Oxford’s Library Once Branded Its Sauciest Books With
a Greek Letter--How James Joyce,
Madonna, and Monty Python ended up on the same restricted shelf by Matthew Taub For more than a hundred years, deep in a
dusty enclave of the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, there sat a
restricted collection—2,100 books deemed too subversive, too toxic, too
scandalous for eager minds. These books,
principally concerned with sex, made up the “Phi” collection, bearing the Greek
“Φ” on their spines like a mark of sin.
But things are different now, and these books are proudly on display at
the Bodleian, in the Story
of Phi: Restricted Books exhibit that opened on November 15,
2018. Built in 1602 and home to more
than 13 million items, the Bodleian is the second-largest among British
libraries behind only, well, the British Library. It’s a point of pride for the university, but
keeping it all running smoothly can be “a bit of a ‘mare,” says Lloyd (Meadhbh)
Houston, an Oxford graduate student who published a 2015 history of the Phi
collection in the Bodleian Library Record. In 1882, head librarian E.W.B. Nicholson set
out to make things more orderly, by schematizing some 7,000 different
classifications. One stood out among the
traditional numbers and letters used in the classification system: a lone Greek symbol chosen, most likely, as a
pun on “Fie!” (As in, “Fie on you for such prurient proclivities!”). Read more
at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/oxford-obscene-book-collection
In 1814, Francis Scott Key
wrote a poem later set to music and in 1931 becoming America’s national anthem,
“The
Star-Spangled Banner.”
The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” was written
after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by
the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S.
flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous
words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”:
“And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof
through the night that our flag was still there.” https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/key-pens-star-spangled-banner
Anatolia may be defined in geographic terms
as the area bounded to the north by the Black Sea,
to the east and south by the Southeastern Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, and to the west by the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara; culturally the
area also includes the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea. In most prehistoric periods the regions to
the south and west of Anatolia were under the influence of, respectively, Syria
and the Balkans. Much visible evidence of the earliest
cultures of Anatolia may have been lost owing to the large rise in sea levels
that followed the end of the last Ice Age (about 10,000 years ago) and to deposition of
deep alluvium in many coastal and inland valleys. Nevertheless, there are widespread—though
little studied—signs of human occupation in cave sites from at least the Upper
Paleolithic Period, and earlier Lower Paleolithic remains are evident in
Yarımburgaz Cave near Istanbul. Rock
engravings of animals on the walls of caves near Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, suggest a relationship
with the Upper Paleolithic art of western Europe. Associated with these are rock shelters, the
stratified occupational debris of which has the potential finally to clarify
the transitional phases between cave-dwelling society and the Neolithic economy
of the first agricultural communities. Read extensive article and see pictures at https://www.britannica.com/place/Anatolia
Perfect Poached Eggs Bring 6 cups water to boil in
Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1
tablespoon distilled white vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt to boiling water. With lip of measuring cup just above surface
of water, gently tip eggs into water, one at a time, leaving space between
them. Cover pot, remove from heat, and
let stand until whites closest to yolks are just set and opaque, about 3
minutes. Using slotted spoon, carefully
lift and drain each egg over Dutch oven.
Get more details at
Set during the American Civil War, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek" is
Bierce's most famous short story. It was first published in the San
Francisco Examiner in 1890. It then appeared in Bierce's 1891
collection Tales of Soldiers and
Civilians. Read the story and see graphics at https://americanliterature.com/author/ambrose-bierce/short-story/an-occurrence-at-owl-creek-bridge Read THE
MILLENNIUM FULCRUM EDITION, 1988 of An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/375
The American Dialect Society (ADS) puts out a buffet of candidate words
and phrases in a variety of categories--see full press release at https://www.americandialect.org/wp-content/uploads/2018-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf. It’s almost always a good read, although some
times it feels like they’re too thorough, if that’s possible. Their overall winner this year: tender-age shelter (with variants tender-age facility and tender-age camp).
The phrase is especially interesting, from a vocabulary perspective,
because it seems to have sprung into existence on June 19th of last year. There are, as usual, a number of other
interesting nuggets on the ADS list. “X strong” reaches the list late: I’ve been watching the use (and overuse) of
this formulation since at least 2011 when it was popularized in my region (New
England) through the use of “Vermont Strong” in
the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricane Irene. It reached cliché status a couple of years
later with “Boston Strong.” “Individual
1” is another choice that hits the mark, as is “white-caller crime.” Christopher Daly https://thebettereditor.wordpress.com/2019/01/29/woty-word-of-the-year-2018-edition-part-2/
The Old Man and the Sea starring Anthony Crivello, based on the novel by
Ernest Hemingway and adapted by A.E. Hotchner and Tim Hotchner will preview
January 31, 2019 at Highmark Theatre at Pittsburgh Playhouse and run from
February 1-17. http://www.pittsburghplayhouse.com/current-season/tba A.E. Hotchner--who fished with Hemingway in
Cuba, went to bullfights with him in Spain, hunted with him in Idaho, and wrote
the biography Papa Hemingway--is 101 years old.
Hemingway urged Hotchner to adapt The Old Man and the Sea, and more than
60 years later, he did so.
PERSON OF THE DAY
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24,
1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the
first African American to
play in Major League Baseball (MLB)
in the modern era. When the Dodgers
signed Robinson, they heralded the end of racial segregation in
professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since
the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1962.
In 1997, MLB retired his
uniform number 42 across all major league teams; he was the first pro athlete
in any sport to be so honored. MLB also
adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day",
for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears
No. 42. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson
THOUGHT FOR TODAY To
blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also
willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely
that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the
economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged. - Norman
Mailer, author (31 Jan 1923-2007)
WORD OF THE DAY Tiggerish
adjective (Excessively) cheerful and exuberant; bouncy.
The English author A. A. Milne, who created the
character Tigger in his works about Winnie-the-Pooh, died on this day in 1956. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tiggerish#English
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com January 31, 2019 Issue 2033
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