Comments on: Curiosities of Literature

Curiosities of Literature

homunculus — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:10:31 -0800

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.

By: fleetmouse

fleetmouse — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:40:19 -0800

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!

By: Mblue

Mblue — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:45:43 -0800

I need a rain check.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:22:29 -0800

Another one for the list. Thanks!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:13:49 -0800

Yeah, I was saddened to learn about the demise of the Giornale. It was a great blog.

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:36:29 -0800

I have this book. It looked dense. I'll be checking it out some rainy day.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:20:23 -0800

Great stuff, but what the hell is up with the beige text on a white background?

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:49:57 -0800

MrMoonPie - Just one of the curiosities of literature!

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:37:49 -0800

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.

By: Mocata

Mocata — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 07:01:34 -0800

Fantastic post. I have been daydreaming about investing in a Curiosities for some time.