll be checking it out some rainy day.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:36 PM on October 26, 2007

Great stuff, but what the hell is up with the beige text on a white background?
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:20 PM on October 26, 2007

MrMoonPie - Just one of the curiosities of literature!
posted by lukemeister at 9:49 PM on October 26, 2007

Thanks homunculus! Apologies for the low-contrast text: that index is in dire need of an overhaul. When I started posting articles from the Curiosities it was not, as far as I knew, available anywhere else on-line, but by the time I'd finished there were several full editions accessible via Google books & Project Gutenberg... But even though it's become almost obsolete, I do intend to revisit, clean up, and further annotate & otherwise improve the Curiosities pages over the coming year or two.
posted by misteraitch at 1:37 AM on October 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Fantastic post. I have been daydreaming about investing in a Curiosities for some time.
posted by Mocata at 7:01 AM on October 27, 2007